I
was ready to take photos of all the states' welcome signs. Delaware
doesn't really like their drivers I guess, because there was no welcome sign in
the whole 10 minutes that we drove through the state. It costs $4 to
enter the state and another $4 to leave. So in a minute-to-mile ratio
it was the most expensive state we went through.
Maryland was happy to welcome us...
Our first stop in D.C. was the zoo.
LOVED it!
Bamboo everywhere.
Panda fun.
Mimi was so excited to see the panda eating, she decided to join him/her.
Yoda was pretty sure that gorilla had his same name, since they were the same size.
Mimi could watch those guys forever.
Anyone else watching the Orangutan Diaries on the BBC/PBS? It's fun.
One of their favorite animals--the Basilisk!
One
last animal before we all died of heat stroke--Yoda's request--the
Cheetah. Thanks goodness there were lots of indoor exhibits and
sprinklers to help us cool off.
My sisters and I went for a short walk from our beach house to Asbury Park. This is where Bruce Springsteen got his start.
There's a bunch of pretty buildings on the boardwalk, right on the beach.
Yoda stole these water bottles from my sister. She was a good sport about it and chalked it up to him knowing how cute he is, he can get away with stuff like that :)
Surprise! There was a parade just a block from our house. It was pretty awesome. Lots of firetrucks (and other stuff) from all over NJ. Lots of floats throwing candy. Mimi did her best to collect for the family. We did not come prepared--I had no idea there would be candy that we would have to bring home. Fortunately the family next to us brought lots of bags to bring home candy with, so they shared.
While I wait for Greg to put the photos back on the computer after wiping our computer clean because a virus tried to take over, here's a couple of quotes from the kiddos...
__________
Just after Yoda gave me a little kiss on one cheek, he said:"One more cheek" and gave me another :)
__________
Me:"Whoever washes their hands first gets to pick out the video that we will watch."
Parker was finished first:"I get to pick the video!"
Mimi:"Yeah, and I get to tell you what to pick!"
__________
A few weeks after Mimi lost one of her top-front teeth we attended a birthday party where the cake was this awesome cantaloupe bunny. She was told she could take a part of it. She removed one of it's top-front teeth, so they could match.
Mimi explaining the "walk" signal to Yoda:"If you see the human blow up, that's when it's time to walk"
__________
Mimi:"The buildings are so big"
Me:"Try not to make it obvious that we are from out west."
__________
Mimi"What's 'NY'? It's everywhere!"
__________
Mimi, while waiting for the bathroom in Penn Station in a very long line:"New York has a lot of people"
Other people in line *snicker*
Cause sometimes 7 lanes just aren't enough--sheesh.
We drove to a train station to take a train into the city.
Yoda has been asking to ride a train for months. Just a few minutes on this train and he was done.
On the subway, we were in the back of the train. Yoda wanted to see the caboose--subways don't have cabooses, this was tough for him to understand, but then we showed him that there was no more train behind us and that we were IN the caboose. He was pleased...
Hot dogs in Central Park
Central Park Zoo
The day was crazy--hot, made hotter by visiting the tropical house.
Such a pretty and tiny zoo.
Watching the seals.
Polar bear making an appearance.
Mimi LOVED the owl.
Next we went to the Met, and I got to see my BFF Rebekah!
Rebekah:"I want to see me on your blog!"
The Parker and Mimi loved the museum, I didn't think they would. Egypt, the armor, the musical instruments. I was pleasantly surprised.
After the Met, we walked outside to see a group of street performers. I didn't get a picture of the show--I figured that it would be on youtube, and I was right (I'll post a link later if you're curious). But I did want a shot of the kiddos and Rebekah watching them. A couple hundred tourists were captivated.
We did a kids' walking tour of NYC with lots of playgrounds, statues to climb on, the Met and the zoo.
Here's a difference I've noticed about NY/NJ vs. Ohio:
In Ohio there will be other parents waiting in line to get a photo of their own child climbing on the statue.
In NY/NJ a guy will yell out "Take care of your child!"
Truth.
There were less yelling strangers at this sculpture, and yet it may have been taller...hmmm...
Alice in Wonderland
Hans Christian Andersen
Giant Slide that I rode on almost 20 years ago with the kiddos that I babysat for.
A better shot of how pretty the zoo really is.
Waiting for the train track announcement. How many times have I done this? Seems like a ton, and so long ago. All the commuters wait in this area and stare at the big board to see which track their train will be on. It used to be so much more dramatic with flipping letters and numbers. Now it's just a silent, digital board.
Here's a video of the old one, at the end it actually says "Maplewood"!
The ride home Parker and Greg fell asleep and Yoda stayed occupied with his cars--it was too dark to see outside by this time of night.
On the drive home we saw some pre-4th fireworks. It made the drive back to the beach house very nice.
