It's up to you

The view from up high - the tallest bldg in New York (again) - the Empire State Bldg.

We took the Subway most everywhere (or walked). It's amazing that all this is under the city!

Times Square in the background.


Central Park - it's hard to believe you are in the Big City when you're here.
This is a life size replica of Lady Liberty's foot. Noah's only as big as her big toe!

The Addams Family musical was hilarious with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwerth as leads.

"It's up to you" That's what we said to Noah when we asked where he wanted to go for his end-of-school-kick-off-summer trip. Well, I don't know if it was because of the song, but he chose to go to New York City.

Originally, we planned to take Reese with us, but it worked out wonderfully for my mom to come stay with her at our house while we were away. It was such a blessing, although we missed her terribly. Everywhere we went, we sould comment, "Can you imagine if Reese was with us right now?" as we were standing in the hot sun in line waiting to go through security to see the Statue of Liberty, as we were running to catch the open doors of the subway, as we were wandering the exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art where nothing can be touched, as we enjoyed an evening performance of the Adams Family Musical, as we negotiated crowds and traffic in Times Square, and as we rode the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world at Great Adventure in New Jersey. It all would've made Reese miserable and us too!

This trip was a little different than any other I have taken to New York because Noah was in charge, so our plans included going to M&M World, Nontendo World, FAO Shwartz, and the largest Toys R Us in the world. We also did all the standard NYC sights, Central Park, Empire State Bldg, Grand Central Station, and the National History Museum (along with the things mentioned above). Dave and I introduced Noah to the Blue Man Group. He loved the show! I think Noah finally realizes that there are some stage performances that he enjoys seeing. One of the most interesting things we did was to go to Ground Zero - the sight of the Twin Towers. We walked through a museum with found objects and stories from the people who survived and didn't survive the 9/11 attacks.

All our time in New York and the only time I did not feel safe was riding in a bike driven cart through central park and into the streets of the city! A taxi ride is scary enough - of course, Noah loved it, anything wild, adventurous and thrilling!

And, if you ask Noah what his favorite part of NYC was, he will say "New Jersey, Great Adventure!"

Miscellaneous May

We spent a few days at grandma and grandpas house playing with cousins. Reese loves having her cousins around and they love being around her. She learns alot from them and watches everything they do. We spent quite a bit of time "painting" on the patio with water. This is the first time I hav ever seen Reese stick with doing something for more than 5 minutes. It was a great activity that kept them all interested for awhile.

This is Reese's friend, Dillon. His mother and I have been walking every morning. We pretend it is for exercise, but in reality it's just so we can catch up on all the gossip in our lives. It has really helped to get out in the fresh air each morning and start my day. I hate the morning routine - making breakfasts, lunches, showering, hair, etc - and I was letting my attitude overcome my whole day. Walking and talking has given me something to look forward to in the mornings and gives me energy to get on with the rest of my day. Reese and Dillon seem to look forward to the walks also, because as soon as we meet up, they have to give each other a "hello" handshake before we can continue on our way. The constant flow of snacks doesn't make them unhappy either:-)

Yay! they finally got shopping carts with the cars in front at our local grocery store. I remember pushing Noah in these when he was little and how much he liked it, so I was very excited (or so I thought) when we got to the store one day and there they were. Reese was very excited too - at first - for about 5 minutes and then she wanted to ride up in the normal basket seat. Well, I was disappointed, but no big deal. Until the next time we went to the store. I went to put Reese in one of the normal shopping carts and she got upset. She saw the ones with the cars in front and wanted one of those, badly and loudly. So we switched. Again, after a short time, she wanted to ride up front near me. So now, whenever we go to the store, we have to get a "car cart" (and it has to be the pink one these days) and I inevitably end up pushing around a giant-hard-to-maneuver shopping cart with an empty car on the front. I guess this a lesson in "be careful what I wish for". I'm thinking it's time to switch grocery stores!

Picacho Peak State Park

Today some wonderful women spurred a few of us on to go to Picacho Peak State Park. Picacho Peak is a very prominent landmark between Tucson and Phoenix and ever since we have moved here, Dave and I have commented on it every time we drive past (which is quite often). We talk about how we need to do the hike that takes you to the top at an awesome overlook. And yet, here we are 4 years later and we have never even stopped to see what it's all about. Well, because of budget cuts, the park is scheduled to close on June 3! We did this in Utah also, talked about all the things we wanted to do and never did. And then tried to cram them all in right before we moved. I expect my children to learn from their mistakes - I need to practice what I preach.

With little ones, we obviously did not hike to the peak, but we did have a wonderful picnic, play in a great little playground with an incredible view and take a short hike to a little cave the perfect size for our toddlers.

Once we got to the cave, my fearless little girl immediately began trying to devise a way to climb the wall of the cave. She got upset that she was unable to do it and so decided instead to run down the steep, gravel covered trail back to the car. Luckily, her friend Roger saw how dangerous she was being, took charge and held her hand.

Wonderful Children

I love my two, beautiful, very different and wonderful children!! I love that they keep me moving and young and experiencing new things in new ways. And I love all that they teach me.

Our new house!

Ok, so as usual, I went a little overboard. We decided to get a play system for the backyard and wanted to make it one that both Reese and Noah could use. Well, let's just say that I think the whole neighborhood can use it - all at the same time! It is quite huge! It didn't look this enormous when it was displayed on the giant lot at the showroom?! But it takes over our entire yard - go figure. Both kids do love it - Noah has big plans for the clubhouse on the bottom (tv, fridge, couch, etc.) and Reese just stands at the back door of the house all day wanting to go outside and play (and since it is so big, it's hard to redirect her attention from it). Both children have gotten minor bruises from it already and the whole thing makes me very nervous, but I guess that's all part of the fun.

Fearless Reese just dives for the slide and speeds down.

The sandbox is not as deluxe as the one we built in Utah, but I'm sure it will provide many hours of entertainment and frustration as I am constantly brushing sand, that has been tracked into the house, off my feet. Reese loved the feel of it when we first put her in - and then loved the taste of it also! So that was the end of the sandbox for today - I can tell we are going to have a struggle on our hands, much like the chalk and the chalkboard fight that we have daily!

Pima County Fair

Last weekend, Noah got invited to go to the county fair with a friend and since it was the last day, it spurred me on to take Reese. I was excited for her to ride the kiddie rides and see the animals. The rides did not go as well as I had expected. Reese is fearless, but when it comes to noise, she gets very upset, which is strange since she has lived with the loudest brother on earth since the day she came home form the hospital. Anyway, the rides all had very loud music associated with them - I think that is to drown out the cussing from the 'carnies' operating the rides:) - so Reese was a little anxious.

The animals, however, were a huge hit! Against my better judgement, I took her into the petting zoo and I was very pleasantly surprised. We did not get trampled by the goats and it was quite clean. This baby goat kept climbing through the holes in this fence to get away from Reese who was trying to play with it.

Reese was not even bothered by the big animals - cows, hogs, sheep - she would have crawled into their pens if I had let her. All in all it was a great experience for her and I can't wait to go back next year.

The pictures are not too good - it is hard to keep an eye on Reese and take a picture at the same time. She is one who will walk away in an instant and not care whether I am around or not so I had to be holding onto her while taking the picture.

It's a girl!

So this is what having a girl is like? Although I am very afraid of the teen years, so far it has been a blast having Reese. We dance and sing and play with dolls. Noah had a doll but he was more interested in throwing it around and making it go potty. Reese actually gives her doll hugs and loves to push it in the stroller. And is carrying a purse on your arm instinctual? I'm so happy to have one of each. I love dancing and singing and putting together legos and doing science experiments. And I'm glad they have each other to learn from.