Spring break with Grandma

We had the privilege of having my mom in town for Rachel's spring break, Easter, and Tommy's birthday. We had a great time and managed to get everything done that we wanted to. We had a couple cool and rainy days but overall some great spring weather.

Rachel's first request on her first day off was to go to the playground just outside our apartment and to have a picnic. Great idea!

Kate's first swing
Tommy isn't used to so much excitement. Having Rachel around and getting out and doing things, it has exhausted him. He fell asleep for the night one night at 5:00. So cute.
One day we went to the new Disney Store in Times Square. Quite impressive!
One of Grandma's gifts to Tommy was for him to build his own remote control Lightning McQueen. He loved it!
When he finished the lady helping him had him raise his car high as she announced to the store (well, at least to everyone nearby) that the birthday boy built his car.
Jake and I were able to sneak away for a few date nights, which was really nice. One night we decided to try the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. I was skeptical that it would be worth $9, but it really was amazing. Jake and I didn't speak a word until it was devoured.
On our way back to our apartment that night we heard loud music and figured some kind of party was going on. With it being a nice night we decided to check it out. As we approached the concert we asked a security guard what was going on. He said Elton John was playing. What?! You mean THE Elton John?! So we ran over to catch his last two songs. So awesome. There are some things that I just love about living in New York City.We caught a little bit of Muppets Take Manhattan on another night. That is our apartment complex behind the screen.We got invited to a friend's birthday party and when my friend found out Tommy's birthday wasn't too far off she invited us to celebrate Tommy's as well. So I provided balloons and candles and Liam and Tommy each got to blow out 3 candles on top of their delicious costco muffin and then ride the carousel at Bryant Park. It was a big hit! In fact when it was time for his real birthday Tommy replied, "I awready did!" and "I had a birthday last year...that's what mother gospel says" (from the movie Tangled, which we've now watched at least a dozen times).We continued to enjoy the beautiful weather that day by heading up to Central Park to do the boats.And then dinner at Alice's Tea Cup, because we just love this place!On our way home Rachel noticed a lady sitting next to her reading a book. She went right over, practically laying in her lap and started reading, despite the lady telling her that it wasn't really appropriate for kids. Oh Rachie.The Transit Museum...aka Tommy Heaven. Of course, Rachel really enjoyed it as well. Tommy loved running in and out of all the old subway cars. It was really difficult to keep up with him.
Easter Sunday. Sadly, we lost my mom's camera and it had the pictures of the kids in the Easter dress as well as the Easter Parade, which was a lot of fun. We saw some pretty elaborate and some pretty crazy "bonnets." Hopefully her camera turns up and I'll post them then.

We did our little egg hunt not too far from our building. It was kind of funny trying to keep people (kids and adults) from taking our eggs and candy.
I just love this cutie pie!
And she just LOVES going through Grandma's purse.
A holiday wouldn't be the same with my mom if there weren't sugar cookies involved :)
I liked Jake's bearded bunny :)
She was really proud of her decorating
We had one day that almost reached 80 degrees!!! I honestly thought I would never see this kind of weather again. We took full advantage by going to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden Cherry Blossom Festival. Absolutely gorgeous!


Kate's first time touching grass
Afterward we found this great diner called Tom's restaurant. I love this picture because we told him to wait before he drinks his chocolate drink so that I could get a picture...that must mean prayers.
Sadly, Rachel was feverish and really sick for a good three days of her break. She had me a little worried. It was her second bout of strep this month and it was much worse this time around. Poor thing went through the works. There were a couple days where her nose was running like crazy. She went through tons of toilet paper. That mountain there was probably not even a tenth of it. Good thing it was cheap one-ply stuff from Costco.
Jake ended up getting really sick as well and was out for the count on Tommy's birthday. I'll try and put up pictures from that soon as well. I'm glad I had my mom here to help me with the celebrating. Unfortunately we sent my mom home a little sick as well. So, sorry mom, but we sure had a blast with you here. Rachel definitely misses you! Thanks for everything!!!

B is for...

Brooklyn

It's been on our to-do list. We've done the bridge and all but we wanted to try the famous pizzeria over there called Grimaldi's. So we did it with Colie, who was in town for a couple days (pays to have a friend in the airline business huh?)Fabulous pizza! Kate actually preferred the table :)
Butterflies, Bones and the Brain

Also on the to-do list (our time in NYC is growing short) the American Natural History Museum. We splurged a little to do some exhibits thanks to some "fun" money (thanks Brooke and Mom). Rachel and I did the Butterfly conservatory. It was incredible...butterflies EVERYWHERE! You could feel the wind from their wings as they flew passed your face. We saw butterflies of every color and size. So beautiful!
We were told that if we wiped the sweat off our foreheads (it was quite humid in there) and held out our hand we might be able to catch a butterfly. Kate was the lucky one...she did it no sweat!
Jake did the Brain exhibit and is now hooked on brain games. Tommy loved the dinosaur bones and the spaceship.
Kate loved it all. It was fun to see all her admirers as we pushed her around. Poor girl is bursting out of her 3-6 month clothes. Still waiting for that warmer weather.
Bananas

The food cart is back! I love the convenience of this thing!
Blossoms

Finally! Spring is definitely trying.
Baseball

Jake has been anxious for baseball season to start, so that he could take Tommy to another game. This kid sat enthralled for 3 hours, without getting restless, and didn't even mind the fact that it was pretty cold outside.
Birthday

Pumpkin pancakes, nice weather, a date with me, a donut cake, and friends to share it with...I think he got pretty spoiled. I took him to a seafood place for dinner. We've never done it because I don't like seafood. I think he enjoyed it and the curried tuna sandwich was actually really good.He deserves it all and I wish I could give him more. I really love this guy. We had a conversation that night about being competitive. I never really realized it before but Jake isn't competitive, despite all the sports he did in high school and his academic achievements. What he is is an achiever. He's not interested in beating somebody, he's interested in doing the best he can do. I am constantly impressed with his commitment to us, his family and his ambition for his dreams. He has a real talent with relationships and can network like nobody's business. I love spending time with him. He can still make me laugh and we can still talk into the late hours of the night (course not as often as we used to). We also celebrated our 7th Anniversary yesterday and even though we haven't had a chance to celebrate it yet we enjoyed thinking about it symbolically...that we are now "perfect" and "complete" :)