I Heart New York

In late September I went to New York City to celebrate a monumental birthday of my sister Lorie. I had never been and the graphics person I am enjoyed every bit of the color, sound and weirdness that New York has to offer. We stayed in Times Square and were smack dab in the middle of everything we wanted to do. Took a few taxi cab rides but for the most part we walked everywhere with the exception of the double decker bus tour. On the last night we went to a wonderful Italian restaurant Da Rosina that made homemade gnocchi and then to see Mary Poppins on Broadway.

An example of some of the wierdness after dark. He moved for money...for a dollar we got quite a dance.

Most of the first day of our trip was trying to get into tv show tapings that we did not receive tickets for. Above is my sister Sherry stopping Regis Philbin as his walked to work and pleading for some tickets - no luck.

Sherry and I standing in the Regis and Kelly stand by ticket line.

Debbie and I still waiting in the R and K line. Good thing a street vendor was giving our free coffee!

One of the shows I wanted to get into is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I did not have tickets but wanted to go the studio and give it a shot. So I made a phone call to the show's phone number and left a message while standing outside the place they tape. I thoroughly expected never to hear back. Well I heard back! I didn't get tickets but a very nice guy from the show returned my phone call and assured me that if any tickets came available they would certainly give me call. I was VERY impressed!

After calling and calling and calling I was able to get on the standby list for The David Letterman Show, but no go. We were about six people away from getting in...fiddle sticks.

If you wait outside David Letterman's back door you get to see his guests coming in and leaving. I got to see Simon Baker from the Mentalist and the prime minister of New Zealand...huh!?

One celeb I did get to see was Rupert from the Hello Deli.

The Sheraton on Broadway was the hotel most of the dignitaries from the UN session and celebs were staying. The list of characters I saw walking in and out were Wil I Am, Ashton Kutcher (above), Goldie Hawn, Jessie Jackson, and Michael Graser. The paparazzi was hilarious to watch and interesting to talk to.

I turned out to be a celeb myself. I made it on tv in the crowd shot of The Today Show and had some face time in the audience of The Dr. Oz show. We did have tickets to The Dr. Oz show thanks to my sister Deb! It was very interesting to see what goes on. Our episode aired this past Tuesday.

On our double decker bus tour we got to see many places that we may not have seen because of time. Here is one of the entrances to Central Park.

I loved the architecture and ornate buildings.

Empire State Building at night.

Debbie, Lorie and me

The night we chose to take the bus tour was a tad cold. It sure gave some extra business to the street vendor who had sweatshirt hoodies...brrrr.

Night pic from Brooklyn looking back to NYC

Lorie, me and Deb heading out for our day bus tour.

The corner by our hotel in Times Square

This creepy lobster spun around outside the Red Lobster on Broadway.

Ground Zero is really bustling. They are well on their way to rebuilding a wonderful memorial and complex. We visited the St. Paul church across from the site where all of the emergency workers went to rest. The inspirational drawings from children still adorn the walls - it was all very moving.

We took a ferry over to the Statue of Liberty. This is the view as we pulled away from the dock.

Lady Liberty

Lorie, me and Deb

This sculpture called The Sphere used to reside in the courtyard of the World Trade Center. It was of course damaged when the towers fell. They salvaged what was left and moved it to Battery Park where it will remain with an eternal flame - the story is below.

Too bad...our town car that we ordered to be taken back to the airport was busy. They could only find this stretch limousine...LOL

This kids made this wonderful Welcome Home sign and had similar signs at the airport. Aidan is also showing off his NYC fire truck and double decker bus that he got as souvenirs.

Crazy week...

Our family has had a crazy week. Last Sunday Thom was admitted into the hospital for chest pain. He came in from working outside and said he didn't feel right so I took him the ER. After taking his vitals they immediately did a million tests and admitted him into the chest pain center. His blood pressure was very high and some levels in this blood were suggested a possible mild heart attack. Needless to say we were all extremely freaked out. Not to mention that Aidan's birthday was the next day we had a barbecue and party planned for him. Thom was kept in the hospital until they could do a nuclear stress test on him Tuesday morning. This of course caused him stress because of the store. He walked me through the paperwork and deposits and how to open the store on Tuesday morning. I found two of our employees who could cover the store for the day and evening. Thankfully the stress test came out negative and all of the monitoring determined that no heart attack had occurred so Thom was released Tuesday afternoon. He does have some high blood pressure to manage and is on medication as well as a healthier diet. Thank you so much for all the prayers! My hubby is home and has had a huge wake up call.

Our second OMG of the week happened Thursday morning. Quinn had walked outside to go to school. About five minutes later she came back in crying and holding her pet rabbit Clowe. Our dog Bella had attacked Clowe. It appeared that the dog had had some fun with the rabbit and was treating her like a stuffed toy. The rabbit was not bleeding anywhere but was missing some fur on her hind leg. Clowe was immediately taken to the vet and had a faint heart beat but she did not survive. The vet said that rabbits are not very durable and even the smallest amount of roughness can do them in.

When Thom picked Quinn up from school he broke the news that Clowe had died. Quinn was initially very mad at Bella, but we explained her instinct to her and said that we really could not fault her. After much discussion it was determined the that door to the rabbit hutch was not secure so Clowe got out into the larger pin we have surrounding the hutch. Clowe muscled her way out of the pin and into the yard. When I let Bella out that morning that was all she wrote. We will have Clowe cremated and Quinn will keep her ashes in her room.

Yikes...what a week!

Aidan's 5th Birthday

With all the events from last weekend Aidan's birthday wasn't quite how we planned, but we did our best to celebrate his day. The birthday boy started his day out by opening his presents from Quinn which was a Tonka garbage truck and a Mr. Potato Head kit. Aidan didn't know what to make of the day and missed Daddy terribly. To cheer him up I decided to show him his BIG present from Thom and I and Grandpa and Grandma...it was still in the back of my car in the box. We had planned to have the John Deere tractor put together and out in the yard for his party but had to readjust. Uncle Tim was a huge help and put it together when I brought the kids over for the day. Aunt Emma sent pics of Aidan riding it to my cell phone so I could show Thom in the hospital. Those pictures made Thom feel so much better. He was very concerned that Aidan got to ride his tractor that day. After making sure that Thom was doing okay I picked up the cake and balloons and headed to Tim and Emma's house for Aidan's impromptu birthday party. He got a remote control monster truck and rode his tractor around the yard some more before we headed to see Thom. Aidan was so happy to see his Daddy! I imagine that was the best present of the day.

Aidan opening his presents from Quinn

The Hot Wheels/#5 cake that Dillons made for us...it is made out of cupcakes! I was very pleased and Aidan thought it was "so cool".

Waiting while we sang Happy Birthday

Wonder what his wish was?

Aidan's Hot Wheels balloon

Fourth of July 09

I know it's August, but blogging is the last thing I have had time to do lately. With that said...our Fourth of July was way different than in year's past and was so great!!! Instead of heading over to Thom's parents house some friends invited us over for a swim in the pool, a little barbecue and fireworks. We had a wonderful time!!! Quinn and Aidan definitely enjoyed the pool. Thom and I enjoyed the tasty grilling and cooking from our hosts Mark and Leann. Mark is a master cook so when he asks you over for dinner...you accept. We feasted on marinated kabobs, sauteed mushrooms, shrimp, sausage...mmmmmm. Leann also made some fabulous monkey bread that none of us could resist!

Mark and Leann have a great seat to some top notch firework displays. We really didn't need to buy any ourselves, but Thom and the kids can't resist. Along with some crazy big and expensive night works, the big find for fireworks this year was a thing called "Sliders". You roll them on the ground with your shoes and they make an awful crackle burning sizzling sound that freaks you out. Now I do not generally like all the explosions and fire involved with the fourth, but these were so cool. I highly recommend.

Aidan using up the last of the sparklers. I don't know why Thom buys these. Quinn and Aidan only want things that explode.

Below is what the animals thought about the whole Fourth of July holiday... Emmit was tired of being wet and Bella hid under the table from the loud booms.

Space Came 09

Quinn went to Space Camp again this summer. She has gone with her friend Katy each year so it is now a tradition. Lucky for Quinn and Katy that the Cosmosphere had a last minute addition to the camp schedule that included their age and grade level. This year's camp was called Space Shots and was a mini version of the next level which is the Future Astronaut Training Program.

The girls roomed together in the college dorms like last year except the dorm rooms were much nicer than last year. You should have seen the girls...they were putting things away and hanging up their clothes like they were old pros to the whole dorm life! The program was an intense three days, but well worth it.

Katy, Quinn and Aidan

Who knows...Maybe someday they will go to the moon!?

Aidan posing in front of some of the exhibits

Quinn and her team at graduation - it is quite a setup

Summer Softball

Quinn decided to join the local softball league this summer. Since she took a break from summer ball for three summers now she had some catching up to do. We were so proud of how hard she worked and she always wanted to practice. Her position in the outfield was right field and sometimes second base. Quinn's team was not the winning kind, but a great experience none the less. After struggling the entire season with her batting, Quinn knocked one out into left field at her last game of the season. I was so mad because it was the one game that I did not attend because I had to take Bella (the dog) to obedience training...ugh.

Up at bat

Waiting her turn to be up at bat