Hitting the Streets in the Big Apple

Last week Jon and Tanner got to go to New York. I asked Jon to write a blog about it since I wasn't there. I was invited but I don't like to leave my kids very often and I had already gone to Chicago the month before. I will go to N.Y. some day in my life for sure. They had a really great time.

 This past week, my son and I spent three days in glamorous Times Square and New York City.

In three days we were able to pack in a lot, so I'll just share the best of what we did here. First, some background: we took my other two sons on a trip to Houston where the older of the two was earning his black belt in Karate and we took my daughter to Chicago where I was attending a conference. So I suggested to my son that I should take him on a trip somewhere and suggested New York City. He was tepid to the idea until I mentioned that we could see Rockerfeller Center, where they film the TV show 30 Rock; that got him excited and he agreed to go.

Rather than bore you with an exhaustive description of what we did and when, I'll use my writerly skills and chose only the highlights. We did, in fact get to Rockerfeller Center and saw a number of locations from the TV show, which was more exciting than I thought it would be. Taking our pictures by the statue of Atlas near the plaza was a highlight. For me, the best part of this excursion was stumbling across St. Patrick's Cathedral, one of the largest and most breathtaking cathedrals I've visited. 

I've always enjoyed visiting churches and cathedrals when I visit other places, and I was pleased that my son showed an interest, too, so we also stopped by the Trinity Cathedral down in the financial district. The building itself was inspiring, especially the smaller chapels with their exquisite sculptures. However, what most impressed us both was the cemetery attached to the church; we saw gravestones from the 1690s, some that were so old that time and the elements had worn them smooth, and even the marker for Alexander Hamilton.

 We were in the financial district for one of the highlights of our trip: visiting the 9/11 memorial. Since we watched a special about its planning and construction around the 10-year anniversary last year, I've been interested in actually visiting, and it was well worth it. The incessant sounds of construction around the memorial detracted a bit from the reverence of the site, but looking over the edge of the "footprints" and running my fingers across the engraved names was humbling.

 I'm a big fan of the Seinfeld TV show, and visiting New York City made me feel on a number of times that I was revisiting episodes of the show. Passing the news stands, almost buying a Clark Bar candy bar from one, eating a hot dog from a street vendor, and riding a crowded subway all brought back memories from the show. The most singular reminiscence came when we were walking in the Theater district and came across Sardi's, a famous restaurant referenced in an episode where Kramer mistakenly wins a Tony award. My son didn't understand my excitement at stumbling across this famous site.

 Overall, the singular impression from visiting New York City is one of immense scale. Walking through Times Square, especially at night, is an awe-inspiring site--flashing advertisements cover every inch of building space, crowds of people surge through the square, and the whole sight stretches in every direction as far as you can see. The square seems overwhelming in its scale. Then you get to the top of the Empire State Building (which means waiting in long lines and takes quite a bit away from the experience, truthfully), and you look down on the city and gain a whole new sense of the immensity of the place. Central Park looks lush and green and huge, even from 86 stories up, and apartment buildings and streets and skyscrapers literally stretch out to the north as far as the eye can see. As we looked north into the city, peering between a couple of skyscrapers, we caught a glimpse of a sliver of Times Square (the Hershey's store, which you might be able to see if you enlarge the view from the top of the ESB and look just to the left of the green MetLife tower)--and were struck at how microscopic it seemed from that vantage point. The whole city has that feeling of immensity, a feeling that I understand can be exciting but that, ultimately, made me glad to live in a quiet suburb between cities of moderate size.

Max's 6th Grade Graduation & The Last Day of School

Max has had kind of a hard year of school. I should have figured out something was wrong when his teacher said "he could be a straight A student." He always has been, but not this year. His teacher was WAY unorganized and Max isn't that organized either, so together, it was a rough year. He would have to turn things in 4 times sometimes because the teacher would lose it, which after a while he would just give up. He still did okay and did really well on the end of the year tests so I guess he learned something. Hopefully he will be okay for Junior High next year.

 Max, looking handsome, walking to get his "diploma."

 Max's best friends this year, Seth and Joseph.

 Here are Max and Seth running to the house after the bus dropped them off. I got this same picture last year. The reason I know when to grab my camera and open the door is because there was a BIG shout of joy coming from the bus when it stopped that I could hear clear in the house. They begged not to go to school because it was only an hour and a half long but after they came home they said it was really fun. When the school bell rang everyone was hooting and hollering!

Karate Tournament

A few weeks ago Max did his annual Karate Tournament. He can choose two events to compete in (or more if I want to pay more...which I don't). He chose Traditional Kata and Chambara. Of course they were on two different evenings.

 Traditional Kata. Max chose to do "Competition form."  Just he and another Black belt signed up for this one. Max was happy to get a 9.7 but the other boy got a 9.9 He did the splits and a back hand spring.

 The next night was Chambara. Max's friend Aidan (to his right) was not too thrilled to get a 4th place medal instead of a trophy. I tried to cheer him up by telling him Max got 2nd the day before and there were only two people competing! He smiled a little.

Sporty

As of today, all sports are over for the season. It's bitter sweet. I love it, when it's good weather, sitting outside watching sports and yelling for our team. 

 Tanner learned a lot with Rugby but I don't think he will play it again. He feels like he would have done better had he started earlier in his life. Isn't that the truth about most things. I still don't get what's going on and now probably never will. Tanner's #4 to the left of #3. They have some short shorts.

 Maddie not only had her last game of the season but her last game with Adrenaline. AA only goes to age 14. This was such a good group of girls. They were nice on and off the field and played really well together.  Sad. Maddie's not ready to give up soccer for good so she will probably play on a rec. league next year.

                   Go, Silver Knights! Seth is going to try out for AA next year. He's really liking soccer.

 Max had a pretty good year. I don't think his team has won very many games but they've improved and that's what counts, right? :) He really wants to play Flag Football so he's not going to sign up for soccer next year.

Good Game!!!

Tanner goes to Prom

Tanner turned 16 back in February but had to think about his first date for a long time...I guess.  I didn't realize that Tanner could go to Prom as a sophomore because we didn't in my High School. A lot of his good friends planned prom together and it made it really fun and gave Tanner the courage he needed to ask a girl out.  The neighbors made them all dinner in their back yard that was super fancy which Tanner said was the best part about Prom. The actual dance was really crowded and hot, which is another reason they should just have jr. and sr. go. 

 Tanner and Emma~ Prom 2012

Tanner's friends- Michael, Dallin, Spencer, Bret, and Daniel

The Windy City

Jon went to Chicago for a Reading Convention and Maddie and I tagged along. We had a great time! The brothers all stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and had to go to school, poor brothers.  The first thing Jon wanted to do was eat Chicago pizza. He was very excited for Maddie to try it for the first time. She didn't really like it because the tomatoes tasted too "real" so she picked off the tomatoes and then liked it okay. When we got a cookie sundae for dessert, then we saw the enthusiasm we wanted to see for the pizza.

 We walked through a park right by our Motel and saw "The Bean." It was really beautiful. I liked the view from the other side better because it reflected all the sky scrapers.

 It rained almost the whole time we were there which is pretty normal for the month of April. It was still pretty warm and not too bad walking in the rain everywhere. Maddie loves the city because we got to walk so much.

Here's Maddie all by herself in the Motel pool. She didn't have very fun because there was nobody to swim with. She swam about 20 minutes then decided to get out.

Our favorite place was the Museum of art. It was so amazing. Maddie couldn't believe how many famous pieces of art there were in this one museum. She asked right when we got into the Museum, "Wait, are these originals??" Yes!

                 A Sunday Afternoon- Saurat. This is the picture that's made with small dots.

                                                            Bedroom in Arles- Van Gogh.

                                                             Water Lily Pond- Monet

We took a boat down the Chicago River while the tour guide told us lots of information about what inspired the architects that built these buildings by the river. It was really interesting and fun to be on a boat! View of the former Sear's Tower. It has been renamed but everyone still calls it the "former Sears Tower."

Maddie asked Jon where his conference was going to be held next year. I said, "Why do you want to know?" and she just smiled. She had a great time!

May 1st, I'm Just Gonna Burst!

I'll have to consult my blog, but I think Seth has gone to Boondocks the last three years for his birthday. This year he said he just wanted family and no friends, so that was nice for me to not have to worry about passing out invitations and taking kids home, etc.  As you can see, Seth got some great treasures with his tickets.

 Opening presents. We had Joseph and Bethany and their 4 kids- Elisabeth, Christopher, Isaac, and Gabriel, Grandma, Grandpa Dewey, Gram Pennington, Lincoln, Donovan, Paige, and Elliott. It actually wasn't very busy for a Friday at 5:00.

                                          Blowing out candles and getting some bonus tickets.

 Joseph's kids were a little scared of Laser Tag so they went to do Bumper Boats instead. We automatically do Laser tag but maybe Bumper boats would be more fun. We'll have to go back in the summer and try them.

 Finishing Laser Tag-YEAH! Donovan and Lincoln playing some ski ball while Grandma, Paige, and Elliott support.

On Seth's actual birthday, Jon and I were in Chicago so my mom checked Seth out and took him to Cafe Rio and Toys R Us which is more than what I would've done. He had a great birthday.

Note: The title of this blog is from a song Seth wrote about his birthday two years ago, it's pretty good. It even has a rap in the middle of it. Now when I think of Seth's birthday, this song goes through my head.