— my little corner of randomness —
I know you have been waiting on the edge of your seats for the November calendar from MOPS. Well, wait no longer. Here it is. I didn’t know that November 1st was “Book Lover’s Day”. And since our niece was just adopted from China, it’s good to know that the 22nd is “National Adoption Day”!
Chuck and I went to NYC for an anniversary trip. We haven’t been on a big anniversary trip in years (if ever). Especially not since the girls were around. We debated a lot about where to go and had a long list of places/things we wanted to see. It was such a fun trip and so nice to get away for a little while. I was about 30 weeks pregnant at the time of our trip, so we weren’t sure how much I would be up for. You’ll be impressed with all we did. 
I’ll try to remember everything.
*FRIDAY*
We left in the evening on Friday and arrived pretty late in NYC. We took a terrifying taxi ride to the hotel and checked in. We decided to stay right in Times Square at the Hilton. You could see the New Years Eve ball from our window (but we couldn’t get a good picture from the window). It was late (about midnight), but I couldn’t miss out on walking around Times Square on a Friday night. It was quite the sight to see. The people and the lights and just everything is so much to take in. After a quick trip down there, we headed to bed to rest up for our first day of sight seeing.
*SATURDAY*
We woke up bright and early (about 7) and got ready to begin our day. We walked the length of the High Line. What a neat thing to see in the middle of the busy city! Then we took the subway to Central Park. Seriously, Central Park has to be my most favorite place. It’s a really fabulous park inside the hustle and bustle of the city. It’s so gorgeous, and huge and quiet! I could have spent all day there! While we were at the park, we went to the Central Park Zoo. It’s hard for me to visit somewhere and not visit the zoo!
After the zoo, we walked around the park a little more and went to the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum. I had to take a picture on the steps for a friend of mine because we both watched “Gossip Girl” and they spent a lot of time on those stairs in the show. In front of the Met and about a mile down that block, there was a race going on. So we watched the runners for a little while.
We headed back to the hotel for a little rest (for me) and then headed to the Intrepid Museum. It was a little rainy, but we walked the few blocks over there and back. It was a really neat museum. We toured a submarine and an aircraft carrier. It was also the only museum we actually went into on our trip. Neither of us really had much interest in visiting the other museums, although I know they are probably wonderful.
We walked around Grand Central Station and called the girls to chat on FaceTime. They were having a great time with grandma! Then we walked down 5th Avenue for a while, but since we had no interest in buying anything, it wasn’t all that interesting. We stopped in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was gorgeous, then took the subway to the 9/11 Memorial to see in the dark. It was still a bit wet outside, but it was so cool to see the memorial all lit up at night.
We took the subway back to Times Square and had a late dinner. Then we walked around/sat in Times Square again to people watch. I was running out of steam, so we called it a night (after wandering through a few stores) and went to rest up for our next big day.
We totaled 16 miles of walking today.
*SUNDAY*
We were up about 7 again and off to the subway to visit Battery Park on our way to catch the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Wow is all I can say about seeing them in person and being there. Just amazing all around. If you ever have the chance to visit them, it will be worth it and an experience you won’t forget.
After spending the morning there, we walked on Wall Street and saw the NY Stock Exchange (it wasn’t all that exciting on a Sunday morning). Then we headed over to the 9/11 Memorial again to see it during the day. It was just as stunning and mesmerizing during the day as it was at night.
We found a little pizza place to have lunch (which was so delicious) and ate our pizza in Zuccotti Park. Next we made our way over to Rockefeller Center and went to visit “Top of the Rock” which is an observation deck to see the city. What a stunning view. We had a really clear day so we had a great view of everything. People like visiting this observation deck over the Empire State Building because you can see Central Park. When Chuck told me that, I was sold and wanted to go to that one. And since I was so excited, we got the passes to visit it again at night.
After “Top of the Rock” we headed back to the hotel to rest for a little while and get ready to go to our Broadway show. We chose “The Lion King” and I am so glad that we did. It was such a great show and there’s something about the song “The Circle of Life” that makes me cry and so, of course, the crazy pregnant lady was sobbing during the first 2 minutes of the show.
After the show we headed to “Top of the Rock” again for the night viewing. Just gorgeous! We didn’t stay too long since we had already been there during the day and I was really tired. So on the way back to the hotel, I got brave and bought some food truck food. I was a little worried about it, but it was so delicious and I am so glad I got something!
After eating my yummy food, I promptly fell asleep and got ready for day 3.
We totaled 12 miles of walking today.
*MONDAY*
Sadly, day 3 was also our last day. Of course, we were up by about 7 again and got our stuff packed and checked out of our room. They had a nice little holding room for your luggage, so we took advantage of that before heading out.
We hopped on the subway and headed over to Chinatown/Little Italy. They were quite interesting. It’s strange, you really feel like you are walking into a different city. Then you cross the street and you’re in yet another city. Just bizarre. While there, we walked around and visited a few parks. Mostly to take some walking breaks since I was running out of steam on my pregnant little feet!
We took the subway back to Central Park. We had seen everything (and more) from our initial list, so I wanted to spend some more time in Central Park since I loved it so much. On the the way, we stopped by the Apple Store. What a strange little cube sticking out of the ground. You have to take stairs or a glass elevator down to the store which is underground.
We walked through Central Park and visited the reservoir. We ate lunch at The Boathouse that a friend recommended. We just ate at the café there and not the fancy (yet beautiful) restaurant. Next we visited the Belvedere Castle. The views of Central park from the castle were so pretty. I just stood there taking it all in for a while!
Then we headed back to Times Square and picked up some gifts for the girls at the M&M store (which is HUGE by the way….3 levels of chocolate!). Then we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. We decided to skip the taxi ride and took a bit of an adventure to the airport. We took the subway to Queens/Astoria then got on a bus to the airport. Then I collapsed in a chair and waited to get on the plane to head home.
Then, after an uneventful flight, we found the car and headed home. It was so nice to take a trip, but there’s nothing like coming home after being away!
We totaled 10 miles of walking today.
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Some other little tidbits about the trip:
But once I got over that initial shock, I sat back and enjoyed the weirdos. Also, many (or most? or all? of them) have some artwork on them. We took pictures of a couple of my favorites. 
Overall, it was an amazing and exhausting trip. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. We had a great time hanging out together and doing things on our schedule and not that of the kids. And I can’t believe it was already almost 7 weeks ago since we went.
And here’s a link to all the pictures we took on our trip if you want to see the others.
A while back, a friend told me to download Larger Than Life when it was free on Amazon because she knew I liked Jodi Picoult. I recently finished reading it and found out it was a prequel to one of her new books, Leaving Time. Then I found out there was another short story about some backstory to “Leaving Time” called Where There’s Smoke and thought I should read that, too since it was free. Here’s a little about them:
Larger Than Life:
A researcher studying memory in elephants, Alice is fascinated by the bonds between mother and calf—the mother’s powerful protective instincts and her newborn’s unwavering loyalty. Living on a game reserve in Botswana, Alice is able to view the animals in their natural habitat—while following an important rule: She must only observe and never interfere. Then she finds an orphaned young elephant in the bush and cannot bear to leave the helpless baby behind. Thinking back on her own childhood, and on her shifting relationship with her mother, Alice risks her career to care for the calf. Yet what she comes to understand is the depth of a parent’s love.
Where There’s Smoke:
Even as a child, Serenity Jones knew she possessed unusual psychic gifts. Now, decades later, she’s an acclaimed medium and host of her own widely viewed TV show, where she delivers messages to the living from loved ones who have passed. Lately, though, her efforts to boost ratings and garner fame have compromised her clairvoyant instincts. When Serenity books a young war widow to appear as a guest, the episode quickly unravels, stirring up a troubling controversy. And as she tries to undo the damage—to both her reputation and her show—Serenity finds that pride comes at a high price.
Both were really good stories and I couldn’t put them down. I read the second one before bed thinking I would just start it. I always get engrossed in Picoult’s books. I liked having a bit of a backstory to one of her novels. I know I am going to have to read that one now since I read these two books.
They were both really short, so if you’re looking for a fast read and like Jodi Picoult, I definitely think you should read them. And if you have already read “Leaving Time”, let me know what you thought of it!
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was the pick for my book club this month. We chose it because our city does a program called “OneBook, OneRosemount” where the pick a book for all ages and then have the author come speak. They only do this once every other year. Here is a bit about the book:
In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life’s questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family’s fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.
Overall it was a cute story. It was written for about 6th grade, so it wasn’t a challenging read. But it was a good story with a good message. I didn’t go to hear the author speak, but a friend of mine said she had heard her before and she was inspirational and interesting to listen to.
I’m not really going to recommend this because it was a book for such young readers, but if you have kids, this might be a good book to read along with them. I know a friend of mine had planned to do that with her daughter.
Happy reading!
Dannie is really the funniest little thing. She makes the goofiest faces, laughs at everything and is just so sweet and happy. I have been collecting some videos I have taken of her recently. Enjoy.
Dannie eating Cheerios. She thought this was the best game ever. I have no idea where she got it, but chances are she learned it from watching her sister.
She also likes to wear this owl bucket around on her head (something she also learned from her sister). This time she was walking around making owl noises.
Dannie was being so funny and pretending to be a frog. At least I think it was a frog. That or a rabbit. But she kept saying “laahhhdeeet” over and over. That is how she says rabbit, but also ribbit. So your guess is as good as mine.
DeeDee is so excited when someone comes in to get her out of bed. This morning she was using her bed like a trampoline. Admittedly, this isn’t something I should encourage, but she was just so cute with her crazy hair, I couldn’t help myself!
We went to Chuck’s mom’s house the other day and Dannie just loved the rocking horse that Chuck’s grandpa made. She couldn’t get enough!
This morning we went to my friend’s house to hang out and D kept playing with this bouncy dog. It was so cute to see her bouncing on it. But when I took the video, she couldn’t stay on it. It was hilarious.
There’s a few videos of our silly little monkey. And as a side note, I call her all sorts of names. Dannie is the most common, but I call her “D” a lot and she calls herself “DeeDee”. I think the last one will really stick because we all tend to call her that. And it’s so cute when she points to herself with that big smile and says “DeeDee”!
Not a day goes by that Chuck and the girls don’t wrestle on the big pillow Chuck’s mom made us. The girls like to run laps around the island and bombard Chuck. It’s hilarious!
Dannie also really likes to get airplane rides. It’s pretty amusing, too. 
I just love how much they love their dad and how much fun they have wrestling with him. I hope Chuck doesn’t end up too injured from their rough housing, though….the girls are getting pretty good at their attacks!
Most nights after dinner we go outside to play. We either head to the park, go on a walk or play in the driveway. One night Maddie wanted to play some sports.
First she took out the t-ball set. She’s pretty good at hitting the ball…when she makes contact!
(I was sure I had posted the pictures of Maddie playing t-ball a while back, but I can’t seem to find the videos archived on here. So if you are interested, you can watch more videos HERE.)
After she had her fill of t-ball, she wanted to play some hockey. She was schooled a bit by Chuck, but they had fun. 
The other day I took a video of my stomach moving because little man has been going crazy in there. I’m actually looking forward to him getting a little bigger so he has less room to jam his appendages up under my ribs and poke me so low that I’m afraid he will fall out. It’s definitely creepy to watch sometimes. It’s like an alien is going to push right out of you.
And I didn’t mean to take the video vertically. My camera was sideways, but decided to change it. Blah.
If the video doesn’t work, you can see it here.
Nothing like posting about the 4th of July on October 1st…I promise I’ll be caught up soon. 
In celebration of the 4th of July, Maddie wanted me to paint her nails. And she did a great job deciding how she wanted them painted.
Mid-morning, we went over to my mom’s house for a little gathering. We did a little swimming, but it wasn’t as warm as I would have liked for that.
We tried taking a family photo, but the children would not cooperate. And it’s too bad because we all looked so cute and coordinating.
Dannie was feeling especially photogenic. You stick a camera in her face, and on comes the charm!
While Dannie and I were taking pictures of ourselves, Maddie was lighting sparklers with my brother in the driveway.
The girls had their nap/rest time there, then we headed home. After it got a little later/darker and Dannie was in bed, we told Maddie we could do some more sparklers and some fireworks that she picked out with dad. She sat so patiently in her chair and had so much fun. (WOW does she look grown up!)
Maddie even had fun helping dad light the fireworks and she would giggle as she came running back to her chair.
Had to get a little picture with my sweet girl!
And I can’t remember if this was on the 4th or the night before, but we were sitting on the porch, enjoying the lovely summer weather and I could see some fireworks right through the trees.
We had a great 4th and I am glad the girls are getting more excited about it. We just recently finished all the sparklers and the last of the fireworks. Next year we are hoping to take Maddie to fireworks. We had hoped to take her this year, it just didn’t end up working out.
