NYC - Sunday

We had one scheduled activity for Sunday - to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Both are now run by the National Park Service. Statute Cruises continually runs ferries between Battery Park and both monuments. We walked quickly around the Statue of Liberty then spent most of our time at Ellis Island. What a fantastic preservation of America's history. If you get a chance to see Ellis Island - do it! It is all at once inspiring and haunting. We spent several hours touring the different rooms. Once back in Manhattan, we took a rest then headed out to the South Street Seaport. During the morning, it is a working fish market. By lunch time, it is transformed into a tourist destination. We found a great seafood spot on the third floor and sat out on the balcony overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. It was great food and an even better view. After dinner we walked to Ground Zero. We were surprised by the size of the space that is now a hole in the skyline. There is construction happening on the ground level - the beginnings of the Freedom Tower to be completed in 2012. The most moving part of the walk for us was when we came upon FDNY Station 10 - literally right across the street from the World Trade Center site. There was a beautiful memorial to all the men and women from that house who lost their lives 7 years ago. At the same time, there were men and women in that fire station ready to go at any moment and save lives. On our way back to the hotel, we entered the subway system right across from the WTC site. We had to walk several blocks (underground) to get to a working stop because the WTC subway stop is closed; however, you walk right past it and the gates are locked. I don't know what else to say...

NYC - Saturday

After a busy Friday, we slept well and got up late on Saturday morning. It was so nice to sleep until we wanted to get up and get ready with nobody knocking on the bathroom door. Our only obligation was to be at Chelsea Piers by 10:30 a.m. to board our scheduled harbor cruise. We easily navigated the subway and bus system and arrived to find a gracious staff and lovely table for two. Until the boat left the dock (at 11:00), it was a little hot - the ceiling of the boat is made entirely of glass so we could see the sights. After our first course, we headed out to the deck and watched as lower Manhattan passed by. It was really nice and we learned several facts about the city that we did not know before (Soho means "South of Houston Street", Tribeca means "Triangle below Canal Street"). After a short rest at the hotel, we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art ("The Met"). It was a spectacular place - beautiful art and a stunning building. We both agreed that our favorite exhibit was 1st century Roman artifacts. We were shocked at the beautiful glass work done by the Romans - so sophisticated. Saturday evening we found Rockefeller Center and had dinner at the Rock Cafe. YUM!

New York - Friday

Last Friday morning, Jeff and I left for NYC. The 24-hours prior to departure was full of uncertainty because Hurricane Ike was bearing down on the Texas coast and our connecting flight to LaGuardia was out of Houston. We got up at 4:00 a.m. and headed to the Tyler Airport for our 5:20 a.m. flight. It got off the ground as scheduled. When we got to Houston, the airport a was a little crazy but our flight left right on time (and boy was it FULL). We landed in NY ahead of schedule, got our luggage and took a car to the hotel. Overall, a very pleasant day of travel. Once we checked in, we decided to hit Times Square (only about 6 blocks from our hotel). We ate at the ESPN Sports Zone (Jeff's birthday trip, remember) and wandered around Times Square. Very exciting, busy and "touristy". It is just as you would imagine - only bigger. After a little rest at the hotel, we headed out for a ride on the subway and a late dinner. At 5:00 p.m., we just happened to be at Grand Central Station so I snapped this shot of the people on the move. It was fabulous - no meals to prepare, no kids to bathe, no time we had to be in....

Caught between the moon and New York City

Jeff and I are having a wonderful time in New York City. We spent this afternoon at the 17th Street Pier. There was a fabulous seafood restaurant on the 3rd floor. We sat out on the balcony and watched the happenings on the Brooklyn Bridge. As we finished our bottle of wine (hey, we're in NYC with no kids) - the sun was setting and the moon peeked through just over the bridge. More stories to come...

Chocolate Chip Pizza

Abby loves chocolate chip pizza from Double Dave's.

Jeff and I are off to New York City...

The bounty

Tonight was the beginning of the bi-annual Children's Clothing Consignment sale. I love this event. Twice every year, two wonderful Christian ladies organize and coordinate a HUGE sale of children's clothing, equipment and toys. For picky shoppers like me, there are great deals to be found. I buy my kids' entire wardrobes and save a ton of money. If you have not been, you might give it a try. Be prepared, it is totally busy and there is alot of crap. But if you are willing to dig...there are great treasures to be found.

Studio Rambin

I was honored to take pictures for my friend Kim this morning. She had a sweet baby boy 5 weeks ago - Jonas Dean. I have a special bond to this little boy because I was at his birth, saw his first breath and took his first photos (a story unto itself). So today, Kim brought Jonas and we did a "photo shoot". While Kim and I were tying to get at least one good picture of Jonas, Abby and Kalleigh (Kim's middle daughter who is just 2 weeks older than Abby) were playing together. At one point they wandered off and neither of us really noticed for a few minutes. As Kim sat down to feed Jonas, I looked around for the girls. I found them in the bathtub - no water, just toys and toddlers. Abby was singing "clean up, clean up" and Kalleigh was loading toys into the bath caddy.