{new york, new york}

About a month ago, Kyla texted me and told me that they were taking a girls' trip to New York City, and wondered if I would be able to join them.  Ummmm....YES!!

Rick was able to take that Friday off, and I found a cheap flight into JFK. It's only about 5 hours driving distance, but I really wanted to spend as much time there as possible, plus the parking is a killer-I still spent less than I would have if I had paid parking and gas!  I left super early on Friday morning, and got there around 8:15am.  I took a cab...all by myself! I've never done that before--I've had a car and driver take me somewhere, but never hailed a cab from the airport alone.  I made it alive. :)  It took over an hour to get to our hotel in Times Square with all of the traffic, but I had gotten up so early, it was nice to relax a bit longer.

When I arrived, I was bombarded with so many childhood memories.  The Cox Family was an integral part of my growing up years, and I spent a lot of time with them and in their home.  It had been awhile since I had seen most of them, and two years since I had seen Kyla. They say that a sign of true friendship is that when you can see a friend even after a long time and it's as if no time has passed.  That's exactly what happened, and I spent a glorious three days exploring the city with them. We stayed at the Marriott Marquis right in the middle of Times Square, and literally a few blocks from Broadway, which is where we spent a lot of time.

There were nine of us, plus three babies, so navigating the city was interesting...but so fun. The babies did really well, and we all took turns watching them and going to shows. Between us all, we say four Broadway plays!!  I saw Matilda and Wicked.  I liked Matilda and LOVED Wicked. I have seen it a couple of times before, but this was by far the best.  The girl who played Elphaba was actually the stand-in, but she was phenomenal.  Those three hours went by so fast!!

We also went shopping, strolled the street fair and the yummiest food ever, went up to the top of the Empire State Building, explored Central Park, went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and attended church in Manhattan, in the Manhattan Temple. We had ice cream parties in the middle of the hotel hallway (babies were sleeping), and spent hours talking. It was wonderful.

We all had flights Sunday evening, and even though mine was a couple of hours later, we all took cabs together to JFK.  There ended up being an accident on the way there, and the traffic was extremely backed up.  They were cutting it very close already, and then they were stuck at check-in because of a baby mix-up--they and different records for the babies that were with them, and after 30-40 minutes of waiting and trying to get it fixed, they were down to minutes before the flight was supposed to leave---and they still and to get through security. Thankfully, the agent escorted us to security, and had us go to the very front of the line, and we made it with literally seconds to spare.  It was a very quick goodbye, which in some ways was probably good, because it was a hard one.

I'm so grateful for wonderful, lifelong friends. I met Kyla the beginning of 7th grade, and there was no separating us from that time forward.  How blessed I was (am) to have her in my life!!

{toronto, here we come!}

We were really spontaneous a few weeks ago, and decided to go to Toronto for the weekend.  Rick was able to take Friday off, so we left that morning!

It's only about a 2.5-3 hour trip, so we had lunch on the road, then headed to Black Creek Pioneer Village.  It's similar to Nauvoo, with all the pioneer shops, a church, school, mill, and a bunch of other things.  It was very well done, and we all had a really fun time exploring and learning more about the people that settled this area. Some of the buildings dated back to the 1700's, so it was very interesting.  We spent the afternoon there, then headed out of the city to where our hotel was. One thing we learned about Toronto--the traffic is TERRIBLE! It didn't seem to matter what time we were driving, the freeway was always packed.

We had dinner at a really fun family restaurant that everyone loved, then headed back to the hotel. We had planned to go swimming, but Rick forgot his suit, and it was starting to get really late.  So we piled the kids into bed for a movie, and they were out in just a few minutes!

The next morning we drove downtown, parked the truck, then took the ferry over to Centre Island. There were a lot of people taking the ferry--there are a bunch of good beaches over there, so we saw a bunch of families with all of their beach gear.  It only took about 10 minutes to cross, and we headed straight for the bike rentals. First on our list was renting a surrey and biking around the island.  I'm glad we went there first--there was already a line, and it just got longer throughout the day. While we waited about an hour or so, the kids all played in the park area, and stayed cool on what turned out to be a very hot day.

Finally it was our turn, and all seven of us (Ryan was having his own vacation in Utah) piled in.  Caroline sat in the basket in the front, Rick and I plus one child (who took turns) sat in the front, and the other three kids were in the back seat.  Rick and I did most of the pedaling, but the kids helped quite a bit too.  It was SO fun! The island is beautiful, but the view to the Toronto skyline was amazing!  When we finished we were literally soaked, but it was very worth it.  After doing more exploring, we took the ferry back downtown, and walked to the CN Tower.  It's the tallest structure in the world, and it is very cool to see in person.  The Toronto Blue Jays were playing while we were there, so it was super crowded, but it was fun to see SO many people wearing blue.  Like everyone!!!

After all the walking we were all starving, so we went to dinner, then piled in the car for the drive home.  We didn't get home too late, and it was nice to get everyone bathed and into bed at a decent hour.  I'd been to Toronto once before, but didn't get to see much of the city, so it was nice to visit there again and take the kids. There is so much more to do there, we can't wait to go back, and it's nice its so close!!

{a day at the river}

Some friends introduced us to a "secret spot" in one of the rivers near us, and took us there one day a couple of weeks ago.  We had no idea what to expect, but it was awesome!! There were layers of shale, and with the current, created little water slides everywhere.  We spent hours there, and they would have stayed even longer if I let them! It was such a fun summer day with good friends!!

{a trip to Olcott}

Just about 45 minutes from us is a darling little town called Olcott. It's right on Lake Erie, and in addition to charming shops, it also has a carousel park where rides are only 25 cents each! That's pretty much unheard of these days, and with so many little kids, it's right up our alley! It was on our summer bucket list, and one Saturday when Rick was out-of-town, I decided it was the perfect thing to get us out of the house and enjoy the day.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day--warm but not hot, with a lovely breeze. The park wasn't quite open when we got there, so we explored the lighthouse while we waited.  The kids ran, rolled down the hill, and looked out at the ships in the distance.  When the park opened, we were the first ones there, and the place to ourselves!  Kate, Emma and Henry couldn't ride all the rides--some of them were for smaller children, so we took turns letting them play games, and Jack & Caroline riding more of the rides. They all loved the huge carousel, and we rode that over and over.  At 25 cents a ride, we spent less than $10 and they rode everything as many times as they wanted!  After spending awhile there, we got something to eat, walked around the shops, and ran around in the park.  It was a great day!!

{july snippets}

July just flew by. I'm still kind of in shock that it's over--it went like the blink of an eye!  We were super busy...here are a few snippets!

The Buffalo Food Fest--largest in the nation!  It was SO yummy! We stuffed ourselves. :)

Kate's 3rd grade teacher has kept in touch with her through text, and she loves it!

Ryan and Rick did security for the Hill Cumorah pageant--Rick texted this picture to me!

Straight from ballet to violin!

{birthday boys}

My babies are SIX!!! I can't believe it!!  They are pretty much the cutest things around, and I adore their personalities.  We had a great celebration for their birthday, and it was a happy day.

Oh, that poor cake. It was cute, but melting by the second.  Our apartment doesn't have air conditioning, and it was HOT outside, so it never stood a chance, even after being refrigerated all day.  But you know, the boys didn't notice at all, and Caroline couldn't keep her fingers out of it, so it was all good. We barbecued, opened presents, ate tons of cake and ice cream, and had a great afternoon outside.

A little six year old update:

HENRY:

-LOVES to eat
-favorite foods are spaghetti, pizza, and cheeseburgers
-loves fire trucks and all things fire fighter related
-already loves math and is excited to learn more at school
-could spend all day in the water if I let him!
-loves to be outside, having adventures
-loves to wrestle his dad--and is getting pretty good at taking him down!
-super curious--wants to know how everything works and why
-favorite color--orange
-79 pounds, 56 inches tall

JACK:

-rule follower--we still call him the "sheriff"!
-loves art, drawing, and letters
-tends to be a perfectionist--likes things "just so"
-keeps all his treasures under his bed
-favorite foods are pizza, cheeseburgers and taco salad
-loves wearing slippers, even when it's hot!
-favorite color--blue
-wants to be in the "secret police" when he grows up (CIA)
-loves being outside and playing all day!

Happy birthday, darling boys!!

{caroline is talking!}

Caroline didn't say much before two, but once she hit that magical age, all of a sudden, she was talking! I absolutely love her little voice, and adore all the cute ways she pronounces everything.

My favorites are thhe kids' names. She can say Emma and Jack, but she has nicknames for everyone else.  Kate is "bug", because we call her Kate-bug, Henry is "dog", because that's one of his nicknames. She calls Ryan "Hippo", and it's the funniest story.  He's been called "Rhino" forever by Rick and a few others (not me), and someone suggested to her that because she couldn't say it, "Hippo" would be the next best thing.  SO funny, but it caught on, and now he is and forever will be her Hippo.

Clearly we are big on nicknames at our house, and it's mostly Rick's fault.  He loves to give them, and not just one.  He has called Caroline "Pete" since before she was born--sometimes Petey-Pie, or Petey-Pants, but Pete is usually in there somewhere.  She hears it so much that now when you ask her her name, she says Pete more than half of the time! The other half it's Liney, and a few times it might be Chubby.

She loves to sing, and the "temple" song is her favorite.  We sing it every.single.night, and now she can join in on a few words.  We sing in this order:  I Love to See the Temple, Twinkle Twinkle, and finally Book of Mormon Stories.  It never varies!  She also loves Itsy Bitsy Spider, but says "buggy" instead of spider.  LOVE that.  When she's scared, or wants to scare someone, she says "ghost!" instead of boo, and it cracks me up every time.

She is just utterly delightful, and I hope to hang on to this adorable talking stage for as long as possible!

poke = park
hoppo = ryan
bug = kate
dog = henry
pinky = pink
what's your name?  = pete, coco
empy = empty
blinking = bleeding

charlie = trolley

grosh = groceries

buttle = buckle, as in "buckle me"

chickies = cheeks

ghost! = Boo!

favorite song? "temple"
"tinkle, tinkle little tar" = twinkle, twinkle
"itsy bitsy buggy"