Weekend Getaway in the Big Apple

Jeff and I just had a wonderful long weekend in NY City! We left super early on Saturday, and I got back Tuesday (Jeff comes back Wed after his conference ends). We packed in as much as possible during our 3 short nights but definitely want to go back to experience more. We enjoyed WAY TOO MANY great things to recount them all here, but a few of the highlights included our hotel in the heart of Times Square (here's the view we had from our window), a fabulous dinner at a fun little French restaurant frequented by lots of celebrities--many of whom are painted in this "Where's Waldo" type painting above our table.


We strolled through Central Park on a gorgeous sunny Sunday afternoon, finding the infamous Balto the dog statue that Margaret and Caroline wanted us to see, and eating hotdogs from the street vendors. Jeff reminisced at the sailboat pond where he and Steve sailed toy boats as kids (along with Stuart Little, so we're told...).




We visited Ground Zero in lower Manhattan--the scale of the demolition and reconstruction effort is absolutely unbelievable.


We wandered through Greenwich Village and Little Italy, where we had to watch the "yogi contortionists" in a local park and stop for some Espresso and Gelato!



We devoured bagels with lox & cream cheese at a genuine Kosher deli and saw the musical hit "Chicago" at the Ambassaor Theater on Broadway.

Be sure to ask Jeff about the personally autographed CD he got from a genuine up-an'-comin' gangsta rapper while walking back to our hotel after the show. I could go on and on, but I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it all! Gotta go to bed now :-)

Fall is here...

I can certainly tell fall is in the air. The leaves are beginning to turn and drop off the trees. The girls have switched to their new cozy warm PJs. And Caroline has caught her first cold of the school year, having to come home early from school yesterday and miss it altogether today. I suppose it could have been that she really just wanted to wear her new PJs all day like her Daddy used to do. Unlike her Dad, though (who used to sneak and wear them to school under his clothes), she came down with a fever and headache... She's fine now and will go back tomorrow, although she unfortunately had to miss picture day today. We'll have to do the re-take/make-up day later in the fall...

Caroline in the spotlight

Today's "Monday Morning Opening" (MMO) assembly at school highlighted the kindergartners. Each kindergartner had a turn in the spotlight. They stood in front of the whole school while their teacher shared a few tidbits the students had answered in interviews about their background and favorite things. Caroline wanted everyone to know she had been to Disneyworld last spring and that she LOVES everything about kindergarten. All the big kids clapped for each little one, and all us kindergarten parents took lots of pictures. Grandma Gail came this morning, too, and got a tour of the school since she's going to be helping out with after school pickup on Tuesdays.

Summer's winding down...

Probably won't have too many more chances to wash the car together out in the sunshine this summer, so I thought I'd snap a couple shots of Jeff and the girls washing up "Hal" and her mats. This week looks like a beautiful start to what I hope will be a long Indian Summer after such lousy July & August weather!

More family pix

I got drafted to be one of the official photographers at Grandma's b'day party. Unfortunately, that meant that most of the pictures I took were on someone else's (much nicer) camera instead of my own. I did manage to take a few shots on my camera. Here's one of Greg, Rose, and Mom, and one of Margaret with Lourdes in their matching pink dresses!

Great Grandma Dorothy's 90th Birthday Party

Saturday my Grandma celebrated her 90th birthday in style. The girls and I, joined by my Mom, enjoyed a beautiful drive and ferry trip to Oak Harbor where we gathered with about 60 or so other family and friends to celebrate at the club house of my Grandma's housing complex. Grandma seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself, although she's always reluctant to be the center of attention. One of the highlights was a brief serenade by a barbershop quartet, which everyone of all ages enjoyed! There were relatives there I had never even met, and it was fun to explore some of the geneology and family connections. My uncle had the whole family tree database spread out on a table, and we all helped fill in the blanks where we could to get things up-to-date. It will be neat to see the final product (not that a family tree is ever "final"). I hope I have so many family and friends around to help me celebrate my 90th! A highlight for Margaret & Caroline was the pod of harbor porpoises or dolphins that we got to see on the ferry ride back to Port Townsend--very cool to see them frolicking in the sound!

Kindergarten has started!

Friday was Caroline's first official day of kindergarten, after her conference on Tuesday. She handled it like a pro, lining up on the playground, putting away her coat & backpack in the closet, finding her desk and her spot on the "circle time" rug. After all the kids waved goodbye to the parents, we went down the hall to the library for a little coffee/tea and cookie social hour with the other parents. It was nice to meet so many other parents who are obviously going to take an active interest in their kids' schooling. Caroline seemed quite happy when we picked her up, and was proud of the crown she made to show everyone just how special she is.

Gymnastics

The girls have turned in their ballet shoes for gymnastics this fall... Today was their first class, and they had great fun with the vault, rope climb, and foam pit. My friend Karena and I found a place where all four of our girls could be in class at the same time. Margaret, Caroline, and Chloe (along with another 2nd grade friend Syndey) are in the "big girls" class, and Chloe's little sister Alaina is in the toddler class. This picture is of the tired girls in their new gymnastic outfits after we got home...

First Day of School!

Today was the first day at our new school, St. Michael's. Margaret started 2nd grade in Mrs. Quibadeaux's class. She was happy to discover her desk is right next to a friend she knows from ballet. Caroline had a conference to meet her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ranes, and will start class on Friday. Both girls seemed uncharacteristically quiet and shy this morning, but by the end of the day they were both their typical chatty & happy selves--giving hugs to all their new friends on the way out the door. We're very impressed with both teachers and the whole set-up at the school, and we're looking forward to settling in for the next several years as part of the St. Mike's "family of families."

Olympia Doyles gettin' with the times!

Okay, I'm ready to try and figure out this whole blog thing. Jennie, my sister-in-law, has been my inspiration, and while I don't have nearly as many cute pictures to post as she does with baby Jameson, I think it's a great way to stay in touch with family and friends. I'll give it a try and see how it goes!