The Wild West at Veterans Memorial Park

I wanted to take the kids to see the witches at Gardner Historical Village on Friday but it was INSANE.  Instead I met up with my sister and her kids at Veterans Memorial Park off of Redwood Road and 7800 South in West Jordan.  We met up at the Wild West playground (there are a few playground here and this one is just at the entrance/exit off of Redwood Road).  My kids and I have never been out here before and I'm so glad we made it.  As much as my kids love playgrounds, I enjoy finding the unique ones.  We'll definitely be coming back here again.

This was a mainly wood type playground with tons of little buildings they could go in and most had the platforms kids could climb up on and slides going down.  There was a little climbing wall and a rope type bridge.

There were 2 different swing sets.  The one in the older kids section had a couple regular swings, one of the large red ones for disabled kids, and a tire swing that the 3 girls had a blast on.  (Janelle--I have one where you can't see Tessa but is way cute of your girls' faces that I'll send you)

This playground was sort of split into 2.  One said it was for kids ages 2-5.  The other said for kids 5-12.  The little one had the baby swings and another one of the special red ones.  This side had smaller structures and a couple small slides.  Clara LOVED the slides and the swings and got mad if we left either of these.

The only problem with a fun playground that is so large is that it is so large.  It was fully fenced--only 2 ways in and out.  But you couldn't see one entrance from the other.  And from plenty of places you couldn't see either entrance.  And the fences were really low and kids were going between and over the fences continually.  Not to mention all the places someone could hide or get lost within the structures.  Yes, I'm a bit paranoid so my heart was racing most of the time we were here as I was having a hard time keeping my eyes on all 3 of my kids.  I was glad my sisters' kids were also there cuz that gave us 2 adults and with the 5 kids it was more likely that there were always at least 2 of them together.

Later that night my sister brought her girls over while she went to the Witch-a-Palooza Show.  Spencer and Bailee took a bunch of science books out back and were reading them and exploring the back yard.  Tessa and Afton were looking through all their collections of Dora books while sitting in the backyard and Clara had fun just getting on and off her chair by all the big kids.  Then the kids collected some leaves and grass and asked if they could make a picture with them so I got some paper and glue and let them have at it.  Then my mom came and picked up the girls to take them back to their place for bed while I put mine down here.  As Spencer was reading Chocolate Covered Ants to me I heard the phone ring and realized with panic that I had never given my mom the key to my sister's place.  So I drove 25 minutes out there where she was reading them bedtime stories on their stairs.  I used to think it was funny that my mom would leave half-drunk cans of Diet Coke in the most random places and never be able to remember where she had left them.  I think losing your mind is one of those involuntary sacrifices you make when you become a mother.

Cornbelly's fun and a "sleep"-over

I've never made it out to Cornbelly's with the kids before and I thought it would be fun this year.  Then I saw the price.  $9 per person (over age of 2) on M-Th and $11 per person on Fri-Sat.  That seemed like a whole lot for a corn maze.  I did get $2 discounts and we decided to go on Thursday of UEA since neither kid had school, although I knew that may mean super crowded.  We didn't head out until after lunch, about 1:00.

So I was really amazed at just how much stuff they had for kids at Cornbelly's.  I decided not to go through the really cool looking from the sky NASA themed corn maze.  I read that it should take about an hour to get through.  Um, not for me with 3 little kids.  Even not going through the main attraction we spent 4 hours there and the kids would have enjoyed another couple hours if I had brought or purchased food for them.  And their food was actually reasonable for an event--a hot dog was $3.50.  But eating at home was cheaper and Brodie wasn't with us.  Next year I think I'll bring a lunch and go a couple hours earlier.

The first thing we did was the Pumpkin Princess Playland.  They have tons of dress-ups and a stage for the little ones.  There was also a cute little carriage and pretend horse the kids took turns getting on.

And there was this wooden castle that had a ladder to go up to the next level and a slide down.  It also had a swing on either side of it.  These types of structures were ALL over the area.  From this castle to a boat, tractor, car, truck, etc.  The kids had fun playing in these all over the place.  Also in this princess area was a pony racing coral.  With inflatable ponies.  They had some different sizes for the big kids and the smaller ones.  The kids had fun on these.

We also watched some little pigs race, played on a large hay tower with tunnels running under it, took a ride on a "Grain Train", played on the really fun playground called Cornbelly Mountain, raced toy ducks by pumping water, and went through a couple small hay mazes.  We attempted to go in the "creature" which was a large blow up monster thing that you went in his mouth and a few steps in it was pitch dark and Tessa started bawling so we turned around and left and never really figured out what it was all about. 
There was a pumpkin blaster and corn cannon, rock wall, and speleo cave that all cost extra so we didn't do any of those.

The corn box was one of their favorite things.  Think a large sandbox in a building--but it was corn rather than sand.  The kids played around, picking it up and dropping it, making "corn-angels", and tucking their shirts in and filling them with corn.  All three of them had a blast here!  And there wasn't any sand to dust off later.  Although I was sure I'd find corn in Clara's diaper and not be sure which method it found its way there by...

Their other favorite thing was the inflatables.  They had a bounce house, one with a slide, one that was just a double slide, and a couple obstacle course types.  While there were a few employees around, they weren't timing kids and making them wait in a line.  They just let them go.  Most of these inflatables were the type you had to wait for the person in front of you anyhow.  One time I saw the girl tell some kids to wait for the bounce house until some came out because it was pretty full.  It was definitely too crowded for me to allow Clara in, which she was unhappy about, but the older kids played for about an hour until they were so sweaty and worn out.  Of course after a drink they ran right over to the play structures.

And we did the much advertised "Jumping Pillow".  But for this they limited the number in so we had to wait in line for about 20-30 minutes.  They had 3 different pillows.  One for little ones under 40 inches and their parents.  One for kids under 48 inches.  And one for any over 48 inches.  These were basically like fun looking trampolines.  While the kids did have fun on these, I think they had more fun on the inflatables where we didn't wait in line or have our time limited.

After this I thought since Cornbelly's was based on a corn maze we should at least hit the kiddie corn maze so we did.  The kids thought it was fun and it only took us 10 minutes.  This ground was hard, but I still made Clara walk as I was tired of trying to push the stroller over loose gravel.  They had wagons you could rent for $2 that had tractor tires on them that were probably easier over the gravel.

The only thing we didn't do was the "cow train" that was a tractor pulling little cars painted like cows.  It was next to the kiddie maze but there was a good sized line and it was already 5:15 so we just left at that point.  It did take a good chunk of money, but it was well spent. 

On the way home I could see the kids were exhausted, I felt such and didn't run around the inflatables and play areas like they did.  So I told them they could have a sleepover if they wanted.  I loved sleepovers as a kid/teen.  But Brodie and I have decided not to allow our kids to have an actual sleepover with friends.  We feel it's too risky these days.  But there are a couple exceptions.  One being babysitting.  Whether it be one of my sisters babysitting my kids overnight or me babysitting their kids overnight.  The other exception is with each other.  And because I don't want my kids to miss the experience of a sleepover I try to allow them sibling sleepovers every now and then.  And I try to really make it fun.  Sometimes they sleep over in Tessa's room, or Spencer's room, or the toy room.  One time when Brodie was out of town I let them sleepover in my bed.  That was a lesson learned and hasn't been repeated.  Another time when Brodie was out of town I let them sleepover in the TV room.  We've also slept in a tent in the backyard (and the mountains but that's technically camping) or on the trampoline.  And I usually let them have candy and stay up for a while talking and laughing.  Then eventually we start telling them they need to be quiet and sleep.  This goes on for a long time and they usually fall asleep around 10 or 11.  And wake up early.  And are tired and ornery the next day. 

So I had a feeling they would actually sleep this night.  I let them get all their stuff together in Spencer's room.  Foam couches, sleeping bags, pillow pets, water bottles, tissue boxes (Spencer will never sleep anywhere without a box right next to him due to his propensity to bloody noses at night), and leftover candy from Tessa's birthday pinata.  After reading stories and singing I left Spencer's room at 7:45 telling the kids they could talk until 8:30 and then they needed to be quiet.  Of course not a single sound came from them until 6:55 the next morning.

Popsicles and parks in October

Okay after quickly ripping out all the kids summer clothes and throwing in long sleeves, pants, and winter coats we've returned to air conditioning weather!  Don't take this as a complaint, I'm not mentally ready for winter yet and I'm very happy to have warm weather again.  It's just a little frazzling.  So I returned some non-tank top, short sleeved shirts and some shorts.  We'll see how long they get to stay in the kids' drawers.

Yesterday I made Spencer a lunchable for lunch.  He loves lunchables and although they are cheap, I'm not a fan of their unnatural-ness.  So I went to the Macey's deli counter and got a pound of ham and a pound of turkey--each cut into 2 thick slices--half a pound a slice.  Then I used my cute mini-cutters to cut out 3 cute shapes of each meat to put in his lunchbox.  Then I sliced up some real Tillamook cheddar cheese and put in a baggie of yummy, wheat crackers.  For fun I even slipped in a mini-chocolate bar from the Halloween pass-out bag.  Since I was making one for Spencer I decided to make one for Tessa as well.  Between the 2 of them I used about 1/4 pound of each meat.  All the leftover little pieces in between the shapes of meat I cut up and put in another container for Clara to eat.  Along with a lot of cheese as anything made from cow milk is on her most favorite food list.

Thursday was such a nice day and I already had Tessa and Clara's lunches made, so I filled up their water bottles and brought the lunches with me to pick Tessa up from school.  Straight from school I drove out to a park and we had a little picnic and played on the playground for about an hour or so.  It was a fun afternoon.

Spencer has a little friend from kindergarten (he's at a different elementary school for 1st grade than he was in last year) who he's gotten along with better than anybody else so we've continued to get together for playdates every couple weeks or so.  Turns out both boys are a bit apprehensive about riding a bike.  We got Spencer a Cars tricycle when he was little but he was tall enough to reach the ground and never bothered to learn to pedal, he'd just walk it around.  Then we moved him up to a scooter.  I had decided to go straight with the 2-wheeled one rather than the 3-wheeled as I felt he was big enough to figure it out.  The first year he REFUSED to ride it without me holding onto the handle bars.  We do live on a bit of a hill and our driveway is on a little incline as well.  But even at Classic Skating he made me hold on.  The next year he got a little better where he'd push off and go on his own on flat ground or our slight incline driveway headed to the lawn as security.  This is the year we also got him a bike with training wheels.  Which he REFUSED to do anything other than sit on.  I'm not a pushy person so I would keep suggesting and bribing which didn't do much.  Brodie's pushier but not around as often.  This year he is amazing and fearless on his scooter.  He got a skateboard this year but is a bit hesitant about that.  And I've got him on the bike a few times this summer but he makes me hold onto the handlebars.  Even with training wheels!  Of course now with 3 kids I haven't taken him anywhere flat with his bike and he is scared of the feeling of slipping backwards.  Anyway, finding out his friend was also having a hard time on the bike we decided to have  playdate together at Lone Peak Park to get the boys to encourage each other on their bikes.

Tessa brought her 3 wheeled scooter and her tricycle (that SHE pedals great), both of which she is very competent on.  I brought Clara's push-car.  I brought Spencer's bike and scooter but told him he couldn't have his scooter until he showed me how well he could ride his bike.  He actually did quite well on flat ground.  But he doesn't like to pedal.  Now I wish I had made him pedal his tricycle.  If I would push his bike at first he'd keep pedaling, but he didn't like to start from a dead stop.  His friend was fine pedaling, but his dad had removed his training wheels and he was working on the balance fears.  I'm thinking I'll make the effort to get Spencer on flat ground a few more times and then remove his training wheels next spring.

In addition to bike riding the kids had fun at the 2 playgrounds.  And we made them ride in between the two playgrounds.  We also had them ride down the small grass hill, which they enjoyed.  After a couple hours I realized I hadn't even thought about sunscreen.  Oops.  When we got home they rode scooters on the driveway for a while, enjoying the weather that was actually making me sweat.  So I figured we might as well have popsicles.  Seriously, popsicles in October!  I thought it was so funny that I took a picture of the kids eating popsicles by the pumpkins on our porch.

Jungle Jim's on a cold day. And pumpkin time

We came back from New York on a Sunday to 80 degree weather.  The kids had even gone swimming at Aunt Tiffany's over the weekend.  Then on Thursday I measured 2 inches of snow on my back deck.  Yes, this is Utah.  So I quickly tossed out all the very summery clothes, leaving some mid-temperature clothes as it's going to return to 70 this coming weekend, and added the long sleeves and pants.  This past Friday the snow was gone, but it was still a bit cold outside.  Well, not that cold in comparison to what it will be in a couple months, but when the weather drops 30 degrees in a matter of days I feel 50 is FREEZING.  So we opted for an inside Friday fun day activity.

We pulled into Jungle Jim's around 2:00, as it's Spencer's early day.  I had an Entertainment book coupon for buy one get one free, but I noticed on their website they also had this deal for any weekday before 2:30 p.m.  I don't know if they always have this deal or if it changes, but I went ahead with my coupon since it expires at the end of this month anyhow.  It's like $9 per kid, except kids under 2 years are only $6.  And adults don't have to pay.  If your kid is small enough to need you to accompany them on a ride, they'll still let you go.  Friday fun days are getting more expensive as the kids get older.

So we first headed to the carousel.  Clara LOVES riding on the carousels.  I remember when Spencer was little and he was scared to death of these.  Not surprising if you know my cautious kid.  I think he was probably 4 years old before he would actually ride one without screaming in fear.  Tessa always seemed fine with them, but she didn't LOVE them the way Clara does.  Maybe Clara just gets more exposure to them being the 3rd.  In any case, we went on this ride the most--4 times while we were there.

Then we went to the large swing.  The two older kids went to a swing and I kept Clara back since I couldn't exactly swing with her.  But she was squirming, kicking, and screaming.  I asked the kid working it how fast the swings went, and he said very slow so I decided to let her go.  I was so scared the whole time.  It did go slow enough that they hardly even pushed out, but I could still imagine Clara slipping down and tipping out.  She didn't and she loved it.  I didn't really look at the other kids to see if they loved it, nor did I take a picture, as I was too focused on Clara staying sitting the whole time.  The kids did talk me into letting them swing one more time and I was just as frightened.  Then we went to the little spinning things (like Disneyland teacups).  I was definitely riding with Clara on this one and Tessa decided to come in our little spinner too.  Spencer went in his own.  The lady who worked there spun each one as they went around.  Spencer liked his spinning fast but I used Clara as my excuse for spinning slow (really I get motion sick so easy that it didn't matter if Clara was in there or not).  The kids said they loved this ride but we only went back on it one more time.

 

From here we skipped over to the airplane ride.  The first time we went on it the two older kids each had their own airplane and I shared with Clara.  This ride was definitely built for a kid and I had a hard time fitting my legs in the airplane.  And I'm barely taller than a "kid" at 5'2".  So the kids of course love this ride and the first time they just kept the joystick pulled back so they flew high the whole time.  The second time they went up and down more, but by then Clara had caught on that the joystick controlled it so she held on and screamed if I tried to touch it.  But she didn't understand pulling it back so we stayed low the whole time.  The third time we went it was more crowded so the older kids were planning on flying together but the seatbelt had broken so they had tied it together and therefore it was too tight that it barely closed with just itty bitty Tessa in it so Spencer had to go ride in the last one, that wasn't a color he wanted.  But I think he forgot by the time he was flying again.

Then we headed over to the Jeep Safari.  I felt okay having Clara ride with Spencer, telling him to make sure she remained sitting.  The jeeps really moved so slowly that I felt even if Clara managed to get out, she would be able to climb out rather than fall.  The second time we came here the guy couldn't get it to work so I had to pull my kids out of the jeeps.  We later saw them moving just fine so we ended up going a third time, letting Clara ride with Tessa this time.  It looked like she thought about getting out a couple times, but she managed to remain in the jeep.

After the jeeps the kid headed to the playground.  Spencer seemed to really enjoy climbing up and all around and sliding down the slides.  Tessa kind of meandered about, not too excited but still enjoying herself.  Clara couldn't really get anywhere.  I put her inside one of the areas and she just kept getting stuck in the netting as her feet were small enough to go right through the squares.  So I put her in another area that was kind of bouncy like a really weak trampoline.  She just kind of rolled around every time someone would step on the ground.  So I took her out.  Then the big kids went in the bumper cars.  I didn't feel like taking Clara on that one as the cars looked quite small (if Tessa could drive them they had to be small).  So I tried to pacify Clara while I laughed my head off at the other kids.  Spencer could drive it pretty well but seemed to only have one goal in mind--to bump Tessa.  Tessa kept her foot pressed all the way down but either had the wheel turned all the way and held it so she just kept spinning in a circle, or did the back and forth deal where she would zig zag around.  She must have had one major headache after that ride, but she was smiling and laughing as much as Spencer.  I think I laughed the most--it was really funny to watch them.  We ended up coming back one more time when it was crowded and Spencer had a harder time finding her to crash into and Tessa kept getting stuck against the guardrails and didn't know how to get out.

I think after the first bumper car ride we repeated the airplane and carousel before taking an arcade break.  Then the kids went for the roller coaster.  It's the kind that spins around and pushes you to the outside of the car.  Once again I get motion sick.  I rode this with the kids the first time we came here, about 3 years ago, and I still remember how sick I felt.  So I sent the two older kids together and I held Clara back.  They LOVED it.  At first you could see the surprise on their face at the speed, but they smiled and laughed the whole time.  After it goes forward a few times, it stops and goes backwards.  The kids ended up doing this one twice.

There are 7 rides and the climbing/sliding playground.  There are also arcade games that take a token that costs a quarter.  Some of them are out of order or don't give you tickets.  In any case, you can only ride the same 7 rides so many times before getting sick of them even though the wristband is for all day.  So we also had to buy $5 of tokens and ended up with enough tickets to get the kids each a sucker and a few small toys (that I refer to as choking hazards that will be treasured dearly for a few days, then forgotten and thrown away).  Clara thoroughly enjoyed her sucker.

And a couple hours was plenty of time.  Being indoors and having as much fun as they did in these 2 hours makes Jungle Jim's a once a year with a coupon place for us.

On Saturday we headed to Farnsworth Farms to let the kids choose pumpkins and so that we could buy some peaches to bottle.  What would you know, the kids thought the playground was the funnest part.  Oh how I wish we had one in our backyard...

When it came to choosing pumpkins Spencer chose quite a small one.  I think he wanted one he could carry by himself.  But they do enjoy choosing pumpkins off the ground rather than out of a box.  They wanted to carve them immediately and were disappointed when I told them they'd have to wait to do that project.

New York without kids!

So last weekend was a very enjoyable weekend for the adults as well as the children--just that we didn't enjoy it together.

The last time Brodie and I spent a night together without any children was 5 years ago when we went on a cruise for our 5th anniversary.  I had been hoping for a few years that we'd be able to spend out 10 year anniversary in Hawaii.  But that trip would be too expensive; besides Brodie being just 3 months into a job and not able to take off that much time.  Brodie travels all over the world--India, China, Dubai, Jordan, Nepal, Ghana, Kenya, Morrocco, Egypt, Phillipines, Germany, etc.--for work.  In the last 10 years I've been on a Caribbean cruise, spent 6 months in India, and stopped by Paris.  That's it.  So my sweet husband must have felt a little bad and he decided we should take a weekend trip somewhere.

A couple years ago I was visiting my sister in Boston and had Brodie fly out so we could take a family trip and see some of New England.  We made it down to New York to see the Statue of Liberty, but that was all we saw.  Brodie thought it would be fun to spend our weekend in New York--Manhattan.  I thought that sounded great so I called my sister and asked if she could take on 3 extra kids with just a couple weeks notice.  She barely hesitated.

Last week on Thursday morning I woke up puking and feeling miserable.  I spent most of the day laying around feeling crappy.  Here and there I put aside some stuff the kids would need for their stay at my sister's.  By 4:00 I had been able to keep down some Gatorade and chicken broth so I packed the kids in the van and headed up to Tremonton.  Maybe it was good I was so sick so I couldn't get myself all worked up about leaving my kids.  I've never left Clara for more than a couple of hours and even that is very rare.  And my poor sister.  She has 3 kids of her own--a 6 year old daughter who obviously needs time and attention from her mother; a 5 year old daughter with special needs who needs a lot of time and attention from her mother who plays dual role of mother and nurse; and a 2 year old boy who, as those of us who have had a 2 year old boy know, also needs a lot of time and attention from his mother.  Add to that my 6 year old who doesn't stop talking, my barely 4 year old who demands a lot of attention, and my 1 year old who has never spent more than a couple hours away from her mother.  As if that doesn't sound overwhelming enough--turns out the weekend I asked her to watch the kids was the same one her husband would be out of town with the Reserves.  Can you believe she actually said yes?  Well, if you know her you would believe it.

I got home, took a shower, and packed for the weekend.  Once again being sick I think I didn't put too much thought into what I was bringing as Brodie and I both fit everything we were bringing into 1 shared carry-on.  Seriously.  Then we headed out for our red-eye flight to New York.

We did our best to sleep on the 4 hour flight but we were exhausted when we landed.  We took a taxi to our hotel, just off of Times Square, to see if they would keep our bag while we went out.  We arrived at the hotel around 7 am and they actually let us check in.  Had we known this beforehand it would have been perfect and we could have crashed until noon and then started out day.  But we didn't know this so Brodie had already reserved tickets to Ground Zero for Friday morning.  We headed to the nearest Subway station and headed down to the Financial District.  I was tired and was still trying to recover from being sick the day before so I think I was in a bit of a mood.  But I wasn't impressed with New York this morning.  It seemed dirty, the buildings didn't look cool--just big and old, it was crowded, there wasn't any grass or flowers--just buildings, roads, and sidewalks. Thankfully the 9/11 Memorial didn't give me this same vibe.

As of now they are still in the process of building the new buildings and still working on the museum.  But the Memorial Pools are quite a sight.  They stand in the exact footprints of the former Twin Towers.  In the footprints the water falls down all four sides and then down to a hold in the middle where it disappears.  Surrounding the pools are plaques with all the names of the victims of the flights, World Trade Center, Pentagon, and the responders who lost their lives.  It was so overwhelming to see how big the pools were and they were surrounded with lines of names.


I love the rainbow in this one.  It reminds me of the Lord's promise to Noah.  Every time I see a rainbow I think of hope.





This is part of the plaque with names on it.  This goes all the way around both large pools.  So many lives.

 There were trees all around with some symbollic meaning that you could ask Brodie about but I really only remember hearing about the Survivor Tree.  As they were clearing out the debris from the 9/11 Terror Attacks and there was nothing but death, they came across a tree that had been broken basically down to the just the trunk and a couple branches.  But it was alive and had a green leaf.  They were so happy to find something alive so they dug it out and sent it to a nursery where it was taken care of and they re-planted it at the Memorial as hope that the city could bounce back the way the tree did.  You can see where the new branches have grown.

They are still working on the museum that houses the tridents from the original twin tower buildings.  This is where they will place the fire engine and so many other things from the World Trade Center.  The building itself is made of a reflective glass so you can see what's inside as well as what's outside.  However, you have to get real close or see it when the inside lights are on in order to see inside.  Here's the outside:

After this we walked around the area.  We were much too tired and out of it to actually go anywhere specific, so we just wandered and saw what we saw.  Including a park with a bunch of people camped out that we later discovered was due to the whole Occupy Wall Street movement.  In any case, we didn't think it was all that cool, other than the 9/11 Memorial.  We then got a hold of a good Subway map and decided to go to Chelsea Market as we hear a lot about that on Food Network and we were hungry.  But we didn't find anything really to eat.  I guess we were expecting something unique and didn't really come across it.  Actually for the whole weekend it was pretty much street vendors, ridiculously expensive restaurants, or just mediocre.  So we went with mediocre.  We also discovered breakfast is a big thing there.  On this day we sat down at a sandwich place in Chelsea Market around 11:30 and asked for lunch.  We were informed it would take a while as they were just finishing up breakfast and needed to switch the kitchen over to lunch.  The next day we ate lunch at 1:30 and most people in the restaurant still had omelets and eggs on their table.  And what is up with the lack of carbonation in the soda in NY?  I tried a bottle, can, and even McDonald's fountain and was disappointed with flat soda every time.  We then walked down to where they were going to be shooting The Next Iron Chef later that night.  After walking around that area until I felt I was going to collapse, we took the Subway back to Times Square and went to our hotel for a nap.

After a few hours we were up and out again.  Earlier when we were at the Subway station we decided to just purchase a couple Metro Cards with $15 on each and not have to purchase a fare every time.  So now that we had a little more sleep and some food we actually looked at a map and figured out that everything was close enough we really didn't need to use the Subway.  We headed out of our hotel on foot to the Empire State Building.  Another disappointment.  Really, it's just a tall building.  And there are plenty of those in New York.  The architecture didn't seem all that cool or unique.  And they charged $22 per adult to go up.  My opinion of New York wasn't great at this point so I didn't see the point in spending $44 to go up and look out at a dirty, crowded city.  I've been to the top of the Eiffel Tower and that was quite a sight, but I didn't think this one would be.  So we walked back towards Time Square.  It was even more crowded here, although it was too crowded for me to really see garbage or dirt around.  And I don't like to shop.  In fact, the only shopping I did the entire trip was to buy souvenirs for the kids--at Toys R Us.  Speaking of which, it was really a cool Toys R Us!  It was HUGE and even had a ferris wheel inside with cute themed cars (like My Little Pony, Barbie, Nickelodeon, Scooby Doo, M&Ms, Toy Story, etc.).

After walking around Times Square and going in a few shops we tried to find a place for dinner.  We ended up going to Virgil's BBQ.  My stomach was still pretty weak so I just got a salad and ate a little off Brodie's plate.  But that was by far the best brisket I've ever had!  The ribs had good smokiness and a lot of meat, but were way too dry and I didn't care for the spice rub they used--or their BBQ sauce.  The collard greens were also very good.  We obviously aren't used to going out without kids as we were back in our hotel room by 8:30 at night and Brodie watched TV while I read a book for a couple of hours before going to sleep.

Okay so Saturday was a much better day.  A full night's sleep, a breakfast bagel and pastry that I ate on the Subway train, and we started off the day at Central Park.  Quite a contrast to the previous day.  It was actually quite peaceful and beautiful and not crowded.  Occasionally I heard a siren or horn or helicopter, but not all the road noise I could hear everywhere else.  And there were some places in the park that was just nature!

There was some organized run going on and  alot of people biking around, including some television correspondent we just saw on television tonight, and quite a few families.  But there were also plenty of us tourists.  However, the park was plenty big enough for all of us.  There was a really fun looking playground just as we entered and another smaller one at the top of the park.  We went by the rink, which wasn't much at this time of the year, but had a nice view of the contrast of the park and the city:

We walked the entire park and, although being large for a park, really wasn't as much of a distance as the map made it look.  Which really made me feel like we wasted $30 in Metro Cards.  I especially loved the fountain in the middle of the park.  I wanted to take a boat out, but Brodie didn't seem too keen on that idea.

There was also a "castle" that was really built as an observatory but was fun to come across and go up.

After exiting the park at the top we walked down Columbus Ave, parallel to the park.  Maybe it was the full night's sleep and recovery from being ill, or maybe it was spending the morning in the park, or maybe it was just the area we were in--but I thought New York was a nice place this day.  The buildings had some character, some were even elegant.  It wasn't overly crowded or dirty.  Instead of sky scrapers the buildings were more livable.  I liked it.  We walked along, stopped to eat lunch, and came across the temple.  I guess it was originally a stake center but they built the temple on top of it.  We couldn't go in because it was closed (it was General Conference) but I took a picture--mainly because I'm used to seeing grand temples and grounds that are the main focus of the area they are in and it was so odd to see it there among the tall New York buildings:

It was right across the street from Lincoln Center so we also walked around there--saw Julliard, the Met, and all that stuff.  Then because we had purchased so much in Metro Passes we decided to sit for a bit and take the Subway to Grand Central Station.  I now have a better feel for the phrase "It's like Grand Central".  Under the station is much different than the station itself.  It was crazy packed with people, all going different ways on different trains.  So many trains and stairs and craziness!  Then we came up into the station.  Wow!  Chandeliers, the astronomical mural on the ceiling, the hallways, and everything else.  It was so elegant, especially compared to the other stations we'd been in.

And the whispering gallery doesn't work if you whisper (maybe it does if the station is empty).  You have to speak fairly loudly, although you wouldn't be able to hear each other diagnally at that level unless you were talking and listening into the wall.  As we exited the station we were greeted by massive rain.  Of course we brought jackets on our trip, but they were back at the hotel.  Our hotel was fairly close to the station, but in the rain we opted to use the Subway to get us closer.  We were still drenched by the time we got to our hotel.  We changed clothes, hung around for a little break, grabbed our jackets, and then headed out again.  But we'd done enough with the Subway so we just went on foot.  We walked past Grand Central Station, which is very beautiful and unique on the outside as well, past the Chrysler Building, and all the way to 1st Ave.  We passed the UN Building and Trump Tower.  And we kept going.  I liked this area best of all.  There really weren't any shops and we rarely passed another person on foot.  When we did it was usually someone walking their dog.  The buildings were cute with little balconies and common areas with playgrounds or gardens.Then we came back over to 5th Avenue that had all sorts of high end stores and a lot of people walking around.  And pretty much every girl/woman was wearing a scarf.  Is that the fashionable thing these days?  Obviously I wouldn't know in my T-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops that I almost always wear.  Once again I was feeling a bit claustrophobic with all the large buildings around me.  I'm much more comfortable with the mountains.

Then we walked along the edge of Central Park past all the really expensive hotels until we wrapped back down through Times Square.  Why did we ever use the Subway again?  Really, if you're planning on staying in Manhattan it's really not necessary.  This time we stopped at Ruby Foo's for dinner.  I felt a little out of place dripping with water in my jeans and T-shirt, but they let us in anyhow.  Brodie wasn't too impressed with the dumplings and sushi roll he ordered, but I absolutely LOVED my entree.  I got the wasabi wonton crusted salmon that came with a coconut curry sauce, some sweet black rice, and some julienned vegetables.  It was one of the best meals I've had for a while.  After dinner we stopped at the Roxy and bought some black and white cookies--one to try ourselves and two to bring home to my sister-in-law who absolutely loves them.  It was a couple days before we were able to get them to her so I hope they were still good, but I'm sure they were at least nostalgic.  And this night Times Square didn't annoy me.  I actually enjoyed it.  All the lights and the energy and people ranging from all dressed up for a night of Broadway to those more casual like Brodie and I to the crazy lady in an American flag bikini bottom with nothing on top other than blue and red painted stars (no I didn't take her picture as I didn't feel anyone else should have to ever experience such an image).

It was fun to experience New York, at least Manhattan.  I'm glad we went, and that we only went for 2 days.  It was definitely a unique place and I overall enjoyed it.  I especially enjoyed being able to spend some time with my wonderful husband and not spend my time changing diapers, discussing the powers of different Pokemon, and playing "getting ready" all day.  Although I was very eager on Monday to do just these things again.  And I'm sure my sister is now very happy she only has 3 children.  Thank you Brodie and Tiffany for a wonderful weekend!

Oh, the kids also loved their weekend with Aunt Tiffany and their cousins.  They think they had as much fun as I feel I had.