NY Hall of Science 10/22/11

The NY hall of Science museum was a hoot! We got there around 10 am, and only eaten a light breakfast. But while going through the museum, we were having so much fun that we didn't even stop to eat, and they had to kick us out at 5 o'clock.

Sam and Lucas love doing little building projects like this where they get to put stuff together.

The day we went was a special even where they had invited college students, studying science from the local universities to do simple "do-at-home" type of experiments, geared towards kids. Each table had something amazing, from homemade rockets, to mixing your own Gatorade.  We didn't get any pictures, but the section about math was spectacular. We'll be back to this place!

Rockettes Christmas Show 11/17/11

One of the shows we got to see in NYC was the Rockettes Christmas spectacular. This was a fun mix of dance and song. The costumes and dance numbers were beautiful dazzling sensory experiences. 

This was the coolest part, when the girls fell over like dominoes. Super creative!

Sam's Soccer Season

For 2 months, every Saturday we had Sam's soccer games. Sam absolutely loved playing soccer. He was in the 7-8 year old league, so he was one of the youngest and smallest on the team but he played with a lot of heart. The coach had him sub out a lot in the beginning of the season but by the end of the season, he was one of the star defenders. The coach noticed Sam's ability to defend, and would have him mark the star player of the opposing team and try and prevent them from getting the ball. He did really well.

His team got to play in the championship game and won 1st place on penalty kicks! The final game was way more intense than I imagined a little league game could be. Parents were going nuts!

This was one of the proudest moments as a parent to see all his hard work and dedication pay off.

                                                         The coach and the champions

                                       

                                   

Empire Estate Building 11/11/11

We chose the coldest night of the year to go up to the top of the Empire State building. Of course we were underdressed and when we got up to the top, it felt about 20 degrees colder than it was on the ground, AND the wind was whipping unbelievably fast. We still enjoyed ourselves. The view was breathtaking! Such a monument to industrious man-power. Next time, we'll go on a summer evening and watch the sunset from up there :)

Jesus and Brynn 11/04/11 ( Dustin)

Our great friends Jesus and Brynn came out for a quick visit. We took them to the Shake Shack in Madison Park, since that is one of the best burgers in NYC.  Also our buddy Dustin Hill came out and brought his fish-eye lens. It was great to see all of them. We live in such a cool place, we love showing it off!

Halloween 2011 (School, Church, trick or treat)

Micah Heiselt invited us to their ward's chili cookoff in their Park Slope ward. This was a lot of fun, and the best part was their family costumes. They were the NASA team, sending an astronaut to the moon. Well done guys!

International Dinner at School 10/14/11

One of our favorite things about Roosevelt island is the diversity. Since the school is close to the United Nations, the area has families from just about every country. To celebrate the varied heritage of the students, the school hosted an International Dinner. Families brought fabulous food from about 50 different countries, then we saw cultural performances, like the Tango, Russian stick throwing, and all sorts of other fun stuff.

Here is Sam with 2 of his good friends in his class. Emily Highsmith and Shanni. Shanni is from Israel.

Bronx Zoo 10/08/11

The Bronx zoo is our favorite zoo! The exhibits are so well done. After the day there, we decided to get a year membership to come back and see the animals again! (especially since we only had 2 hours before closing. It takes a while to get to the bronx, especially if you miss your stop and ride the train to the end of the line then get off and get back on the other direction:)

Bodies The Exhibit 10/03/11

We don't have pictures from inside the exhibit, since we weren't allowed to bring in camera, but this was an amazing experience. It was an educational exhibit with cadavers preserved and positioned in interesting, real life displays to show how the miraculous human body functions. The different sections covered the various systems (respiratory, nervous, reproductive, etc) It really brought home the brilliance of our creator! We are pretty unbelievable contraptions.

Ben Rector's Concert 09/29/11

Marcia and I went to the Ben Rector concert, and had a total blast. It was in a small bar, so it was a cozy, close-up venue. The band played incredibly well, and it was the only concert we have been to in...um.. years. The warm up Graham Colton, who was also a lot of fun. He was nice enough to let us grab this pic of him and Marcia.

Transit Museum 09/24/11

This was one of our favorite museums in NYC. They had all sorts of old train cars, complete with period actors who told us about life back in the early 1900's and how much the city has changed. The boys did not want to leave! It made is very grateful for the MTA and the way they make getting around NYC much easier!

Ocean City

Ocean city was a wonderful trip! We ate a bunch of junk food, swam in the beautiful water and enjoyed each other's company. One of our favorite moments was when Celeste asked Tracy not to feed to seagulls or they would swarm us and never leave us alone. Tracy did it anyways, and it was like the scene from the Hitchcock movie "the birds". Those are persistant little suckers! We finally got them to go away by throwing lots of food in a pile a hundred yards down the beach.