Our First Family Trip to NYC

We finally made a trip down to the city! We met Luke's parents and Kate's family and we stayed at a hotel in New Jersey for the weekend. After getting in on a Friday night and playing at the hotel pool, the next day we started off the day going to Coney Island!

The kids waded in the water and played on the sand for a bit, then we walked some shops and got some lunch at Nathan's.

We then came back to where we were to board for the Statue of Liberty and after quickly eating some pizza at the check in, we barely caught our ferry.

The boys all loved the ride! It was a beautiful morning full of sunshine and our ferry ride gave us a great view of the city. 

But just as we stepped off the ferry and onto the island it started pouring rain! So much, that everyone ran to any shelter they could find, most cramming into the gift shop! Our families all got split up, Ava ending up with her grandparents, and after standing at the edge of a covered door for 10 minutes, we finally decided to embrace the rain since it had lightened a bit and made our way up the Statue of Liberty. 

It was foggy and wet but we still got a fun view of the city, and we know that it is a memory we won't forget!

Afterwards we went back to the hotel, left our kids with the family, and then Luke and I went to the real reason we came to NYC. We finally went to go see Coldplay in concert! I was soo excited! We both were, but Luke kept trying to play it cool. He totally made a Blake face here (compare to above!).

When we were dating Luke asked me if I wanted to go to a Coldplay concert in MD but it was last minute and the money for tickets seemed like a lot to us at the time, so we didn't go. And I always regretted it! Coldplay is one of the few bands that both Luke and I really love, and finding something we both have in common isn't easy! So with this summer being our 10 year anniversary it seemed like the perfect way to celebrate and do something that we've wanted to experience together for years! And it was the perfect opportunity to go!

We first heard from Alessia Cara who I also really like. Luke didn't care for her performance as much but I think her music has grown on him since.

Finally Coldplay started and they were totally worth the wait!

When we arrived we got these wrist bands that light up to match the music throughout the concert and these little lights were everything! I was upset because mine wasn't working for the first few songs but as soon as it finally activated it totally changed the experience and made it interactive! When it would blink faster and change colors you couldn't help but get up and dance. It was such a fun and amazing experience to be in a huge stadium of fans all singing and dancing along to some of my most favorite songs! I will never forget the energy and excitement of being there live!

Words just can't describe how fun and amazing this concert was! We were also the very first stop in their American tour so it just really felt special to be there! And although the weather had been spotty that day it could not have been a more beautiful and perfect night!

Seriously, this concert brought us closer together and we consider it a highlight in our marriage! One of the best nights ever!!!

The next day we took our bikes and rode all around Central Park! Jacob had thankfully learned how to ride his two wheeler two months earlier- and he was such a trooper! It was a long, HOT day and the kids did well considering the conditions.

I had never been to Central Park before! We let the kids run around the playground while we took some time to cool off. We had barely started but already needed a break, ha!

Since John and Brenda were on foot, we met them next at the NYC temple! It was Sunday so they were holding their normal church services on the lower floors. We cooled off inside and listened to the talks in the foyer over the speakers for a bit before moving on again.

We then made our way over to the Strawberry Fields and met up with the rest of the family for a picnic lunch. 

 We then went up and around Belvedere Castle.

Getting around Central Park is nice with a bike but also complicated because of the one way direction streets which took us a little time to figure out. Overall, I would say it was really scenic and beautiful, but it also felt like the hottest day of the year, so especially with young kids we tired quickly! I felt like we got to see a lot of Central Park though and this was a fun and memorable way to do it! Just not sure Jacob ever wants to do it again, ha!

Afterwards, we took our bikes back to the car, then walked a few blocks and got sandwiches at Carnegie Deli, picked out some statue of liberty souvenirs for the boys, and ended with a treat across the street that claimed to have the best cheesecake. It was good enough, and well deserved after a long day.

By that point we were pretty tired and still had to drive a few hours home that night. So no time for Time Square or other site-seeing this trip, besides what we could see just driving by. We were glad to have Luke's family there to help us navigate our way around for our first trip to the city. We felt like we did as much we could in two days and made some fun new memories together!

Early Summer Fun

It's summer! These are the days we live for! On the boy's last day of school we got out our slip and slide to welcome in the summer! 

The water started out slow, but once they got going, they had so much fun! I find this much easier and more fun than filling up a kiddie pool! And we have the perfect hill for sliding! It definitely became a summer favorite! :)

Starting from the very beginning I tried to install somewhat of a routine and had my boys do a little bit of summer homework every day. I thought it would be more of a struggle, but it mostly just became routine and my boys would even get their work done before I was even up! I'm proud of my boys for wanting to keep up with their work and do what is expected- because then we have more time to play! We love the nights when Luke is home early and goes out to play ball with the boys, they love it too!

As fourth of July approached, I kept longing for the summers of Colorado. The fourth of July was one of my favorite holidays in our old home since I loved our location and that we were walking distance to the best firework show in the city. There were a lot of things I missed about Colorado, and we had almost made our one year mark of living in New York, and this seemed like the last holiday we spent in Colorado before moving, and the last one we would need to spend here in NY before we could say we've been here for a year and finally feel settled in.

But- despite me feeling sentimental about the holiday, we ended up having a very nice weekend for the fourth! It was mostly low key, and we did have friends over one night for a small BBQ dinner. We ended up also going to see fireworks one day early on Sunday since that's when they were doing them at Saratoga Lake. The weather was perfect and it was such a relaxing and pleasant view by the water and the boys got to play on the sand, where it wasn't crowded- at all! The fireworks were nothing spectacular but our experience was great! We hope that might be a great new tradition for us!

 And turns out, of all 3 of our kids, Ava seemed to have loved fireworks the most! My boys have always enjoyed them and would get awestruck and wide eyed at her age. But Ava was a wonderful combination of squealing, giggling, spitting, shouting, and pointing at the fireworks the whole time! She was loud but it was so adorable people didn't seem to mind, and we even got a few people around us laughing at her too.

On the fourth, Luke had to go in to work but the boys and I enjoyed a day at home, swimming in the backyard, and then making our own fireworks at home. Actually we just had small little things but it was perfect to do with the boys, and another beautiful pleasant night!

 It was fun making some new memories together as our first full summer here in NY!

Our first week of summer the boys also started swimming lessons. We decided to try lessons that were being offered in a lady's backyard, but she and her daughter take on several students, so it was a good class! They were a bit strict on not allowing goggles which Jacob had to get used to, but they each made a lot of improvement during their 6 lessons and had a lot of fun!


Since they boys lessons weren't at the same time it did require some patience waiting for each other. After waiting an hour Blake was always excited for his turn after, and as long as I kept feeding Ava something to eat she was usually happy too! And also hot- some days we wished we could get in and swim too!

 For the first time we also attended the summer carnival at Gavin Park, which is close to our house. It ended up being a little rainy in the morning so not many people were there, but made it nicer for us.

 The boys saw a few familiar faces and enjoyed a few rides.

 Then we got to end with an ice cream treat! Summer is the best!