Girls trip to NYC!

New York City...we had an absolute BALL!! I don't think it would have been possible to have more fun than we did. I loved every minute of it, and we vowed we would go back really soon. I am so grateful to have such a cute mom and darling sister. I love them dearly. Ok, so onto the trip. My cute Dad...as he was dropping us off at the airport, he handed each of us an envelope and told us to open it up on the plane. He gave us some shopping money and the sweetest little note. Such a cute guy. 

We were there over the anniversary of 9/11. This building right by our hotel was lit up red white and blue. The day of the anniversary just seemed like an ordinary day. I was kind of surprised. I did notice, not just that day, when the police would sound their siren (the quick two beep one), it always reminded me of the sounds of the city after the attack. It is an eery sound to me. There was a banquet at our hotel for firemen who helped during 9/11. It was really cool to see. 

It rained quite a bit while we were there. But, that didn't stop us from going all over town!

Our hotel. So fun to stay in such a fancy and famous hotel! We loved it!

Ok, this is one of our very places in New York. The tenement museum on 97 Orchard Street. Amazing. So much history and so well done. Last time we did a tour and swore we would go back. This time we did two tours. One tour in 97 Orchard, and then a walking food tour. It was so fun! In a year or two they will have a new tour about the holocaust - we promised we would go back and go on that one. 

The night we had our play, we decided to eat room service. We had to do a Waldorf Salad of course. $40 dollars later for just a salad...I about died. We also calculated that the tiny Diet Coke you see there, was $1 an ounce....which totaled to $8. Crazy. Anyway, it was so fun. After dinner we went to go see A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. So so so funny and so darling. It won best musical last year...and I can see why. Loved it. 

We had to go to the American Girl Doll store. I was in heaven. It is 3 stories, and is filled with every teeny tiny thing you could want for your American Girl Doll. I got Lilly a little hat for her and her doll. We were in there for probably over an hour...there was so much to see!

Some random parade. I had to take a picture...there was something so "new york" about it. One thing I adore about New York is all the American flags. They are everywhere, and I love it.

Cute Annie. Annie has been our babysitter for years. She is so talented and so beautiful. She has had a dream of performing in New York since I have known her. She finally took the leap and the opportunity and left for New York. It was SO fun to meet up with her and talk with her. This particular day we stopped in at the mall in Columbus Circle to see my favorite shoe store and grab a snack. She texted me and asked me where we were. I told her, and she said "I am 5 minutes away from you!"...of course we had to meet up. Love this girl and am so proud of her!

The one thing I don't like about travelling is how frumpy I always look. New York gives me crazy hair, and I always look so ragged. So, not many pictures were taken with me in it! This day was an exception. I watch the Today show almost every morning when I am working out. So, I had to get a picture in front of Rockefeller center and NBC Studios. 

Anton was so great to stay home with the girls. He did great with them, and told me he could have gone another 3 days. The girls were perfect for him, and they had a lot of fun. Claire & Lilly (but mostly Claire) cried and cried and cried when I left. It was hard on me to leave them because they were so sad...but I guess as soon as I was gone they were great. They were ecstatic when I walked in the door! 

September

Well, it was that time of year for the girls to go to the dentist. Our usual dentist was selling his practice and so it was a perfect time for us to switch. My next door neighbor growing up is a pediatric dentist, and all of my family go to him...so we gave him a shot. He was awesome and the girls loved him and his office! Lilly's teeth were great. She still has never had a cavity - let's hope that doesn't change. Claire Bear had two. Darn. They were in between her two back molars. So, we had to schedule time to go back and have those taken care of. Cute little thing did perfect! I took her picture with her mouth numbed so I could send it to Anton. Right after I took it, she asked "Can I see?"...broke my heart because the next thing she said was "I look so bad". But, when it came time to her going to school and showing her friends, she was great. I hope she always has that great confidence. 

I have really enjoyed hiking this year. I used to hate hiking...and would dread it. I think the main reason was because my legs would hurt so bad afterward, that it wasn't worth it. After I had both my knees operated on, I have been able to run and hike without any pain. So, it has changed it entirely for me. I am also getting in much better shape - so that helps too. I was so proud of myself this day because I finally ventured off on my own to do a hike...sounds dumb, but I was a little nervous to go without Anton. Now, I go every week while the girls are in school. I absolutely love it. I am always so in awe of how beautiful the mountains are. 

Went to visit Gramps for his birthday. I still miss that guy and think about him daily!

St. George

We went down to St. George for a long weekend to spend some time with Anton's family. We had a great time with the Leonard's...but what's new!? We always love spending time with them. Just the other day I was asking Claire who her best friend is, and she said "Truman". It was also so great to have Anton spend some time with his grandparents. They mean so much to him, so it was great for him to see them. And, they girls always love seeing Grandma & Grandpa! We took a day trip to Grafton where there is a neat little cemetery and a little ghost town. It was really cool to see, and it is always fun to get out and explore. The Leonard's took us on a really neat hike to see some petroglyphs, but I thought Lilly's head was going to explode....it was pretty hot (for us, anyway!) I have never seen her face so red! It was kind of funny! We spent time swimming at both my parents pool and then at Grandmas pool. Swimming is always a favorite activity for my girls. And, it wouldn't be a weekend with the Leonard's if we didn't play games! We look forward to the next trip to St. George so we can spend time with some of our very favorite people!

Kindergarten

Oh my little Claire Bear. I couldn't love her more. I was wondering how I would do sending her off to Kindergarten. It was hard to be sad when she was so excited. For days and days before school started, she would ask over and over how many days were left until she started school. She was beyond excited. I told Anton I think part of it was, she and I went into Lilly's class every week last year, so I think she had an idea of what school was all about. That morning I told her she could have anything she wanted for lunch, and she chose McDonald's. After lunch we grabbed her backpack and off we went! She was so excited that they had the school mascot there, and was excited to see a few friends she knew. I kissed her goodbye, and in she went. It was like I had done it a dozen times before. She was ready, which really calmed my nerves and emotions. It was a strange week for me though. It was such an odd feeling being in my house all alone. I didn't know what to do! I was so happy when they got home from school that afternoon. I had dinner all ready in the crockpot, my house was all nice and clean and my parents came by to give them some Back to School treats and hear all about their day. It was a great day. This week has been totally normal, and I feel completely back to myself and we are in a good routine. Claire is loving everything about school. She is learning to read, and is catching on really quickly and she loves her teacher. I couldn't be happier for her!!

2nd Grade

How did this happen?!?! I can't believe Lilly started 2nd grade!! Time is going by too quickly. She was really nervous to start school because we weren't able to find out which teacher she got until the day before school. She was a nervous wreck about getting the "mean teacher who yells a lot". But, she lucked out and got the teacher she wanted. After she found that out, all her nerves were put to rest. She was so excited to be reunited with some of her favorite friends. So far, this year has been great for her and she still loves school!! I love my little 2nd grader sooo much, and I am beyond proud of the little person she has become. Love my little Lilly Bug!

Outings

When summer comes, the outings begin!! We did our regulars: Temple Square & This is the Place. And, we added a couple new ones too: Cowabunga Bay & The Train museum in Ogden. I love these outings so much. I hope the kids will let us take them on these outings for many years to come. These kiddos love their cousins so much, and I am so grateful for their friendship and love for each other!

We went to Cowabunga Bay and had an absolute ball! Lilly lost her snaggle tooth while we were there - finally!!

We took the FrontRunner train up to Ogden, saw the Museum (so cute!) then had lunch and headed home. It was really fun to do something totally new. The kids loved the train. 

My cute neighbor and friend gave me a Zoo pass. Yes, she gave me a zoo pass. Well, she had me added to theirs, but same thing in my opinion! One morning we didn't have anything going so we decided to go up for a few hours before it got too hot. I loved just being with my girls.

I have said it before, but we love This is the Place. This year they changed the gold mining part, and added a few things that just continue to improve it. They have made it so nice up there. I love it! 

Montana Part 2

The girls and I drove up and met Anton again for a couple weeks in late July. It was great, as usual. It is so low key, and we always have such a great time. It is very different from Salt Lake though - I got kind of home sick. I was ready to spend hot summer days by the pool. Some of the days up in Montana, I would wear a sweatshirt. That's not the kind of summer I am used to!! But, it is beautiful and we are making great memories - some which I would never trade for anything in the world!

We went to a really fun, and really good restaurant called Roost. Chicken, corn bread, coleslaw...Yum! Another one of our favorite places up there is Buffalo Bump. We eat there weekly when we are up there. There are lots of yummy and fun places there.

We took a day trip to West Yellowstone and went to the grizzly encounter. It was crazy! Those bears are so beautiful and so huge! I can't image seeing one of those in the wild. Claire got to see one of her favorite animals - the peregrine falcon (thanks to Wild Kratts). After we saw the animals we walked the town, grabbed lunch at a local diner then went to a little candy store and loaded up on a lot of sugar! It was a fun day. I wish we could have gone into the park. Hopefully next year!

The county fair was going on while we were up there. It is always fun to go see the animals and the crowd. They had a great petting zoo, which was a highlight for the girls. They got to milk a cow too! It was a fun night...there isn't anything quite like a county fair!

Lilly & Maddy. I swear that girl loves her dog more than anything in this world. For many reasons it has been nice to have our own place up there, but being able to take the dogs with us has been a huge plus. Lilly gets super homesick for her dog when we leave them home, so I don't think we would have lasted as long as we did up there if we didn't have Maddy with us!

The Rodeo! The girls had never been to a rodeo, so we figured taking them to one in Montana would be the perfect place! Unfortunately it wasn't the best rodeo...no one qualified for anything, and the bulls they rode weren't huge. Claire kept asking when they were going to ride the "big bulls". It was fun regardless of those things. Hopefully we will catch another one next year!

One thing that is different from Salt Lake is the places (or lack thereof) to go swimming. There is only one outdoor swimming pool, and one indoor. We tried both, and the girls loved them. Our apartment is located right by a huge park filled with walking paths, play ground and this cute little pond. A lot of the ponds up there have their own little "beaches". It warmed up one day enough for us to venture over to that one. It was so much fun! Anton and I just relaxed on the beach and watched the girls play and play. Lilly kept trying to catch tadpoles, but unfortunately she didn't catch one. It was such a great day!