New York City!

Granny Dot and Papa were going to be in New York City for the Presidential debate so we sort of invited ourselves up to visit them. New York is closer to us than CA so we took advantage. We drove up after church and made really good time. It's only a 4 1/2 hour drive and both girls did amazing. I fed Anna a bottle so we didn't need to stop. I packed fun things for Macy to do in the car but we didn't need any of it. She ate snacks, looked out the window, did her thing.

We stopped at our hotel (the Hilton on 6th and 53rd, a great location), dropped off our luggage, gave Macy a bath (not stopping to change her diaper got her pants a little wet, oops), and fed Anna. Then it was off to the streets to meet Dorothy and Greg at their hotel. Macy loved the walk and all the things to see. She would point at the sculptures, the water fountains, the signs and posters, all the people. There were so many interesting things. She also liked how tall the buildings were.

First stop: looking at pictures on Granny Dot's phone, and Anna napping with Papa.

I was a little concerned how the nights would go with all 4 of us in one room and Anna waking up multiple times a night. We had two double beds so Ja got his own and Macy and I slept together. Anna was in a porta-crib. We didn't make it to bed until 10:30 the first night so Macy was wiped and didn't take too long to get to sleep. She did wake up each time Anna woke up in the middle of the night but she always went right back to sleep. We all slept in until 9:30 a.m. and leisurely got ready and went to breakfast downstairs. I was so happy and we were well rested.

Monday was spent at Central Park. It was a very short walk from our hotel. First order of business was a carriage ride through the park. Macy loved the horses and had a smile on her face the whole time. She told me, "This is fun mommy!" Every time she would see another horse she would point and yell, "There's another one!"

Then we headed to some playgrounds. Macy was having a great time and Papa went on the swings with her. Dorothy took some great pictures with her camera so I hope I can get some of those.

 After the playground was the carousel. Macy knew exactly which horse she wanted and doesn't need help holding on anymore. She's a big girl! Then after a minor tantrum (she was tired and wanted me to carry her but I was holding Anna) it was off to lunch at a great Italian place.

Greg and Dorothy were off to meetings so we had rest time in our hotel for a couple of hours. It was very nice to rest after all the walking we did earlier that day. We decided to visit FAO Schwartz that night (also a short walk from our hotel). Macy loved the "Big Piano" and of course the toys, candy, and princess dresses.

She wanted to buy all the dress up clothes right now! I told her we would take pictures of the things she wanted to put them on her Christmas list. She told me she wanted to text the pictures to Santa. She is so funny. Tantrum averted!

It was pouring rain on our walk home. Luckily Anna was completely covered and dry and Macy only got slightly wet. We got into some warm clothes while Ja picked some dinner up for us. It had stopped raining as soon as we got into the hotel. Oh well. 

Macy helped feed Anna a bottle and things turned silly very quickly.

Tuesday we headed to Central Park again. Macy had so much fun there we had to go back to explore some more. Ja found this great playground for us with this really cool granite slide. Macy could have spent all day there climbing up the hill and sliding down (on one of our laps of course). I could have too if there wasn't more to see. A mom there told us about steering little remote control sail boats on a little lake so we did that. Macy was actually pretty good a steering! She would move the controls back and forth very quickly. Call it beginners luck but her sail boat would go really fast.

Ja went off to have lunch with an old friend to BYU. I was left with the two girls by myself in Central Park. I felt like a real New Yorker :) We got lunch at a little place in the park then walked back the long walk to the hotel. Both girls did great and Macy was helpful and cooperative. We were eating outside so all the little birds and big pigeons were walking around trying to find food on the ground. If one came close Macy would yell at it, "No! Shoot bird! My food! Go away!" It was so funny. We took our time eating and enjoyed being outside with nothing else to do.

We met up with Granny Dot and Papa at FAO Schwartz. Macy was lucky to have her Papa there to buy her candy! Two kids in a candy store!

Papa also bought Macy a doll (which she later named Suey) and a Cinderella dress. Macy would not let go of the dress. As soon as it was purchased she wanted to go to the hotel so she would wear it. She carried the dress the whole walk back to the hotel.

Once we opened the dress we discovered that it lights up! I wish we had captured her face when she realized it lights up. She got a huge smile on her face and a look of pure joy. She loves that dress so much!

That night for dinner I randomly found a pizza place called Harry's Italian at Rockefeller Center (also close to the hotel). They did free delivery so we had a pizza picnic on the floor of our hotel room. Macy loved it and we loved the pizza.

That night Macy went to bed at 9 p.m. and was out in less than 2 minutes. She got up once in the night with Anna but very quickly fell back asleep and we all slept until 9 a.m.

Wednesday morning we rushed over to say good-bye to the grandparents. They had to fly back home. We were sad to see them leave, especially Macy who kept asking why they had to leave. On the way back to our hotel we stopped at Rockefeller Center to check out the cranberry bog they had set up for Oceanspray week at NBC. The two guys from the commercials were there too.

 

 Macy really liked watching the people "dancing" on the ice rink.

 A quick picture with Radio City Music Hall.

A perk of driving is you can leave whenever you want! We took advantage of our car being parked at the hotel and took the subway to Battery Park and then a Ferry to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty.

On the boat

Skyline from Liberty Island

There she is!

Macy's favorite pose.

 After returning to Battery Park Macy heard music and insisted we watch the people dancing. She loves music and always has to go see what's going on. It was a street show and we made it for the finale. IT was a guy jumping and flipping over 4 people!

After that we had a pretty uneventful trip back home. This time we did stop for dinner at Cracker Barrel and changed everyone's diaper.

 We had an amazing time in New York! I can't wait to take Macy and Anna there when they are older and watch their faces light up when they discover all the new things. They both are great travelers. As long as Anna was fed she was happy in the ergo or stroller. Macy does great and slept great. She's been traveling since she was 3 months old so she's a pro by now. Anna has her beat though, traveling at 7 weeks old! This was the perfect way to end Ja's paternity leave.

I love that city.

Beautiful Skyline Drive

Only an hour away in the Shenandoah National Park is a beautiful mountain range covered in trees. In the fall these trees change colors so its a popular destination for tourists to drive along the road called Skyline Drive. It's 104 miles long and it's the only road that goes through the National Park. We heard it's beautiful so we decided to drive it during Ja's paternity leave.

We only drove to miles 25 then turned around because Macy was not a happy traveller that day. She wanted to watch Netflix on my phone but the phone couldn't get coverage. Thus a very unhappy girl was born. I tried to explain to her that sometimes the phone can't get its 3G coverage when there are a lot of trees around and when we are high up in the mountains. She thought about this for a second then said, "Get off mountain!" We were on our way out of the park so we had to sing a get-off-the-mountain song which was "She'll be comin' round the mountain" a few times. When that was over we had to sing a trees go away song which was sung to "Rain, rain, go away." This bought us enough time to get 3G coverage again. We stopped for lunch at The Apple House and enjoyed a good meal and apple and pumpkin donuts.

Here are my favorite shots of the day. Ja took all of them except one. He has a great eye for photography.

This was the view from the top of the mountain. Growing up I thought there were big mountains like the CA and UT mountains everywhere. After seeing this "mountain" (which is more like a hill) I know I was wrong. 

This was my contribution to the photos.

 And this one.

Another view from a different pull-out. You can see more trees are changing. 

Macy had a great time pulling the weeds. 

I really love this one! I'm bummed the weed in right in front of her face! She was so happy to show it off though.

This is my most favorite! I love the genuine smiles on our faces. I love feeling Macy's tiny arms and hands wrap around me and squeeze me while she tells me that she loves me. So precious!

As you can see, not too many trees had changed colors yet. But the few that did sure are pretty.

Our Pennsylvania Trip

Our travel buddies the Arrington's invited us to join them on a day trip to Lancaster county. (Don't we have great friends?!) Katrina also had a baby so Steve is on paternity leave too. It was Ja's first day of paternity leave so we had to join them. Visiting Amish country is something I've been wanting to do ever since we moved here. It didn't disappoint!

We first visited the Julius Sturgis Pretzel factory in Litiz, PA. We got to make our own little pretzels (of of play dough) and learned why the pretzels are twisted: to remind the kids to say their prayers. Macy did very well twisting her pretzel and was very proud of it. That's her "I'm so proud of myself" smile.



Next we had a very pleasant lunch at Tomato Pie cafe. We ate outside on the patio and the food was all very delicious. Even all four kids did amazing. We all decided we would eat there again.

Next it was off to the Strasburg Railroad in Strausburg, PA. There's an old fashioned train to ride past some Amish farms. It was very pretty and the kids loved it of course. Macy's only complaint was that it didn't go fast enough.

 Of course there was a Thomas ride on ride that Macy liked to play in.

I love Macy's smile.

 This was a motel the train rode past. We really want to go back (sans kids) and stay here because each room is an actual caboose you can sleep in!

 Steve tricked Macy into looking at the camera here because she was very adamant that she would not look. He had to do that on our Delaware trip too...

This would have been a cute picture if it weren't for Macy scratching her bum.

At the end of the train parking lot there were wagons full of pumpkins, squash, corn, and gourds. They were selling the pumpkins for only $2 each! We couldn't believe it and had to buy some. We considered buying a lot of selling them at home for the 59 cents/pound they charge here :)

 Macy and Grant had a great time stacking all the pumpkins and squash at the end of the wagon. They were calling themselves "pumpkin workers." Grant was really sure we were buying all these pumpkins. The kids could have played on this wagon for hours.

How iconic is this?

After we were able to talk the pumpkin workers into leaving we drove around to see covered bridges. The first one was under construction so we couldn't get close. The second one Steve navigated to was Herr's Mill Bridge. Its the only wooden bridge to have double trusses. Apparently it was known as the Kissing Bridge (sign below). They don't have tunnels of love so they have bridges of love instead.

After the bridges we drove a short distance to an Amish restaurant. It's run my Amish (or Mennonite, I'm not sure) and they serve real Amish food. It was very good and tastes just like food you would make at home. They had the best idea and put a playground with a big grass field outside the restaurant so the kids could play while we waited for food. Once again all four kids were very well behaved. Anna slept the whole time, hardly noticed she was there.

This silly girl is our old lady Macy. She put the blanket over her legs and her beloved blankie behind her head. She enjoyed a snack of apples on our way to dinner. 

Day trips like this are so much fun. It's great living close to places that have plenty of attractions and beautiful scenery. There was a lot more to see in Lancaster County that we didn't have time for so I'd really like to go back. It's only 2 1/2 hours away and we didn't leave the house until 9 a.m. so the trip is very doable. This trip also enlightened me on the Amish and Mennonite people so I checked out a few books about them from the library so I could learn more. 

Look Alike?

My grandpa Seymour put this together. When he saw the picture of Macy and Anna together he was reminded of someone else who also liked to be close to her baby sister, me. It's so sweet!

Funny Macy

Me: Macy, daddy and I are going to play rock, paper, scissors and whoever loses has to change your poopy diaper.

Macy: Me too! I get my scissors and paper!

Me: No Macy, we don't use real scissors, just our hands. Let me show you.

Macy: No! I get scissors!

Macy LOVES Anna!

Macy's behavior is totally and completely the opposite of what I expected since Anna has been born.

She adores Anna and still adores her a month later. Macy always wants her close by, preferably some where Macy can kiss and cuddle with her.

I expected some jealously or tantrums when I fed Anna since it would be a lot of time I would be occupied with someone else. We haven't had any such problems. The only thing I was hoping would change is Macy's desire to have me do certain things. Ja is not allowed to dress her, bathe her, put her to bed, and put her in the cat seat. Of course if I'm not around then he's authorized. So far nothing has changed here but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Macy wants to show Anna all sorts of things like toys and her twirls. She always wants Anna close by. Lately she tells Anna, "You're so pretty Anna." She gives her little sister tons of kisses and tries to sneak in hugs.

Anna does well with all the attention, yelling, and constant nap interruptions.
I hope they continue to be friends. I know there will be a lot of fighting (I have a younger sister) but when the day is over I hope they are always friends.

For the last few days Macy has been calling Anna "Tootie." I think it started as Macy calling her cutie then after a few silly repeats of cutie it evolved into Tootie.  Macy gets in her face and says, "Hi Tootie Tootie."

I love being their mom!

Anna's Birth Announcment

Anna London

August 26, 2012

2:34 a.m.

6 lbs 8 oz    21 1/4 in long

Here are some more cute photos I took of her:

She looks so much like Macy did. Anna's face is a little fuller but comparing baby pictures it's hard to tell who is who!