Around New York City

So, welcome to our weekend spent in the "Big Apple". Did you know apples are the state fruit of New York? When the Duke Ellington and the "jazz greats" of the 1930's came up from the south to play at the Cotton Club, they would say they are "making cotton in the Big Apple"...meaning they are making some good money in New York!


We had some friends from Seattle in town, Amy and Jake, so we hired our first babysitter and went out in "the Village" (Greenwich Village, once the bohemian capital of NY and birthplace of the Beat Movement. However now, it is upper class residential living and home to NYU and Washington Square Park). We ate a wonderful dinner at a Cuban restaurant where the Mojitos flowed a little too quickly and smoothly! However Chris would say there is no such thing...

Here are the "Amys" having an after dinner cocktail (like we needed more!) but hey, when in New York...we are up top of the Gansevoort Hotel, in the trendy Meatpacking district. The Meatpacking district was once called the Gansevoort Market and in 1900 there were 250 slaughterhouses and packing plants in this area (hence the Meatpacking name) . Then in the 1990s when high end boutiques, restaurants, and nightclubs started moving in, it became considered one the "most fashionable neighborhoods" in NYC. The Gansevoort Hotel has 360 degree panoramic views of NYC and sunsets over the Hudson River. Only 35 slaughterhouses still remain it the area by the way.




The next painfully hungover and lack-of-sleep day, we rushed back into the city, met our friends at Pier 83, and took a 2 hour Cruise around the Island of Manhattan. We were able to see the front of the Statue of Liberty this time and here she is in all of her glory!








The fam with Miss Liberty in the boat window background.











Believe it or not, the Brooklyn Bridge was my favorite part of this cruise. I wish we had taken a picture while cruising right underneath it because it was grand! Bridge-lover or not, one could not fore sake the beauty of this amazing structure. Virtually as strong and unchanged since the time it was built, finished in 1883. I will spare you now, but its story is fascinating if you every want to look it up.







How happy can you get? Notice the latex glove Chris is holding and Reid's napkin bib? Well the glove was for the ice from the boat snack bar that Reid is now sucking on and the bib is to catch the drips from the bloody fat lip Reid earned while tripping and falling flat on his face on the boat. A minor setback, ouch, but you gotta love kids, look at him now.













One of 2 street fairs we checked out in Manhattan on Saturday and Sunday. Daddy gave Reid a lift...I think nap time was approaching. They close down quite a few city blocks and have various street fairs in the summer with street vendors full of food and shopping. We saw some similar goods as one would in Hong Kong!








Here are a few sights we saw when driving around the city. The next 2 are on our NYC "to-do" list for a later date. One being to check out the Late Show with David Letterman...






Another being to check out a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden...

And you can't really check out too much inside of this place, but the New York Times building is huge,! It tied the Chrysler building for 3rd tallest building in NY in 2008 and 7th tallest in the world.

Recently, a stunt climber scaled the side of the New York Times Building. He climbed from first floor all the way to the roof! He had attached a fluorescent green neon sign to himself the a message about global warming. (A man after my own heart!) He was met on the roof by the NYPD placed under arrest. Oh well, hopefully his message got through.

I guarantee there will be more to come from NYC. The more time we spend in New York, the more we love it. See ya soon!

Welcome to the East Coast!

Hello again everyone! We are back up and running on the East Coast. We all made it alive and well (including Stella) from Hong Kong to our newest and latest home. After a few months in temporary housing, we have adjusted to life back in the states. Here is Reid and I at the Liberty State Park on the Jersey side (aka. the back side of Miss Liberty). It was still a beautiful sight none the less!












The first weekend we arrived, it was a bit chilly, but we made the trip into New York City to have brunch with a Hong Kong friend (not pictured) at the Trump Tower and then a walk through Central park, pictured here. We then toured my favorite architect's (Frank Lloyd Wright) designed museum, the Guggenheim.













Here is Reid in what I call his "little man pajamas" in our temporary housing. We had a townhouse for 2 months in a great little area of Jersey.
















We took another weekend trip up to the Delaware Water Gap, which separates Jersey from Pennsylvania. We did a little hiking and here is our "hiker-in-training".
















The following weekend we returned to Central Park, but this time to the zoo. Here is momma cleaning up the little guy from lunch before seeing all the animals.










Dadda and Reid checking out the sea lion show at the Central Park Zoo.












My little munchkin, first thing in the morning, ready for his Baby Genius singing and dancing video.











On Memorial Day, we made our way up to the cutest little town called New Hope in Pennsylvania. We rode a refurbished old time steam engine train (or choo choo as Reid calls it). It was a pretty ride through some PA countryside.









The bridge post where we walked across the Delaware River from New Hope, PA to Lambertville, NJ.











Reid checking out a motorcycle passing by on the bridge. A "meeeeeee-go" as he calls it.


















After the hot day in New Hope, Chris and Reid cooled off with a refreshing beverage.













Our new place! Here is our cute house in Springfield, NJ. After a long and tedious journey looking for just the right place to live, dumping a real estate agent and acquiring a new wacky one, we were finally led to just the right place. Awesome neighbors, a track close by, a park behind our house, and of course fireflies at night! You can also see my new car, the Honda Element on the left (isn't it adorable?) and Chris' new company car on the right.



A shot of our living room/dining room in our house. Plenty of space for our little family. What fun to be reunited with all of our stuff from Hong Kong, Portland, and Seattle! We were a bit spread out there for a while.










Don't know if you heard about our heatwave here, but Reid had nothing but fun during his first day in the sprinkler! Definitely cooled off the red-cheeked, hot little guy. Here he is in our new backyard. It is fully fenced in and wild bunnies frequent our property!











Ahhhhh, I am truly at peace with my refreshed spirit...














Last weekend we headed down to Princeton, NJ. I love Princeton, such a quaint and pretty little city. The campus was beautiful and then we trekked on a trail that runs along a canal (which is full of canoeing opportunities) that was built to connect waterways through a large part of Jersey. Here is our little marathoner in training with Dadda.

We are happy to be back and sharing our lives with you! Look forward to more blog entries soon!