Alternately titled: the one with all the pictures. We took so many pictures this day that I'm going to have to split it up into two posts! I knew that seeing the Statue of Liberty would be cool, but I had no idea that I would love it as much as I did. We took a ferry cruise from Battery Park at 9 o'clock on Saturday morning. After standing in line and clearing security, we were statue bound. It a gorgeous day, cold and crisp, not a cloud in the sky. The water was choppy and I prayed the whole way there that I wouldn't throw up. When I stepped out onto the deck of the boat and saw her, I was amazed. I told Josh I was a little emotional. Knowing that throngs of immigrants sailed into the harbor, unsure of their future, greeted by such a magnificent creature was hard to wrap my mind ...
vacation
Trains, Parks, Lights, and Pizza
As much as I would have loved for us to stay in the city, Josh was working a short 30 minute train-ride away and we decided to keep the rental car and hotel room and commute each day. Although we didn't have the luxury of dropping off shopping bags or catching an afternoon nap, it was significantly less expensive and we didn't have to deal with the hassle of packing up our room or returning the car mid-week. We started off our mornings, bright and early, in the heated waiting booths of the train station. It was just across the street from Josh's office (where we could park the car) in the cute little town of Tuckahoe. It cost us around $18 round trip (per person) each day to travel and the train was a fun experience. There were 8 to 10 stops between us and Grand Central, depending on ...
31 Years Ago
For as long as I can remember, I've been a Beatles fan. More specifically, a Lennon fan. My dad and I used to listen to their music together when I was a girl. I have the albums on disk and on vinyl. For my sixteenth birthday, my mom won tickets to a Beatles tribute band concert and I could not have been happier. I visited London (would still like to visit Liverpool) when I was 14 and loved seeing the memorabilia everywhere and walking where they walked. And I've always wanted to visit the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park and see the Dakota, where Lennon lived in NYC until his death in 1980. Even though Josh isn't really a Beatles fan (gasp), he knew I really wanted to go and we'd planned to spend Saturday in Central Park and the Upper West Side. It was a little more than a week ...
The Big Apple
I know I've mentioned it before, but one of the "perks" of Josh's new job is that he gets to do a fair amount of traveling. And not just to out of the way places like Phoenix or Bridgeport, but fun places like San Diego, Los Angeles and New York City. We've talking about me going with him several times over the last year, but it's been mostly talk. We had planned a trip for Washington DC for the first of next year, but then something else happened. About six weeks ago, he was scheduled for a trip into NYC for the first week of December and our wheels started turning. While it isn't like us to spend a lot of money on a big trip with no notice, we couldn't help but think about spending a week in the city during the Christmas holidays... especially with only one plane ticket to purchase. The ...
So, about the beach…
Before we left for the beach, Ella had her second dance recital. As I'm sure you know, most every ballerina gets an arm full of flowers to celebrate her performance. Last year, Ella got pink roses and as beautiful as they were, we left for the beach the next morning and never got to enjoy them. I talked with her about waiting to get flowers when we got home from vacation, but she opted to pick out a prize at the beach instead. She was such a big girl about not having flowers that night, knowing she would be rewarded in a few days. I imagined her picking out a necklace or a new bathing suit or even a silly, unnecessary souvenir. I was not prepared for Courtney. Josh's eyes lit up one night in the camper and I knew what was about to happen. He whispered in her ear that there were crabs you ...
Around Camp
Around camp we... played with our toys, learned some new games on the iPhone, doodled and crafted, read and drank Dr. Pepper, practiced our bike riding skills, went on wagon rides... over, and over, and over, we played in the dirt, and even hung out with our sweet daddy! ...
Splish Splash
I used to laugh at those of you who insisted a pool was a necessity for vacation. My response was always that we had one of those at home and when I was on vacation I wanted my toes in the sand. My experience was once of being young and dumb with no one to care for but myself. Vacations consisted of an endless stack of summer reading and plenty of time to catch some z's. That... was before I had children. Gulf State Park has always been on the primitive side of beach vacations, but I have never complained. Bike rides, ice cream cones and card games has been the norm for our family trips as long as I could remember. When I heard they were building a pool at the Lake Pavilion, I even chuckled to myself that we would NEVER waste our time at the pool when we could be beach-side. Fast forward ...
Sun and Sand
What's a vacation without the beach, right? I used to be one of those girls that could wake up and head to the beach at 7 o'clock and stay until sunset. Being a mom changes your schedule. Not only do we have to break for lunch and nap time, but I am considerably more hot natured post-pregnancy and need some air conditioning in my life! Since we have to drive to the beach, there is no "running up to the room" to fix a quick snack, we take it all with us. The Gulf State Beach Pavilion is our favorite beach in the state. It is beautiful and the facilities are so nice. I can remember for several years after Hurricane Ivan that we toughed it out with no real shade or restrooms and it is so nice to have a beautiful pavilion back. There are showers and restrooms, plenty of picnic tables and a ...