Easter Egg Hunt

Since we didn't get to dye any eggs this year, or really do a hunt we decided to throw an Easter Egg Hunt. It ended up being a ton of people from the ward and we had a great time. Of course on the day of it rained all day, and so in the middle of rain drops we sent out the dads to hide the eggs. There were so many that not much hiding could happen. The kids all had a great time. Afterward they were all thoroughly entertained by their candy so the adults could have some fun. We had a white elephant exchange and there were some pretty great things. I ended up with highlighters (which I loved... I have a thing for office supplies!) and Aaron ended up with a carpet cleaning certificate. Not too shabby considering the limit was $2.00! It is always fun to see what people have laying around their homes!

Easter

We got home from our trip just in time for Easter. The girls were so excited about the Easter Bunny - well OK, Lilly was excited, Molly just goes along for the ride. They had a great time seeing what was in their baskets. Then it was time to get ready for church. They loved their new dresses. They were so excited to go to church and show them off. After church we made a nice dinner and spent the evening at home. We were still pretty tired so we just decided to lay low for the night. Happy Easter everyone! We hope it was great.

My New York Hot Dog

During our trip to New York I wanted to do, well, kind of stupid things. I really just wanted the true New York experience. So on our last day, on the way to Penn Station we accomplished one more thing. We bought my first ever hot dog from a street vendor. It was just like any other hot dog, but hey, it was the experience that counts! We had such a great trip. We learned a ton about the city, we were all exhausted but had truly accomplished a ton! We learned that our hotel was in Soho, and we were practically in Little Italy. We had no clue! We had a pretty good laugh about it. Thanks Mom and Dad for this trip. It was truly awesome and we had the best time!

New York Day 2

On Day 2 we started with a trip to the bakery next door for bagels. They were delicious in fact we went there both mornings for them. Then we headed out to the Staten Island Ferry so that we could see The Statue of Liberty. It was a nice little ride while we all vied for a spot at the railing so we could get the best shots. Ah, tourists!

This is the Manhattan Temple. It was just so cool to see it in the middle of everything!

Dylan's Candy bar. The stairs we real candy. It was three floors of sugar madness. They had pretty much anything you could wish for.

New York at Night

We took the night tour over to Brooklyn. It was the best tour that we had taken yet. Our guide was so knowledgeable and we learned more on that one tour than we did on all the others. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. It was also really cool to see New York at night.

New York!!! Day 1

Ah New York! For anyone that knows me, you know that this has always been a dream. I have wanted to go to New York forever. I even wanted to live there for a while. But now I have kids and must be content to just visit. It was a quick trip. We had 2 1/2 days to spend there. We got up early and took the train from D.C. to New York. Once we arrived the insanity ensued. I'm pretty sure that I ran everyone until we all dropped into a heap at the end of the trip!

My first look at the city. This is right outside Penn Station and Madison Square Garden

Slumming it on the subway. It was definitely a really nice way to get around the city. I actually didn't mind the subway and thought it was a great way to get around. Definitely better than the 3 taxi rides that we took. Those taxi's can sure make you feel like your life is about to end!

This is for you Amber! and this is the reason we wanted to get to New York so early. My mom wanted to catch the show that Amber and her listen to every week.

Right off of Times Square was this awesome deli. I was hankering for a good dill pickle and the server there brought me 3 of them. She was my friend that day! They also made these huge eclairs. As you can see, they were quite large, but so delicious that we ended up going back and buying three more then next day!

This is the show that we saw, and yes, that is Harry Potter. We were pleasantly surprised to see that he could dance and sing! It was a really good show and we had a great time. John Laroquette (from night court - anyone? anyone?) was also in the show. He was hilarious.

Then we got tickets to go on the bus tours around the city. This allowed us to see so much more than we could have seen on our own. We had a great time seeing the city this way.

Washington D.C.

My Mom and Dad took Aaron and I to Washington D.C. and New York for Aaron's graduation. I think I might have been more excited than Aaron. We had a fantastic time. We spent only 1 day in Washington so we really had to book it. I will say that I have never walked so much. We covered a whole lot on foot. I was super tired at the end of the day, but I was determined to see it all in 1 day. Our first stop was The Capital building. My dad was really excited about this one. My Mom and I were more excited about the pretty trees and blossoms. There were a ton of people because apparently it was spring break for pretty much everyone on the east coast. There was a ton of school groups there as well. This was a really pretty building and it was cool to see the view of the mall from it.

The National Museum of American History

As we didn't have a lot of time to visit the Smithsonian, we decided we had time for one museum. We chose to visit the National Museum of American History. It was really cool to see all those things that are true American Icons. We also got to see the Original American Flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner. We couldn't take a picture of it, especially since it was housed in low lighting and it looked thread bare. We saw Kermit the Frog and the best one... Julia Child's Kitchen. My dad didn't understand why were excited about this one. Dorothy's Red Slippers from the Wizard of Oz came next, and I have to say that they weren't as sparkly as they were in the movie. We did the entire museum and we learned quite a bit. I was also really excited to see Lincoln's top hat and coat. I think we definitely chose the right museum to visit.

Lincoln Memorial, White House, etc.

Our next stop was the Reflecting Pool which we were sad to see was under reconstruction so there wasn't much to see there. Then we headed up to the Lincoln Memorial. There was a lot of stairs at the end of our long walk. My dad counted them, but I can't remember how many there were! It was really cool! I was so excited to see it. There was so many people in there we were lucky to get as close as we did.

Next we walked to the Vietnam Memorial. It is really humbling to see all those names up on that wall and the flowers that people leave behind. It really makes me appreciate what we have. Then it was onto the White House. We walked to the front side and decided I was good and didn't need to see the backside of it. I may have been a titch tired at this point. Then it was a long walk back to our hotel were we collapsed for an hour before heading out to a great dinner. I was more than happy to go back to our hotel room after dinner. I was tired, needed Tylenol and a good nights rest because we had to be up early the next morning so we could head to our real destination.... New York City!

Nap Time

Sometime Molly will actually sit down long enough to realize she is tired. Then we have a nap. Well this is what I found the other day. Lilly decided that she needed some shade to help her nap better. She carefully placed this umbrella over Molly and it didn't move until Molly woke up. Such a thoughtful sister.

Family Movie Night

We love to have movie night with the kids. We find it to be a really fun time to introduce classic Disney's like the Herbie movies and Pollyanna and such. Anyway, Lilly loves them. So we make a little popcorn and settle in. The girls have the best time staying up a little later and getting to eat Mom's fabulous popcorn!

Trampoline

This year we got a new trampoline. The girls were so excited. They could hardly wait for us to get it put up. They love to jump and it has certainly been a lot of fun. Finally I have something for them to do in the backyard. This is all a part of my master plan to get them outside more. Maybe I am just a little bit tired of the winter gloom and I am ready for a little time at the park!

Bikes!

We have been really working with Lilly on riding her bike. Well I am happy to say that she has it down. She loves to ride it and asks to all the time. Molly has also decided that she wants to ride. She can't exactly pedal so it is Flintstones powered. All in all I think that it will be a super fun summer!