I'm back from a whirlwind trip to New York City. I left Friday morning at 6:30 am and arrived in NYC around 10:30 am after a brief layover in Detroit. My cousin lives in NYC, so my mom, my aunt and I took advantage of free lodging and planned a girls' weekend. We had so much fun!
On Friday we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was amazing and huge. Then we took a taxi down to Times Square where we had New York-style pizza and saw a show on Broadway. How fun it was to do some shopping along Times Square!
Saturday we started our day in the Financial District, visiting the NY Stock Exchange. Then we went to Battery Park where we had a good view of the Statue of Liberty (reminded me of choir tour G-Knee!). Then a short walk provided us with a surreal view of Ground Zero. There were lots of flowers and memorials there since it had only been a few days since the anniversary of 9/11.
After another dizzying taxi ride we got off in Chinatown and fought our way through the crowds to look at pashmina scarves and purses. Little Italy is a short ways away, so we walked there to get in on their festival they had going on in the streets. We had a yummy Italian dinner. Then we went back to Times Square to get two huge slices of melt-in-your-mouth cheesecake (which we almost didn't get after offending the deli workers by asking for the toppings on the side...). :)
Sunday was a visit to the Rockefeller Center (where they ice skate in the winter). We walked past the NBC studios, the ABC studios, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, etc. It was a beautiful fall day, so we went to Central Park and went for a carousel ride and ambled along the paths.
My flight took off at 7:45 p.m., so we had to cut a beautiful day short. After almost missing my connecting flight in Detroit (after a 20-minute run through the airport!), I was picked up by my wonderful husband who had a less-than-memorable weekend (but that's another story...). Now I'm trying to recover from the whiplash I experienced in the cabs.
I was thrilled to pick up our refinished dining room table and new chairs this past weekend. The table had been my grandmother's, and was in good condition, but needed to be refinished. So we had that done and bought new chairs with matching finish. We only had four chairs before, but now with six chairs Chloe can sit up to the table with the big kids! She loves it. 
Noah and Olivia getting ready to pet a few animals.
A bunny!
Livi had to get her feather in this picture, which is one she found after chasing a rooster around. Not the most sanitary of souvenirs, I know. 
This weekend Paul's brother Ben and and his wife Dayna and kids came to stay with us. We had fun on Saturday going to a pumpkin patch. This is Noah with Uncle Ben and an unspecified greeter.
Olivia and Chloe are learning how to make apple butter, which is in the big cauldron over the fire. You can see Chloe is very excited, as she is clapping enthusiastically. 
Here's the loot!
