Our Familiar New York Home

We spent a day up in our old neighborhood. We saw old friends and familiar places, but also we refreshed memories in our kids' minds. I don't think Libbie has much hope of remmebering anything since she was just one when we left but Elliot was three and still has some memories. Before our visit, he remembered little things, but only when we brought up the subject. When we were in our old neighborhood on the Upper West Side, Elliot started remembering things on his own. He remembered playing chess with Ahmad on the street, he remembered picking up apple cider donuts at the farmer's market on Thursdays after dropping Aaron off at the bus stop, and he remembered our apartment door. It was neat to see his face as the memories just sort of flowed back. I hope they live on through the years.

As you can tell from the collage below, the main photogenic attraction at the museum was not so much the world-class exhibits (although those were nice too) so much as the front stage good times our kids had with their friends attending those exhibits. 

Playing chess with Max and Ahmad, old chess buddies from the same spot on Broadway and 113th

Elliot got more action this time than he ever did before

Everyone seemed to remember how to ride the subway

One of our favorite days was the day we spent with our good friends the Whites. We met up in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, walked through the museum together, spent the afternoon talking and eating lunch on the playground while the kids soaked themselves in the water, then the grown-ups went out for Cuban sandwiches at a new favorite place right by their new apartment. It was a perfect New York day (even the part where I took the kids home by myself through several train transfers and about a mile walk in the rain). We really missed the Whites and were so grateful to get such good time with them.

The boys all had fun together, which we expected, but the surprising part was how much Bug and Libbie got along and played together.  They are a couple of years apart so they weren't really close when we lived there (Bug is Elliot's age) but they were inseparable this time. At the museum, they walked around holding hands while Bug read Libbie the plaques of information. It was unbearably cute.

Libbie explained to me later that she had to hold Bug's hair back so she could read better

Elliot also enjoyed reading some of the information plaques

The crew. Libbie was like their little pet. They all doted on her.

Elliot also remembered the knights, and requested this picture

The girls got in on the knight action as well

Tourists in Manhattan

For the majority of our first few days in Manhattan, we played tourists with my sister Krista and two of her kids. We were a little put out by the fact that it rained most of that time, but we managed to get around okay anyway. 

As I mentioned, we stayed at a friends' place in the East Village (which was so wonderful to have our own place). We were happy to discover that Katz's deli was on our way to the subway everyday. Of course we had to step in and have a sandwich, but at $15 per sandwich, we opted to share one as a family. We each got a few amazing bites of the recommended pastrami on rye. It really was incredible. The kids especially liked the giant pickles.

Bliss

Aaron was the only kid who chowed on the sandwich. Not surprisingly.

Of course we had to end up at Times Square at some point. We took the kids to Toys R Us and spent a couple of hours playing with the toys there. They especially loved

Tato sherpa

Libbie and Evie opted to use their $5 spending money for a ride on the carousel

They were quite pleased with the result

We spent the most time at this station that had several remote control cars to try out. Our favorite was the super small one that zoomed around.

The T-Rex was a big hit. The girls were slightly frightened by the roaring. Elliot kept asking, "Is it real?" And we kept saying, "It's a real statue, yes, but it's not alive." I think he finally got it.

The tourist crew, minus the moms (who are both taking pictures)

Aaron had a great time posing with the Lego statues. It's funny--we have been here a handful of times and I think Aaron had the most fun this time, as an eight year old.

Elmo was waiting out on the street. The kids all (except Aaron) wanted to give him hugs.

We took the subway down to Brooklyn and walked over to Grimaldi's Pizza. I almost had a heart attach when it said it had been closed down for repairs. Luckilly the construction guys told us that they had opened next door for the interim. The pizza was almost as good as I remembered it. I'm not sure if that's because they were using a newer coal oven and not the ancient one in their old place or if my memory is just too kind.

Mmmmm....

We took the scenic route back to Manhattan and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. We had a little trouble with kids walking over the line into the bike lane (hence the grouchy Elliot face) but otherwise it was a great walk.

Krista ended up carrying/pushing her two kids the last stretch.
(Don't worry, I took over pushing the stroller as soon as I saw her like this.) 

The next day we took it a little easier and spent the morning at the New York Hall of Science in the Bronx. The boys have been there several times but it was somehow still new and exciting as tourists with cousins.

Astronaut Elliot

Aaron and Gabe

One morning we walked over to Chinatown (that was Aaron's #1 request for our time in NYC). We ate lunch at an incredible dim sum place. Aaron enjoyed a couple of chicken feet and we all drooled over the steaming pork dumplings.

Aaron still loves looking at and sampling the small dried fish

After lunch and a few street snacks we headed over to the Chinatown ice cream factory. The coconut pineapple combo Ben and i shared was delightful, although Elliot was a little disappointed with the richness of his chocolate cone. The next time he got chocolate ice cream he said, "I sure hope it's not rich chocolate like last time."

Proof that I was there too...

My brother Ben's wedding

After three days of driving, we were so excited to pull up to my brother's new home in Lake Peekskill. The cousins picked up right where they left off as great friends. Since the house was busy with getting ready for the wedding, the kids had to stay outside and entertain themselves, with the help of Ben/Beeps/Uncle Tato. (My Ben was the official kid entertainer, not to be confused with my brother Ben, the groom.)

Tony, Elliot, Aaron, Gabe

Libbie and Evie were so excited to see each other

Some of the kids' activities included exploring the backyard, throwing balls around, writing and performing a play (complete with tickets for the low price of $.50 each) and, one of my personal favorites, hitting a flying box off the balcony...

The kids spent an afternoon or two down by the lake. The weather wasn't really swimmable so we didn't send all the kids with bathing suits but that did not stop them.



After two days of playing, the wedding events started up on Friday evening with the rehearsal dinner.

Libbie ad Eve in their rehearsal dinner dresses

My mom was in charge of the Rehearsal Dinner, which was, expectedly, over the top amazing. The theme was love birds, complete with bird plates, bird houses and homemade stuffed birds as centerpieces with little nests for name place holders.

All the male grandkids
From left to right: Gabe, Aaron, Tucker (front row), Elliot, and Tony

All the grandkids except Addie, who was back in Utah with her dad

The bride and groom at the head table

Chowing down

The take home treat table-- fill a bag with homemade treats to take home

Dessert table

Libbie grabbing a fruit kebab

Using fruit skewers for another purpose entirely

Libbie and Aunt Kokies were buddies again. Somehow Libbie seems to remember Kori every time we get together, even though sometimes they are apart for a year or more.

Now for the actual wedding. I am a bit embarrassed that we didn't get more photos of the actual wedding and wedding party but they had a professional and we were using our iPhones so we mostly took cameos of the kids. The wedding was beautiful, in their backyard filled with family and close friends.

Evie and Libbie made their debut as flower girls

Caroline's little brother Gwylim walked her down the aisle

Uncle Tony's brother Richard (who has been an unofficial Lambert family member for many years) performed the ceremony

All the grandkids minus Addie again

Love this

Our little family
(I am not really that huge... this dress apparently had poofing potential I was not aware of; c'est la vie)

After the ceremony, we ate and danced the night away. Kori twirled Libbie and Evie on the dance floor over and over again, much to their delight.