The More Simple Moments

We went none stop for nearly a week before we took much of a break. This pretty much sums up how we all felt.

We made some time for some of the more low key things. I think one of the biggest highlights for me on the trip was the Manhattan Temple. Jeff watched Harrison one morning so that I could go and attend a temple session. I should have looked more closely online to the sessions, because I picked one that was in Spanish. I did have headphones so it was great and I felt like it really helped me focus more. It was an amazing experience and a beautiful temple. It is amazing how such a peaceful place can exist in such a busy place.

We also ate a lot of good food while we were gone. We ate Thai food and a couple of places, Chinese food from a couple of places, some good pizza places, pasta in Little Italy and some burger places. All the food was amazing, but eating out is not something we do a lot, so it was all good, but I don't know how people do it a lot. My pregnant body just started to crave salad and home cooked meals.
We also got to visit Jeff and his "work office" as Harrison calls it. We met him for lunch or after work a few times.
The view from the front of his office.
It rained for 2 days (which was nice because it limited what we could do) and we all needed a break from all the walking and sight seeing. So, when Jeff got home from work, he and Harrison got out and did some puddle jumping. They had a great time. I opted to stay inside, dry and take some pictures.
There was also a great park near our Hotel that we could go to and have some low key mornings. Harrison enjoyed it a lot and I have never really been to an urban park. It was fun. And I think we were some of the only people who spoke English as a first language. I heard Spanish, all sorts of Asian languages, Eastern European, Russian and some Italian. It was interesting to feel like I was the one who didn't know what was going on. But also fun to be emerged in such cultural diversity.

Madison Square Park, Food and Times Square x2

One of the first things we did when we got to New York was check out a downtown walking park. This was also the home of the original Shake Shack, which came highly recommended. It did not disappoint either. The only thing I didn't like was waiting in line for an hour for a hamburger, fries and a shake.

But Jeff and I took turns with Harrison walking around the park to kill time and it was really a nice night out.
We found this great little Italian Market near the park. It was fun to walk through. Most of the people who shopped there were interesting. I have never been to a grocery store before where you can get a glass of wine and walk around with a basket to shop. It was pretty funny to me.
Harrison liked the crab tank that they had.From there we again took the subway and made our way to Times Square. I ended up going back again with Harrison again during the day, but wanted to see it at night and during the day. Waiting for the subway...Times Square at night


Making friends with New York's finest.

Toys R Us in Times Square

The Red Stairs


We went back a few days later during the day and had a good time.
We went back to Toys R Us and saw the Dinosaur
Harrison wouldn't get too close.
We also went to the Disney Store and had a good time there. We even found Woody and Buzz outside.
Back at the Red Tables (just below the red stairs), playing with our new Cars from Disney.

M&M world
The view at Sunset from just outside our hotel off the Long Island Expressway.

Another First-Bowling

They have free bowling for kids all summer long down here. We haven't taken advantage of it until some friends invited us. So, on a Saturday (8/27) we decided to get out of the house and go bowling with some friends. It was a lot of fun, after Harrison got over crying most of the way there because it was so hot outside. We broke records of heat with 109 that day!

But once we were bowling, Harrison had a good time. He did a good job, but the hardest part was waiting his turn. There were 5-6 people on both lanes that we had so waiting for 4 other kids to bowl was a long time. But he did well and had a good time. Maybe we will trying bowling again soon. Next time, I am bringing Daddy though!
Nothing cuter then a boy in his bowling shoes!
We switched back and forth between using the ramp and just throwing the ball down the lane. Both seemed to work, but the ramp made the ball go faster.
Despite the meltdowns over having to wait his turn each frame, I really think he had a good time. And I think everyone else did too. It was nice to get out of the house and out of the heat and do something a little different.

We're having a...

Well, for some of you, you might not have heard we are having a baby! We are very excited and cautiously waited to share the news until just the last few weeks. Things have gone really well this pregnancy. It has been different in a lot of ways from Harrison, but I think a lot of that has to do with the circumstances. I am no longer working full time, it is hot down here and I pick up a very heavy almost 3 year old several times a day. But we are all very excited to have this little one join our family around Christmas time. (December 26, 2011) But I'm not holding my breath that this one will come on time!

So on to the big news, which might not even be big news to most, but now it is officially on the blog too.

We are having a little girl! Harrison has been saying little sister this whole time and he was right. We were so excited to see her in the ultrasound and see that all seems healthy and she is growing very well. So, we look forward to meeting our little girl soon and can't wait to see Harrison interact with her. He already loves her so much and we just hope he doesn't smother her in that love!
Her little feet...
Her face...
She doesn't look like any of us, she is kind of weird looking I think. But she looks good none the less and was very low to get good pictures of so we will just have to wait until she comes to see if she looks more like me or like Jeff.