Seriously So Blessed

So, I checked out a friends' blog today and her most recent post was about another blog that her and her husband found recently. it's seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com. It makes fun of all the stereotypical "mormon girl blogs". It's pretty funny! Anyway, check it out and let me know what you think of it. It's ok if you read it and feel like they're writing all about you! I'm not here to judge :)

New York City Part 2

The first day was so full that we decided to make the second day as much full! Dan and Max woke up early and did an endowment session at the Manhattan temple. We then found a very yummy cafe and then off to the Empire State Building. I love having a stroller for 2 because you get to go in front of all the lines and rarely have to wait! WAHOO to having kids! :)

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The Largest Gap I've ever been to!

We also made stops at Rockefeller Center, Trump Tower, Niketown and FAO SHWARZ.

Unfortunately, Mckenzie decided to fall asleep just before we got to FAO Shwarz and didn't get to see all the cool toys and Humongous stuffed animals. We showed up just in time to watch a demonstration of playing on the "BIG PIANO" like in the movie "Big".

The Lego Harry Potter Characters were AWESOME!

We didn't have a whole lot of time, so we only went on the outskirts of Central Park. I'm really excited to go back and play in the park!

After all that, we went back to the hotel and got ready to eat dinner at the rotating restaurant on top of the hotel called "The View". When we got there, Mckenzie decided she didn't want to be there and with her throwing fits and people looking at me as if I was a bad mom because I couldn't keep her quiet, I left Dan and Max to have dinner and took the girls to the room. I have to say that leaving a fancy restaurant with two fussy kids, waiting for an elevator for 20 minutes while Mckenzie is screaming (I'm not exaggerating), having someone come over and console her, deciding that it'll either be a VERY long time until I want to have another kid or even have another for that matter (am I a bad mom?? I PROMISE, I do love my kids more than anything!) then after finally arriving back to the room, realizing that I didn't have a room key with me is one of the most embarrassing things. Oh well, I got room service (YUM) and went to bed.
The next morning we slept in (oops) and headed home and the rest of the day was full of relaxing. We had such a fun time even with the high humidity, lines, blisters, feeling dirty and missing the feeling of taking breathes of clean air. We are so thankful that we were able to take a trip down to New York and spend time with Max before he leaves.

New York City

We have been quite the touristy family lately. My brother, Max is going on a mission in August and came to play with us for a week. We made the adventure to NYC for a few days including the 4th of July and had a FABULOUS time! Here's some fun points of our trip:

We started off the trip paying $4.33 a gallon!!!

Stopped at the ORANGE COUNTY CHOPPERS WORLD HEADQUARTERS where
our mouths dropped in awe of the amazing talent they have. Mckenzie kept trying to touch them and say "it cool...it cool" to the bikes she liked. Her favorite was the green spiderweb one and Dan's favorite was the Lincoln chopper. Mine was the New York Yankee chopper and Max's favorite was the I-Robot.

We survived driving downtown! I got in the way of my fair share of taxi drivers. We stayed at the Marriott Marquis which is right on Time Square! If you look on the left hand side of the picture below, you can see the sign for it! It was awesome to be right there were all the fun happens. Mckenzie was so excited about everything she wouldn't go to sleep until 2 am!!!

Mckenzie and Abby's first subway ride

Ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty...Mckenzie and Abby fell fast asleep from the rocking of the boat.

Atleast we took some pictures so we can prove to Mckenzie and Abby that they've been to the Statue of Liberty.

I really enjoyed the feeling of Ellis Island. It was an incredible feeling to think of those who journeyed to America in hopes of a better future for themselves and their families. I can't imagine what it must have been like for them entering into this foreign land.

We walked around Ground Zero. What an interesting feeling to be there and think of what happened almost 7 years ago and to see the amazing transformation taking place now.

That night, we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and then made our way down to the East river just in time to see the end of the massive firework show. I guess we'll just have to come back for next years show and see the whole thing.

Grand Central Station is absolutely gorgeous!

Thank you!

We just wanted to say thank you on this Forth of July, to all of our men and women serving for our country both home and abroad. We are truly grateful for your service and sacrifice and we support you fully. You and your families are always in our hearts and prayers. We are blessed with so many incredible freedoms as citizens of the United States of America and it is a great privilege to celebrate the Forth of July and reflect upon the foundation, establishment, history and the selfless people who serve for and of this great land we live in.

I WON!!!

Ok so, I NEVER win anything. Well, that's not true. I win board games, races down the mountain and I did come in 2nd in a watermellon eating contest while on the misison. But, I NEVER win any material things. The apartment complex we're at has a monthly get together. Basically a way for companies to advertise. This month a couple of different companies came from gyms in the area mostly to get people into personal training. We actually went this month soley on the off chance we'd get money off next months rent from the raffle. While there, Mckenzie was her normal wild self and we decided to leave. That night, I received a call from the manager's office saying that I won! I was so excited to not have to pay the full rent next month (Massachusetts is RIDICULOUSLY expensive to live). Well, I didn't win that. I won a 6 month gym membership to Gold's Gym. It's worth around $350, so I was pretty excited. I GUESS, I'll settle for that :) AND, the manager said that he'd talk to some of the personal trainers and see if I could get a couple of times with them free, too! My brother is here visiting us, so I took him last night to the gym and I realized that I have become a weakling. Before I was pregnant, my max at the leg press was 500 lbs. Last night, I did 180 lbs and I think I could have only done about 20 more. Granted, I have had 2 c-sections and a major knee surgery all within 2 years, but still! Good thing I have insurance! So, I have decided to get back to the gym...and not just do cardio like I pretty much have been doing for the past 2 years. WAHOO! I am actually really excited about this gym. It has all the things I need except a swimming pool which is fine because there's one here. The bad thing is that it's right down the street from the most delicious bakery...