Just fun

We gave Milly a quarter of an Twinkie, I didn't think the Twinkie had that much cream in an entire Twinkie let alone the quarter we gave her.

Halloween

I know as she gets bigger Holidays will become more and more fun, however Halloween was a still a great time. She had no idea at the time that candy was in her bucket yet she still would never give it up. Getting into the car after a trunk or treat was the worst you would have to pull so hard to get it away from her, just so you could put her seat belt on and hand it right back. She also loved dumping the candy out and just playing with it. We went to many Trunk or treats and took her over to some friends and the grandpartents on Halloween night. I also made home made dounuts like my mom always did for the first time this year and I think our tradition from here on out may just be Krispy Kreme. They weren't good at all and it sucks having a huge mess for something not very good. Milly was also many things for Halloween as you can see she was Winne the pooh,a butterfly, and she even was an M and M and a skeleton.

One Last Play Date

Before Danell and her family moved to Seattle, I had to beg to take the kids one last time so Milly could spend some time with them. I know they are still young but I love the way Milly and Bella play together I could watch those 2 for hours. We enjoyed picking raspberries (Cal and Cade ate all of them in my refridge plus the ones off the vine) played, played with chickens and had a Picnic for dinner.

Lets sum it up!

To sum it up we had a great time on a much over due vacation. Prior to going Andrea told us she would take Milly the 3 days we wanted to go to the city, this meant so much to us. We were not only able to get in at least 12 times more things done, but it was great for Brett and I to remember what fun just the 2 of us can have, I also loved knowing she was in perfect hands and having a great time. I really cant describe how much this meant to us, Thank a million Andrea!
Also I realized again by seeing her just how great of friends she really is to me and how much I miss seeing her all the time, yes Andrea you not the Casinos lol. Thank you for being a wonderful big sister but I think most of all for supporting me and supporting my business. I sometimes complain that when we would visit her she would always have me pack my nails supplies or even my eyelash supplies. I think to myself I am on vacation I dont want to do nails or eyes, however I do and I appreciate you even wanting me to work on you.
Thank you for opening your house to us and for all the fun memories! Also thank you for loving my daughter and taking such good care of her even though sometimes I'm sure she made you want to rip your hair out.

Fire Island Lighthouse and the Beach

We couldn't have ended our fast pace vacation any better than we did. It was such a nice beautiful walk to the Lighthouse. It didn't even matter that it was an overcast and we couldn't see much from on top of the Lighthouse. After our Lighthouse tour we played at the Beach Milly did a little better with the sand and water.

Coney Island Ferris Wheel

I love Ferris Wheels and thought it would be fun to ride this together as a family. I had us ride on a moving one thinking it would just sway a little back and forth. Boy was I wrong. This thing was like being on a roller coaster, I was so scared for Milly. It did not help either that the thing is so old and you thought it could bust at any moment.

Nathans and Atlantic Ocean

After the Aquarium we enjoyed some delicious Hot Dogs at Nathans, we ate lunch over looking the ocean, I dont think there is a better view in the world than to just relax and enjoy this view. After lunch we walked down to the ocean. Milly was not a fan at all of the sand it felt so weird to her, she also didn't care for the water either it was pretty cold, But it is all about saying she has been in the Pacific and now the Atlantic.

New York Aquarium

We had a great time at this aquarium, Brett and I love going to Aquariums wherever we visit and this was one of the Best ones, it may have been the company!!! Anyway they had great exhibits and a wonderful fun Sea Lion show. Brett and I also enjoyed a break frompushing Milly around in the stroller all the girls loved pushing her.

Coney Island Boardwalk

We enjoyed all the different art on our walk up to the Aquarium. Finally sometime with my sister and kids.

Friday Night and Moms Birthday!

Once we arrived back we had time to pick up the best pizza I have ever had and enjoy Pizza and a movie. Milly thought this was so fun, she had never got to eat anywhere but her high chair and to be doing this with cousins was really neat. Well the movie was pretty lame so it wasn't long before everyone found themselves doing other things. We than celebrated my moms birthday, it was really sweet Andrea made a cake and took out time to teach her children, Milly and Brett about our mom. She also had a small picture of her. The best part was Alix tol me "That we wave the picture over the candles to blow them out." I thought wow were really technical over here and quite frankly I wasn't sure what I thought about it. However come to find out it was her idea and they really dont do that. However Andrea maybe you should, After all "Its like shes blowing out the candles herself"!!!

Last Day in the City Day 3

We were ready for this day it was going to be our most relxing day thus far for the trip and we were ready for it. It was sprinking at my sisters so we thought it would probably be the same or better in Manhattan. Yes we were positive thinkers, however this got us know where. It rained so hard we couldnt see places and it was just a mess. Ponchos did nothing. So we pretty much just stayed on the tour bus. But we did get off to eat Cheesecake at Ileans. It was fabulous than one of the workers suggested a place for lunch in Little Italy and WOW I would give anything to eat there again and again. Now I am a firm believer that all food is good in NY but this place really was fabulous and worth making the trip for. So we ate shopped as much as we could stand, we both were in jeans and lets face it you can only stand to be in wet jeans for so long. Plus we were excited to start spending time with Milly again and most of all my cousins and sister.

Central Park, Plaza Hotel and the famous BIG Piano

We than hopped on our Tour Bus that took us around Upper Manhattan. We had the worst tour guide, seriously I dont care where you live your parents and grandparents live. But aside from that we saw some really cool places like where Ghostbusters was filmed, where Steve Martin lives while in New York and others.

Grand Central Station

We were here and it was "Grand Central Station" ha ha
This is also where we waited the longest amount of time for a Subway and us and so many other people we standing there waiting, you can tell by the way I look that is was humid and hot down there. At one point I looked over to see a man next to me sweat just rolling down his face it was gross.

Brooklyn Bridge

After the we got off the Ferry we walked over and walked half of the Brooklyn Bridge. It would have been nice to walk it all however that means we would have had to walk back and we just didn't have time for that. It is an amazing Bridge so much detail to everything. I have no idea how many cables are on that Bridge but it has to be a ton.

Statue Of Liberty

I'm so glad my sister and travel agent told us to get advanced tickets, but by the time we did the crown was sold out but we were able to get pedestal, it was really neat to be able to go in and see this view. We enjoyed lunch on the Island and just walking around. It really was a privilege to go see Americas History.

Battery Park

It was a short walk from the reflection pools to Battery Park where we walked around the park and than got onto the fairy to see the Statue of Liberty. I remember seeing this sculpture here with Tiffany back in 2002 for some reason I remembered this sculpture really well. It stood in the World Trade Centers plaza.

9-11 Reflection Pools

I was so privileged and glad I was able to see these. They opened for the public on September 12 2011 and we got to see them just ten days latter. I can not describe the feeling I had in there. Even though we were surrounded by kids on a field trip that I dont really think they comprehend where they are there was still a spirit there. I'm so glad once again for this opportunity to have been there it truly was the highlight of my trip.

Other Sights

We had a little over an hour to kill before we could get into the memorial so we walked around and enjoyed some of the popular things to see in New York. You can no longer get very close to the Bull they have it fenced off ( I think to many inappropriate pictures with it).

The Protesters

It is crazy to think that these protesters have now stretched all across the US and even in SLC and we saw it starting to unroll in Manhattan. I get annoyed seeing these people, for one splint second I think well they have the right to vice their opinion and than on the other, well I shouldn't even get started because I wouldn't want to offend people who may read this. So after all that I will keep my opinions to myself. I know this is my journal and I should say how I feel but I worry to much about other people.

Day 2 9/11, Statue of Liberty, Central Park tour and more..

We talked so highly about waking up early so we could get in line to insure tickets to the 9/11 memorial (they opened part of it Sept 12 2011) but after being woke up by some cute kiddos at 4am our time and running around like crazy we were pretty tired so we did our best but we also took the wrong Subway so we actually didn't get there till like 9:30am when we were trying for 8, however it didn't matter we still received tickets for the 11am tour. We walked around in the temporary museum and just recalled and thought about the the timeline of the day we saw some really neat stuff. After we walked around the outside and just looked at near by buildings