NYC

Nick has been really busy working on a project involving New York.  He was asked to do a business trip to the city and decided to go.  I was super jealous because New York City is one of the places that has been on my bucket list for years.  After September 11th happened I have wanted to go and see the city firsthand.  It was a MUST for me.  We had frequent flyer point set aside so Nick bought me a ticket to go with him.  I was going to be on my own for most of the 2.5 days I was there since he was going on business, but at least I would see the city!

We left the boys with my parents (first time ever, oh my) and boarded our flight at 7 am for La Guardia airport in NYC.  We arrived around 11 am and took a cab to our hotel.  The hotel room was really small, but nothing is big in NYC come to find out...except for the buildings themselves!

We soon left the hotel room for the world trade center memorial.  Tickets are free to go in and see it, but you have to have tickets.  Our time was 2 o'clock.  We took the subway most of the way there but still spent over an hour walking!

We entered the memorial and were flooded with emotion.  I remembered exactly where I was when the news began airing of 9/11.  I remembered seeing the second plane hit, then the towers crashing.  I cried and I read the names of the nearly 3,000 men and women who lost their lives on that horrifying day.  I needed to see it and I'm so glad we went together.

This is the Freedom Tower that they are still building.  It is so much bigger than it looks here in the picture!

Walking towards the memorial and the tower hovers above all other buildings.

It was beautiful and so sad at the same time.

The water was so cold, and the air was so so so hot.  What a strange feeling...

You kind of froze as you looked at it.  I remembered where I was...

It is SO big...

The Freedom Tower is so big.  7 building were completely destroyed on 9/11.

The people who were there to see the memorial...

I tried to read as many names as I could.  Every name belonged to a person who was killed that day and it was hard to read them all.  The worst was when you read a woman's name with "and her unborn child" next to it.  Very sad and emotional...

That night a good friend from college, Dan, came downtown to go out to dinner with me while Nick had a business dinner.  Dan and I finished dinner around 10, right as Nick was leaving his dinner.  We met up and went to a neat little bar called Connelly's.  We spend a couple hours there before Dan went back to his home and we went back to the hotel to sleep.

Nick and Dan

Krista, Dan, and Nick

Great little bar...and it had my favorite beer: Carlsburg!!!

We had so much fun!

The next morning Nick went to work and I went on a cruise of the city.  The boat showed us 121 of the most important/special things on 9/11.  I crossed so many things off my bucket list!  It was amazing!!!  I saw the statue of liberty, Ellis island, Grants tomb, the pier where the titanic was supposed to dock, freedom tower, empire state building, crysler building and SO many more (well 114 others to be exact.)

This is the boat I went on for the cruise.  It was amazing!

Hello Empire State building!

View from the Hudson River.

Ellis Island

Statue of Liberty

This city is breathtaking!

Brooklyn Bridge

This is where Captain Sully landed the American Airlines flight that hit a flock of birds a couple of years ago. He was able to land the flight, in the freezing cold, in the Hudson River.  All 155 people on board survived uninjured.  What a miracle!

The cruise ended at 4 and I hopped a cab back to the hotel.  Nick finished work not long after.  We  met up with Dan again that night for dinner.  The three of us went to Carmine's Italian Restaurant in Times Square for dinner.  Go check out the place, its amazing: http://www.carminesnyc.com/  I really regret not buying their cookbook while I was there.  I didn't buy myself a single souvenir and darn it, I wish I bought that cookbook!  Oh well, I'll just have to go back  ;)

We explored times square before walking to Rockefeller Center.  Nick wanted to go up to the top and get some pictures.  The last elevator up was at 11 pm...we got in at 10:56!  Dan is a firefighter in NYC and asked if they gave a discount for firefighters.  They said they did.  SO, instead of it costing $75 for the 3 of us to go up, it cost a whopping $36!  Thanks Dan for saving us money!

Times Square

You are just walking and then BOOM, here you are in the middle of times square!

Rockefeller Center

The view of the city from Rockefeller Center

Empire State Building

Nick and Dan

Looking up the Rockefeller Center building!

What a view~

It's a Girl (A Dog People...Come on!)

I got the call we had been waiting for a few weeks ago...my Diabetic Alert Dog has been chosen!  She is a black female pup!  It took a week before we saw her picture and once we did we could finally name her. So, introducing: Paisley!  (No, we did not want 3 dogs with names that all start with the letter P, but all the names we liked did...so another P name it is).

When I got the call we were told that we would get her in July (which was only about a months notice for us).  I was so excited but nervous because we had booked 2 vacations back to back thinking we would get our dog in late August at the earliest.  So a 10 day trip to Vermont, then a 4 day trip to Chicago right after we get back from Vermont.  I called Dan up and we agreed to wait until after I  get home from Chicago to get my dog delivered.  I will keep you all posted on details when I find them out...

Millions of Peaches

Nick is fruit obsessed.  He eats fruit CONSTANTLY.  He truly could live on just fruit...and steak.  Yes, fruit and steak.  Back to the story...  Nick feels the need to buy and plant a new fruit tree every single year.  It was getting kind of crazy for a while but its finally slowed down.  One of the trees he planted 4 years ago was a peach tree.  We have never gotten any peaches off of it because bugs usually get to it before we do.  This year Nick did some research and fixed the bug problem before it hit.  We now have peaches...millions of peaches.

 The peaches got SO heavy that we woke up one morning to a broken branch...and then another.

This next picture is the peaches off the above branch:

Wyatt is Potty Training Himself

Wyatt is something else.  There is no other kiddo like him.  He truly blows us away every single day.  He is so determined and will learn anything very, very quickly.  He decided he didn't like diapers.  He also doesn't like clothes.  If someone walks by the house they truly would think we have a little nudist in our house.  Its crazy.  It got so bad that we brought down the potty and explained how to use it.  He will say "potty" all the time.  And yes, he is totally training himself how to use it.

(can I just say how thankful I am for all solid floors in the house?  It makes any...spills...very easy to clean up!)

Oh, and if we need him to have his diaper on we have had to come down to duct taping it on him.  BUT, he figured out really quickly how to rip it down from the bottom.  He then walks around with his tape around the belly, but the diaper just hanging...not supporting. SIGH...

Coopers End of the Year Program

Cooper has been singing songs at home for weeks.  He surprised me with some of them too!  One day he sang every word to "you are my sunshine" and it blew me away!  Anyways, my parents and Nicks Mom both came to his school program.  His class all wore yellow.  They were all sunshines  :)  SO sweet!  Here are some pictures of our little guy!

Moms Night/Dads Night at School

Coopers school did some really great things this year.  Back in March there was a Dads Derby.  The kids could bring their Dad's to create a wooden race car then race it down a track.  Cooper and Nick had a really great time doing it.  It was so NICE for them to get out on their own and have their adventure.  Adventures are Daddy/son dates...since boys don't have dates...they have adventures.

In May it was Mommy time at school.  No siblings, just Cooper and I.  It was so much fun.  Cooper wanted for us to wear our matching shirts.  We looked amazing if I do say so myself  ;)  We built sailboats and raced them in water filled gutters.  It was great!  We also decorated cookies to eat.  What a fun night!