a belated b'day trip to new york city.

There are times when we've gone to NYC with a plan, and times when it's been spontaneous. This time we pretty much planned the whole day because it was a belated birthday gift for two of our girls whose birthdays were in the middle of January! 

We decided to spend most of our day in Soho doing a little bit of shopping, and exploring the stores on this side of the city.

First we went to one of my favorite stores which is Purl Soho. Lexie had never been inside, and I really wanted her to check out this store. She has a huge love for knitting, and crocheting. I personally am not too big on both, but pinning a lot of projects on my pinterest board gives me inspiration, and a desire to be more diligent when it comes to knitting. Lexie has become a pro at it, and she is my motivator.

She fell in love with all this fabulous yarn! There are so many varieties to choose from, and oh...just look at the colors!

We then ventured out to the Flat Iron district, and the girls finally got to pay attention to the flat iron building. We have driven past it so many times, but we've never walked towards it. 

Isn't it amazing!

Dinner. Where to go for dinner. Being that the trip to the city was a late, late birthday gift for the girls we treated them to Serendipity 3. 

Their favorite is always the dessert! If it was up to them they'd eat this first. 

Me...I'm sorry, but I wanted food! Give me chicken, with carbs, and I'll chow on it! 

and a coke to drink any day, 

and then I'll have dessert! 

While Jon, and Noah were out venturing Times Square I took the girls to see Mary Poppins. Their last performance will be on Sunday, and it looks like Aladdin will be taking over! 

We have been wanting to see this for the past three years, but never made the time for it. So grateful we finally saw it, and it was incredible!

There are times when I go to the city, and I feel free. Free by walking the streets of New York without doing any driving. The city is magically lit, and walking out of the theatre a quarter till 11:00pm felt like morning time to me. I could have stayed up all night, but life goes on and we headed back to 'Joisey'. 

I personally don't mind crowds, and the theatre district is one of our favorite places to hang out. We love broadway, and are very fortunate to be able to see a show every now and then. 

For their next birthday they want to see this show. It'll be very interesting to see how it's performed. I'm sure they won't be closing the curtain anytime soon, because it opens this week! 

a little bit of a snow day.

So we got a little bit of snow this weekend. Not a lot, but enough to make the kids want to go outside to drag their sleds onto the snow. Once they saw the gravel and grass they would hit a different spot near the lot next to our house. 

 No snowball throwing this time. Not enough snow (frown face.)

Noah definitely loves the snow! He actually tolerated the cold temperatures, and lasted longer than ten minutes!

It was a bit of a wimpy snowstorm, but at least we got some moisture. As long as the kids had fun that's all that mattered to me. 

Watching this just shows how much fun these two had in 20 degree weather. 

I had some fun too!

They're favorite part after playing hard on a cold winters day...hot chocolate! 

A night at the museum.

Once upon a time there was a family of six who just loved exploring to their new surroundings every time they moved. This family consisted of four unique children, three girls and one boy. Their nomadic life has landed them on the east coast, and luckily they live close enough to places where there is a lot of art, history, and museums.

Every year their school holds an annual school trip to the Please Touch Museum, and on this night they all went. The children were all excited...particularly Noah and Chelsea. They all love this place, and try to come at least twice a year. It is a great place for the younger kids to enhance their mind.

They all met at the school where the buses were waiting. Noah decided to take a little nap on the way to the museum, and as soon as they arrived the kids quickly got off the bus, and darted into the museum...except Noah. He was barely waking up, but as soon as he stepped inside the museum his eyes opened wide with with wonder, and he began running in every direction trying to figure out where to go first.

The first thing he saw was a hot dog stand at "Rittenhouse". They all ate at the picnic table in the park, and enjoyed "the scenery" and sounds of children laughing, and running around.

Noah even found a "girl" friend at the park. 

After lunch they decided to venture out to see what other interesting things this museum had to offer. They heard about an area where you can wash small cars. 

After observing the cars being washed Chelsea led the way for Noah. They wanted to see what was on the other side of the museum. There was no bus driver at the time so they had to sit (or stand), and wait inside for the new driver to take over.

They were a little concerned as to who their driver was going to be because of the crazy traffic in Philly. Luckily the driver was their older sister, and they knew they'd be in good hands.

Noah waited with anticipation, and they finally arrived at their destination. He was so thrilled when he saw cars bigger than the ones at the "car wash". He was having so much fun that he didn't want to get out of this car. 

Afterwards, they craved water ice, and found a Rita's in "Center City".  

Public transportation is major on the east coast and because they filled their stomachs with so much water ice they decided to take the train to venture out some more. 

It was getting late, and they realized that there was not a thing to eat in the house when they got home. They all went to their local Shop Rite to buy a few groceries. 

"Who knew shopping would be this much fun!" said Chelsea. Noah had fun pushing the cart around, and both had a blast going from aisle to aisle picking out their favorite foods.

Noah's favorite part of shopping was finding the vegetables! He loves his vegetables, and he got plenty of them. 

Including one of his favorites...a pineapple. 

After the shopping was done Noah wanted to cool off by playing with the boats in the canal. There were many children who joined in on this activity, and they all had a fun time splashing the boats in the water. 

The most favorite part of their evening was riding the carousel. They all loved it!

Even Mom. 

There was so much to do in this museum, and it was fun to see everyone having such a great time...even on a school night. It was a perfect evening spent at the museum. 

The End. 

Cherishing the olympics in 2012.

When Salt Lake City hosted the Olympics back in 2002 it seemed as if the whole valley didn't sleep for those two weeks! It truly was a party, and for most Utahns I honestly believe that some of them have never experienced such craziness filled with nightlife! It wasn't Vegas, but it certaintly was a party having a band playing almost every single night in the city. My in laws can definitely attest to that since they were volunteers for some of the events.

I remember a few of my friends telling me how they were going through withdrawal when it was over, and me being the party girl that I used to be way back in the day it did feel different. Salt Lake was back to normal when everything ended, and I'm especially grateful for the Olympics coming to a state that no one thought would ever succeed. We mormons do know how to have fun, and put on a party!

How nice it would be today if we were all in London as a family sitting in on one of the event's. That would be nice, but watching the Olympics on the telly sitting on our couch has been just fine.

It's been a little hard though watching the Olympics for the past two weeks especially when they air late in the evening, but we have managed to set some time aside to watch a few of our favorite events. There have been so many inspiring moments, and my hope for "world peace" increases when I see actions of unity, and love airing on television.

I remember when the Olympics were held in Sarajevo. I was about 13, and Mary Lou Retton was my favorite. I admit I shed tears when she landed perfectly from the vault on this video. It was a beautiful moment for her. I always wondered how such a petite girl could run so fast, and bounce so high while doing somersaults.  My favorite part of watching the Olympics are the emotions that come with it. It'll be bittersweet to see the finale when all the athletes express their emotions knowing that they have accomplished a fulfillment that they have been working towards since they were in preschool years!

One of Sierra's favorite sport is beach volleyball, and unfortunately missed all the action last night when these two lovely ladies won the gold. She is at a youth conference for church until Saturday so sadly she'll be missing the events for the rest of the week. We've enjoyed all the events from swimming to gymnastics, and Lexie's favorite... rowing.

As we near the final stages of the Olympics we've decided to have a little Olympic party, and made these crafts.

Since Chelsea is learning how to bake she wanted to help me make cupcakes and add froot loops on top as Olympic rings! I really have to thank those on Pinterest who share their creativity for all the world to see!

Our olympic cupcakes!

I love the Olympics, and I always want to keep a positive outlook no matter how harsh the media can get. I always cherish the happy moments it brings, and as each generation changes so does the world. I want our kids to watch the Olympics in a positive manner in hopes that they can accomplish their own goals just as all these athletes are doing.

keeping cool in the pool.

The days have been hot & humid, but that doesn't stop any of us from continuing to go on our walks on the trail, or play in the pool. 

I told you this pool was going to see the light of everyday this summer! 


Maybe we should invest in buying a bigger pool because there is no way we could ever install one in our backyard because we don't have enough room!! Still...these kids cannot get enough of the sun, their small pool, or these water sponges! We have made so many and the more Noah and Chelsea throw them at each other the quicker they tear apart which means we need to make more! 

I am so glad they all are continuing to have fun. We sure are keeping ourselves busy home during this summer, and taking advantage of each day because before we know it school will be resuming again.

I'm grateful for how the kids have been behaving while Sierra has been gone. We have all missed her, and the kids are super excited because she comes home tomorrow!

Yeah...summer is the best! Who cares if it's hot! As long as you get wet, and stay cool!

nature walk.

The more I go for walks on the bike trail the more I love the borough we live in, and we have been doing a lot of that lately. The trail is 2.7 miles long, but when I have the two younger ones we usually walk a mile and a half of it. As long as we have our water in hand we have no problem making it back home.

Throughout our walks the girls and I were discussing how sometimes it feels as if we are still living in North Carolina, or hiking through parts of Oregon while walking through the path. To me there are parts of Jersey that don't seem like they belong, but I feel privileged that we do have a nice scenic route, and it is only a few blocks away from our home.

Like the beach, the path is a place where you feel at peace, but without the crashing of the waves. It's so serene to see a small stream flowing as you stand from the bridge, to hear birds chirping, and watching little squirrels climbing trees. 

Little did I know that this was an abandoned railroad trail, and all that is left is this red restored caboose. I'm beginning to think that there is more to life in Jersey, and that I am just now really appreciating what our historic town has to offer. We are going on our fifth year living here, and the more I go out and explore our little borough by foot...the more we appreciate living here.