NO.....SLEEP.....TIL BROOKLYN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Wednesday, Tracy and I packed up and left for Brooklyn, NY to see Becca and Parham. This was our longest trip away from Abby and I thought I would be a mess, but even though I really missed her, I enjoyed my time with Tracy and our friends.

So here in a nutshell was our trip:

Wednesday
1:30 - Arrive in NYC

Afternoon - Parham showed us his own personal tour of NYC

• Grand Central Station (had some wonderful cheesecake at Juniors)
• Upper West Side
• Central Park (part of the west side and had a hot dog from a vendor)
• 
  The Village (ate pizza at Stromboli's)

Evening - went back to Brooklyn and met Becca. Went to eat at a local brewery-esque place and then went to a bar that had a Bocci Ball Lane in it.

Thursday
Morning - Went to Ellis Island with Becca and Tracy. It was super interesting and I recommend it. We didn't bother getting off at the Statue of Liberty but waved as we passed by. We also saw Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. We ate lunch in the Fashion District at a little Greek place as we dropped Becca off at her job.

Afternoon -

• American Museum of Natural History (super wonderful...reminds me of Night at the Museum)
• Belvedere Castle
• Walked all up and down the East side of Central Park
• Had cheesecake at Carnegie Deli
• Went to M&M World
• Walked around Times Square

Evening -

• Went and picked up Becca from work
• Met Parham at the most famous pizza place in NY, Grimaldi's Pizzaria in Brooklyn. This was like a mob owned place. You waited outside (glad it wasn't raining) and then the little old owner/manager would walk outside and pick who came in. The pizza was wonderful and it was truly an experience.
• Went to a little bar right down from Grimaldi's to watch NBA playoffs and drink. We had great random conversation with random people.

Friday
Morning - lounged around a little in the morning

• Top of the Rock at Rockerfeller Center
• St. Patrick's Cathedral
• light shopping on 5th avenue
• Beer tasting at Heartland Brewery
• Lunch at The Stand....some of the best burgers I have ever had...totally recommend it.

Afternoon -

• Walked from Fashion District to NOHO
• SOHO
• Chinatown for some shopping
• Little Italy...had a great chocolate canoli!
• More Times Square (Hershey's World, Hard Rock, etc.)

Evening -
Picked Becca up from work
Met Parham and went to the Mets vs Braves game where I watched my Braves lose.

Saturday
Morning - Lounged around with Becca. Went and got Broadway tickets for the next day. Becca showed us around some of Brooklyn. We ate at this random little Greek place which had the worst service I have ever seen in my life, but the food was actually pretty good.

Afternoon - We went and saw Prospect Park in Brooklyn and then some shoe shopping right down from Becca and Parham's place.

Evening - Becca took us to the Meatpacking District where we got to see all the really cool/trendy places. We finally ate dinner around 11 or so at this little Italian place.

Sunday
Morning - More lounging around Brooklyn

Afternoon - Saw In The Heights on Broadway. It was amazing. Corbin Bleu is the star right now and we totally loved it.

Evening - Tracy and I ate at this little place in Brooklyn called Chip Shot. It was a English Pub type place with tons of fried foods but it was really good. We had the fish and chips and it was WONDERFUL. They also had fried snickers, fried reeses, fried twinkies, fried mac n cheese (we had thsi and it was amazing), fried pizza, fried burgers, etc. It was featured on the Food Network. We then walked across to a little bakery and got an assortment of treats to take back to Becca and Parham. We then packed up and watched some comedians and ate dessert.

Monday
We left NYC :(....but I was sooooooooooooo super excited to see my Abs. She looked like she had grown a foot and Grandma said she was wonderful. Tracy and I took her to the park immediately and then came home to relax a little.

Bluebonnets 2010

Besties

We got to watch Alex tonight while Josh and Jamie went to H-town.  They are such besties. I know they miss each other every day.  When they ate dinner they both wanted what the other had....so we switched!  Then they played what Abby calls 'ashes' (ring around the rosie) and read plenty of books and played toys.  While they busied themselves I tried to pack from NYC as we leave tomorrow (yes...very excited).

Abby finally went to sleep and Alex fell asleep in Tracy's arms while he was rocking.  A perfect ending to a fun filled night.

MS150 - Although it should really be called MS180

Today my husband along with other Reynolds workers finised the MS150.  For those that don't know, this is a 2 day, combined total of 180 mile bike ride from Katy to Austin.  You bike 100 miles the first day and about 80 the next day.  I was too scared to participate!  My uncle participated in it for the millionth year.  I am very proud of my husband for finishing as he didn't train as much this year as last.  Congrats!

A group of riders coming in at the last turn

The back of Tracy as I was not quick enough to get the picture of him coming

The 'volunteers' - Dale, Jackie and Fred

Very Shocked

So on a random note, at this month's company birthday party, I won Supervisor of the Month.  I was very surprised and extremely pleased that I received this award.  Yay me.

Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hopping Down the Bunny Trail

Easter was a busy morning.  The Easter Bunny visited us and left baskets for each of the kids.  Abby and Riley were first up and had to inspect everything and then Austin popped up when he found out Riley was going through his basket.  We finally got Daddy up and then Riley and Abby and I got dressed in our Easter best and went to church.  That evening we took the kids to Gattitown and then we came home and had an indoor Easter Egg hunt.  Each egg had differnet denominations of money and candy in them.  It was sad to have to pack everything up after that as the kids were leaving early the next morning to go back to Washington.  It was a very fun day!

Mudbug Time

Crawish Time 2010

So this is the time of year we have tons and tons of crawfish.  It was no different this year except we had the kids and it was Riley's first experience with the mudbugs.  I think she enjoyed playing with them more than eating them.  Abby enjoyed the crawfish but thought they were a little too spicy.  All in all it was a great day with friends and family while we enjoyed everything.  Even Miller came up from Baytown for the festivities.

Abby and Grandpa

Foster after almost exploding our grill.  If you look closely at the left side of his beard it is a little singed

We hit OIL!!!

Well Good Friday was Tracy and I's day off to take the kids to H-town. We had thought about going to the zoo or wandering downtown area and then coming back later that day. So the day starts off as planned....we get in the car and start driving to Houston. We decided to call Denise to see what they were up to because we thought Austin and Riley should get to see their cousins at some point...turns out they were on their way up to Hockley for the OIL Ranch's Easter Day. Plans got changed and we went there to meet up with them.

This was a great day. It was the perfect place for Abby because she could run and be as loud as she wanted. Austin and Riley got to see Katie and Alex. They also all made new friends as there was another family there. There was horse riding, petting zoo fun, hay rides, swings, food, fun and family.

Katie & friend trying to stay on the 'bull'

Do I want drink or snack...drink or snack...that is the question!!!

I will get Daddy off the 'bull'

They seem like they are up to something

As they day went on, Abby made a new friend in Molly.  Molly is a little bit older than Abby but they were best buds by the end of the day.

Abby and Molly giving hugs

Austin and I racing up the poles