New York, New York!

New York was everything I hoped it would be...and more! I know you are dying to know all the details, here are a few:

Here we are, the love birds, skating in Central Park. Most of our skate time was spent in the wrong part of central park, the Ramble. It is a more woody, hilly area, not very good for skates. This pic was at the Bethesda Fountain, Unfortunately you can't see the fountain as the random person who took our pic must not have thought we would actually want the fountain in the pic with us.

87 stories up, the top of the Rockefeller Center. This was one of Quinn's particular highlights. You could see the everything from up there! Including the lovely Empire State Building, pictured here with us.

Skating across the Brooklyn Bridge. I guess this bridge is the prettiest and everyones favorite so it is the cool thing to walk across it and enjoy the view of Manhattan. We thought it was cooler to skate across it. We were so glad we brought our rollerblades. We skated all over the place. Some of the city skating was a little crazy but it was all fun.

Under the Brooklyn Bridge is the Brooklyn Banks. A skate park that Quinn used to watch on skate videos when he was a teenager and dream of skating there some day. Good new is he got to fulfill his dream, bad news is not everything is as cool in real life as it looks in the movies. We still had fun finding it and he did a few tricks. I particularly enjoyed chillin' with all the Brooklyn kids who were either sluffing school or to look at it more positively: out on a lunch break, who knows?

The New York Stock Exchange. I didn't think this would be particularly interesting but did you know you can't drive on any of the roads directly surrounding the NYSE? or that there is a SWAT team there in full battle rattle every day? Or that there is a comedy troupe in suits and ties doing crazy stuff right in front of the building and broadcasting their antics over the web? Only in NY!

Not everything was perfect. Our boat for seeing the Statue of Liberty only got this close because of the high wind warnings from the Coast Guard. Bummer. I'll see you next time around Lady Liberty.

Quinn found some things he thought were more exciting than I did.

We ate amazing food like Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity. This is the exact same table that Jon Cusack and Kate Beckensale sat at in the movie. Cool.

New York Hot Dogs in Times Square. Our hotel was right in Times Square so we hung out there every night, it is hoppin at night. There are more people there at midnight than at noon.

And Cupcakes!! I ate so many cup cakes. These ones from Crumbs were beautiful but didn't compare to the yumminess of Magnolia cupcakes (Magnolia is famous on Sex and the City). They are my new love.

Last but not least, here I am with a real celebrity! Linny from the Today show. What you don't know Linny? (Click on his name to find out more) He is the guy who is at EVERY taping of the today show. He just stands there straight faced watching it all go on. He was surprisingly nice and personable. We had a good little chat. I was there in the crowd for a few minutes on 2 different mornings, it was so fun!

There is so much more we did and so much more we want to do. October was the perfect time to go to New York. Just a little chilly but not too cold. Can we go again next year?

Have I ever mentioned that my husband is Wicked Awesome? Well, he is. Along with being nice, funny, helpful, cute, blah blah blah...he is also the kind of guy that makes dreams come true. Dreams like going to New York City, staying in a nice hotel on broadway, seeing the sights, eating the food etc. etc.
Yes, you guessed it, my Wicked awesome husband surprised me with the news about this upcoming jaunt to New York for 3 nights just because he knows that I have always wanted to go there. At first it was going to be a real surprise, like go to the airport with out knowing where we were going type of surprise but he just couldn't stand it any longer so he gave me 1 clue a day until I guessed it. (It took me 4 days) So, next week I will finally be experiencing the real deal. It will be like Seinfeld, Project Runway, Friends, Maid in Manhattan, Confessions of a Shopaholic, 27 Dresses, P.S. I love you, etc. (Ugh, do you think I watch too much tv/movies?)

Oh and did I mention that he got us 2 tickets to see Wicked on the real Broadway while we are there? Is that like amazing or what?! See, he really is Wicked awesome!

Disneyland was awesome!! I loved it. We went crazy there. We stayed in the park all-day and came back to the hotel just beat every night was it was great! Jack was a real trooper. He had no naps, did lots of walking and went a long time between meals but he never complained. At the end of each ride, "I wanna do it again!"

Here we are with our two little mice in front of the pumpin Mickey.

Of course waiting in line was not the best part but Jack didn't seem to mind as he was like a monkey on those rails.

Chase needed more entertainment while waiting.

Daddy is good entertainment.

Before we went on this trip Jack didn't know who Buzz Lightyear was but now he can't get

enough of him. He keeps telling us that Buzz is his favorite.


Here he is on the Buzz ride, we rode this ride the most times of any. He asked for this ride after almost every other ride.

The life-size cars were so cool, it felt like we could just jump in and go for a spin.

Here we are on "It's a Small World" It really is a small world at disneyland Quinn saw a guy he knew from ROTC and I saw a girl from my high school like 2 hours after I made the comment that I wanted to see someone I know!

Fueling up for the long drive home. It was sad to leave but we did get to stop in and have dinner at a restaurant that Quinn used to frequent on his mission. It was some very authentic mexican food served by some very authentic mexicans in a town that looked very much like mexico.

Disneyland!

Tomorrow we are driving 6 hours to Disneyland (sorry all you Utah people who have to drive 12 hours, at lease there's something good about living in Tucson) and experiencing the most magical place on earth! Quinn has been getting me excited about it. He is like 20 times more excited than the kids. I have never been so Quinn keeps making comments like, "Oh, you are going to love the soaring over California, I can't believe you havn't been!" or "San, it really is like the most magical place on earth...like it really is!"

We have also been doing our best to get Jack reved up for the fun with quizes about who lives at Disneyland. I love to hear him answer "Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, that doggy" (pluto) and lots of his other friends reside at Disneyland.

Wish you could come with us, all though not for the 6 hours of Chase crying! Wish us luck.

Old Tucson

We experienced the wild west at the Old Tucson Studios. I didn't have high expectations but since the in-laws were in town we thought we should do something Tucsonish. It was actually really cool! The whole place was like the old west with little buildings and cowboys riding around on horses.



The train was a kid favorite and the train conductor was awesome, look at that outfit!

Carousel was another favorite. A little warm up for disneyland.

Chase didn't like being put int he town Jail.

A good picture of the old west feel of the place. Since it was still kind of hot it was like a ghost town.

Grandma and Jack on the cars.

Grandpa and Chase

Mommy and Daddy even had a romantic drive, oh la la.

Camping!

We finally took Chase camping. It has been a long time coming, but we are glad we finally did it!

We had a great fire, here is Jack gathering wood.
Chase has been doing this lower lip thing alot lately. I keep thinking of Forest Gump when the Sgt. says, "Tuck in that lip son or your liable to catch it on a trip wire!"

Our tin foil dinners were divine!

We made spaghetti tin foil dinners from some left overs, genius! Do you think Jack liked his?

They were glued to these little camp chairs. They kept moving them all over the camp and then sitting on them, just enjoying the view from each spot.

Smores!

It was awesome to be cold for once, Arizona summers never end! Notice all the wonderful sweatshirts and coats, ahhh. My in-laws came along and made the whole thing so much more fun, thanks for coming down guys!

This last month we have been hearing alot of excited comments from Jack that start with "My Preschool..." and yesterday was finally the day! This is the face he gave me when I said, "Say Preschool!"

Excited maybe?

Daddy couldn't resist coming to take him to his big day.


I love this picture of him in front of the building. Just a little kid going to a big school.

I was nervous leaving him with all these people I don't know (it is a preschool on the base). When I dropped him off he just started playing and I was like, "Is this it? Do I just leave him?" The teacher assured me it was fine. I asked if they would do name tags and she said they would get to it later. So I left and enjoyed having 3 hours with just my Chase.

At the end of his long 3 hour day.
This picture says to me, "You did come back for me!!"


"I'm Outta here!"

Ah, and the best part. I asked him what they did and he wouldn't tell me anything. So I went in and asked the teacher how it went and if he told her his name. "Well, we had to figure it out. We were like "who is Jack? Which one of you is Jack?" and finally "Are YOU Jack?" He just nodded his head."

Jack has proven that you can go to school and make it through

without saying a word, not one word.

He says he is excited to go back tomorrow:)

My screen saver was randomly scrolling through pictures when this one caught my eye. I felt it deserved posting. Mark dunking a soccerball over the head of a 2 year old while we all watch on.

Everyone's eyes are glued to him, I can just imagine in my mind the sound coming out of his mouth, "Aahhh!"Look at that face, what determination. Mark's antics never cease to amaze me. I love my brother!

The Nixon Family Dude Ranch

Originally purchased by Quinn's great-grandparents and now owned by his grandma, sits in scenic Wells NV. We went there with my in-laws and sister-in-law Melissa to celebrate Quinn's return.

While on the ranch we enjoyed:

Riding seat-belt-less on the country roads like the good old days.

They were enthralled by the cows!

Paddle boating in the back-yard pond.

Observing ranch animals.

For many hours....

Hanging with grandma and grandpa.

Swimming in the natural hot springs.

With Melissa and her sons, our boys only Nixon cousins.

More reckless traveling.

Tractors!

Bug watching.
I love this picture of the 3 little boys looking at the bugs. They were so cute together.


The only bad parts were sleeping in the heat of the unconditioned top floor and....

Jack's unfortunate run in with a wasp who stung him right on the cheek. I couldn't believe he didn't cry (he was choking back the tears, tough kid). He looked so different with his puffy face!

Melissa-we can't wait to go back again. Mom & Dad- thanks for making it a great trip! We love all you guys.