Pre-Christmas Fun

We had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas this year, but the time seemed to fly!  This was the first year we had an "Elf on the Shelf".  The kids named the elf Rocky and they loved him!!!  It was really fun!  Rocky was the most well behaved elf....

Taylor and I went with 4 of our neighbor friends to see the Nutcracker and go out dinner.

We had a great time together!!!

We also made gingerbread houses again this year.  We made them at home and had some problems with cracked pieces but the kids still enjoyed it (I'm thinking we'll go back to Country Kitchen next year though)!

New York City - Part 2

 Friday was a raining day in NYC....we had to tickets to see the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.  It was a great show! After that we just did some shopping and walking around as best we could.  On Saturday, we woke up and went to Rockefeller Center to go to the top of the building.  We had great views of the city from the top!

 After Rockefeller Center, we went to see The Laurie Berkner Band put on a kids Christmas concert.  It was a good show also, Taylor really enjoyed it!

The rest of the afternoon we stayed in Central Park.  It was a little chilly this day, but we still had a lot of fun.  Taylor loved climbing the big rocks and the had a neat playground for kids too.

 

 We also took a horse and buggy ride!

 We visited FAO Schwarz next....playing the "Big" piano!

 We ended our day back in Rockefeller Plaza (with about 10,000 other people) to see the tree at night!

 

New York City - Part 1

My mom, Taylor, and I just got back from a trip to New York City.  We had a great time and can't wait to go back!!!  We flew in on a Wednesday and spent Wednesday evening going to Macy's to see the Christmas windows and Santa and also in Time's Square.

 Going through "Santaland" to get to Santa.

 We rode the ferris wheel that is inside Toys R Us.

 Thursday morning we got up and went downtown to ride the Staten Island Ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty.  It was a really foggy morning so our pictures aren't that great.

 After the ferry we went and saw the 9/11 memorial.  There is still a lot of construction going on here, but when it is done it should be really nice!

 Taylor LOVED riding the subway!

 Thursday afternoon we went to Bryant Park to ice skate.  This was Taylor's first time and she loved it.  She did way better than I thought she would too!  It was a warm day (about 60 degrees) so it was perfect for skating!

We ended Thursday by going to see the Broadway musical Annie.  It was a great show....I couldn't believe how talented those little kids were!

Thanksgiving Program

All the kindergarteners at Taylor's school performed a Thanksgiving play this year.  Taylor was a Native American woman.  They did a little play and then sang several songs.  She did a great job!

Here is part of "10 Little Indians"...

Halloween 2013

A couple nights before Halloween we carved our pumpkins.  Don't let these pictures fool you, they really didn't help much at all.  Everyone took one very small scoop out and that's it!

Taylor wanted a ghost (or a bat), not sure exactly what it is!

Ben wanted a funny face!

Drew wanted a scary face!

Halloween was cold and rainy again.  When the rain started about 45 minutes into trick or treating the boys were done and happy to stay home and pass out candy.  Taylor, however, was not slowed down by the rain!  She rode around with one of the neighbors until about 7:30!

 Prince James, Sofia the First, and the doctor

 Skeleton jammies!

 

Pumpkins and Apples

On Monday we went to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard to get some pumpkins for carving and more apples to make applesauce!

Ben with his pumpkin.

 Taylor loved using the clippers!

 Our haul...

 Next up, apples!!

 Drew wanted to eat the first one he picked, which was perfect because it kept him from running around, throwing apples, etc.!

 So fun!!!