Day Four-- slowing it down

We being our last full day in the big city, we decided to take it a bit easier on ourselves. First stop of the day was the Museum of Modern Art.

An unexpected pleasure was that the big sixth floor special exhibition was all about James Ensor. This was such a special show that they didn't allow photography inside which is a bummer because that man made some freaky stuff.

An James Ensor has a special place in my heart because of this song, of course.

We jumped on the subway again and headed off the the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Pictures in the cathedral just don't come out so you'll just have to use your imagination. It's a big giant building. Awe inspiring big.

One block away was this recognizable diner. The kids were thrilled.

We ended the day by seeing Chicago which blew us all away. And instead of all being dead on our feet tired right now, we are all doing pretty well. We've seen so much on this trip and now it's time to head home.

Day Three--- run, run, run

Up at the crack of dawn so we could catch the first ferry, we headed off to the Statue of Liberty this morning. We actually made the second ferry because of a some huge subway delays, but there still wasn't a line at Battery Park. The ferry ride was a bit roly-poly but enjoyable.

We wandered around Liberty Island. It was a beautiful morning.

Getting into the monument was a huge drag. I don't even want to talk about it and we have no pictures.

After we got back to the mainland we strolled about Battery Park a bit.

We came back to midtown and explored Grand Central Station for awhile since that's where we got off at.

After lunch we took a rest at Bryant Park. Then we headed off to Rockefeller Center. We toured NBC which was much better than I thought it would be but a little short for a tour.

Our day finished off with a visit to Top of Rock which was a completely different kind of view of the city than we had at the Empire State Building last night.

And then we could do no more.

Day Two of NYC

We started today at the Museum of Natural History. We saw many wonderful things but this section of sequoia was my favorite.

It's not easy to take pictures of the blue whale, but here's one of the attempts.

After we left the Museum we went strolling through Central Park. During our walk a fairly serious thunderstorm brewed up. Luckily we made to Belvedere Castle to wait out the storm. Of all the places to stuck during a storm in NYC, you couldn't do much better than finding shelter in this little castle.


We were still soaking wet when we arrived at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. I've been to wax museums before that weren't so great so I had pretty low expectations. But it was a fantastic place. You can go right up to the pieces and pose with them. We took tons of pictures of course. Here's The Man and Boy hanging out with Ozzy.

And this is the Incredible Hulk ready to squish a very willing Boy.

We had dinner a noodle shop and then made our way to the Empire State Building. The outside observatory was closed because of lightening. We were just about to leave when the doors were finally opened.

And that made the visit perfect.

A little bit more of Day One

We are getting ready to go out the door to start Day Two.

Here's a few more shots of Day One.

Times Square from the Duck.

The Hershey store which is a lot more impressive from the outside than the inside.

Between the Duck turning from a bus into a boat you ride into a little hanger which they close up around you and then play a CGI movie of Henry Hudson exploring the river and how it developed. There was thunder and lightening and some actual rain came down us. Finally the front opened up and we drove down into the river.

There's the skyline with the Intrepid sitting there looking huge.

New York City Day One

We took tons of pictures today in New York City but Blogger is really acting slow, so you are only get these six pictures.



We had to get up crazy early to catch our flight. This was the first plane ride for the kids. It was a quick and smooth trip.



We strolled around Times Square to start and ended up at Toys R Us. That's where The Girl found the life sized Barbie house. Ooooh.
Here they are up on the second floor. Ahhhhh.

I was more taken with the Lego creations. So cool.

Later in the afternoon we took a tour on the Duck which is a bus and a boat all in one.

Like I said we have lots of wonderful pictures from around the city and some great shots from the Duck tour. Let's hope the picture situation resolves itself in the morning.

Until then, here's the Empire State building as we drove by in the Duck. More later!

The Stinky Story of a Door and a Dog

We're getting a new screen door for our front door today. Right now actually while I'm typing this the guy is working away taking away the old door and putting up the new one. Good-bye old door!

And why are we getting a new door? Well it's not because of this springy thing that hasn't been attached forever and let's the door just swing wildly in the wind. No.

And it's not because of this wonky latch that sometimes won't open and sometimes won't stay shut. Well, then again, maybe it is the latch. But mostly we are getting a new door because of...

Marco!

Yes, Marco has learned how to open the door this summer and let himself out into the great wide world. He's so clever the way he wiggles the wonky latch with his big dumb nose until he's free. We've been forced to lock the screen door to keep him in. But locking that door is a drag and we often forget. Like last night.

Last night I was brushing my teeth when I heard the dog start to go absolutely nuts barking out the front door. I stopped and thought, "Is that door locked?" The very next second I heard the unmistakable sound of the door being thrown open and Marco exiting the premises. I put down my toothbrush and headed downstairs to help wrangle him home.

But right away I could tell this wasn't an ordinary jail break. Something was really wrong. The Man was already outside pulling Marco away from the shrubs and losing the fight. Marco was freaking out even more than usual. And then I smelled it.

What upset Marco so much that he had to run outside and protect us all? It was someone who looked like this.

This isn't the actually skunk of course. This isn't even a real skunk. It's super cute skunk puppet. Marco wasn't attacked by a puppet though. It was the real thing and he got sprayed something fierce.

Here's where the battle happened. Right off the front porch. Lovely.
Thus ensued a late night of peroxide, baking soda, dish soap, garden hoses, dog shampoo, showers for all of us and a load of laundry with a healthy dose of bleach thrown in.

Unfortunately, after Marco ran out the front door and met his new friend, he then came back in the house and started rubbing his big dumb head EVERYWHERE. It was an intense struggle to get him back out. That's why needed to do a load of laundry. To cut to the chase, the house reeks now. It is just plain awful. I went out and picked up some stuff that supposed to work miracles. I hope so because we need it!

I have the skunk scent also stuck in my head right now, so even if the house is getting better through a combination of every window being open, every fan running and the miracle stuff, I won't know it for awhile. Sleeping last night was a challenge with the whole world smelling like skunk.

But the guy just left and here's the new door, exactly one day too late.

And here's Marco pondering what he'll have to protect the world from tonight. I'm hoping for puppets.

Ode To Joy

In honor of my special day, my favorite Muppet,Beaker makes this presentation.

Lake Erie Crushers

In honor of Aunt Rhonda's birthday, we all headed off to a Lake Erie Crushers game. This was a first for all of us since the whole situation out there is brand spanking new. Being an independent league stadium, they do everything in their power to make sure you have a great time and want to come back. There's even this giant inflatable toy area.

Here's our birthday girl who was treated like a queen all night. That would be her sister, my mother, giving her bunny ears.

They have a birthday package there that is almost too good to true. First she was brought on the field so she could throw out the first ball. Here she is with Stomper on the pitcher's mound.

Here she is just before she threw the ball. This announcer guy asked her how old she was and she proudly told everyone 58.

Here's The Girl, The Mom and The Man's hands. We all got a birthday ice cream cupcake as part of the birthday package. While they weren't the easiest things to eat, they were worth the work.Coincidentally it was also a t-shirt giveaway night, so we all got a giant blue shirt just for showing up. The Boy here flashes the pseudo gang sign for "Hey, I'm at a baseball game".Uncle Dale came along. One of my favorite part of the night was when he was on the phone with my Aunt Diane and told her, "Yeah, it's real baseball! They've got uniforms and everything!"

This is my mom's BFF Cindy. She earned a spot in this post by buying me a beer. Cindy's favorite part of the game was ogling all the players. She declared, more than once, "There's not a dog in the bunch!"

And here's The Brother discovering why you don't sit in front of Dale.
Rhonda also got a game ball signed by all of the players and a program. Uncle Bruce bought her a ball cube in the gift shop to keep it safe. The goodies just kept coming!

The Crushers won the game in a spectacular fashion in the tenth inning. It was the topper to a perfect evening.

Then there were fireworks.

Happy Birthday Aunt Rhonda. I'm so glad we got to spend it with you!