Favorite Things

I love hiking.  We haven't done a whole lot of hiking the past couple of years, since we have lived in some of the flattest states (Kansas and Florida).  But, there are some places to hike in Connecticut.  So off we went.  We borrowed a backpack carrier from some friends, and Anabelle was all set to enjoy the ride.  She loved it.

Check this out!  This huge tree trunk was completely hollowed out. It was really cool.

Anabelle loves to set up all of her toys in a row and put them to bed.  She will do this over and over again, sometimes for 20-30 minutes at a time.  Today, she sang them songs.  So sweet.  They always have to have a blanket to lay on.  Oh, she is a fun little girl.

Here is a video to demonstrate her new favorite activity

 

Current Happenings

Some of Anabelle's goofy faces.  And yes, she fell and scraped her chin

Some pics from the zoo.  Isn't this one great!

A giant alligator

Cute tiny little monkeys

Our little one LOVES cheese

as you can see, she would have eaten the entire block if we let her

We took a trip up to Hartford and went on a hike up to a tower overlooking practically all of CT

So green

And we went to NYC again to go to the temple.  Here it is, right in the middle of the city

On "Top of the rock", one of the tallest buildings with a 360 view overlooking the city. This is the empire state building in the background

Panoramic view to the south

and to the North

This green beauty is Central Park.

Fishing for some snacks as we walk the city

Enjoy!

New York City

We went to NYC for the first time this weekend.  It was a lot of fun, and really neat to see the city.  The buildings were so huge.  I've never seen anything like it.  Some of the sites we saw include ground zero, Battery Park, Hudson River (looking out to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty), the Brooklyn Bridge (from a distance), Central Park, the Museum of Modern Art, and more.  We took the train into the city from where we live, so we got to see Grand Central Station, which was a site in and of itself.  Very cool.  So much of the architecture in NYC is very detailed and has been around for very long.  I'm so glad we got to see this remarkable, world-famous city.
Standing in front of Grand Central Terminal

Walking the streets of NYC

Memorial to those whose lives were lost on 9/11 through rescue efforts

Ground Zero.

We saw this from the roof of our hotel.  We couldn't see anything from the street.  This is the construction of the Freedom tower they are building 

More views from the "Sundeck" of our hotel

Southern tip of Manhattan Island

Anabelle looking over from 20 stories high

In front of the Hudson River

Whoa!  Look how big this flower is

And here it is, the statue of Liberty.  This is the closest we got to it.  We'll have to save that for another trip

A memorial to immigrants who came to America via Castle Garden

the beautiful statue

Brooklyn Bridge

The place where George Washington took the first oath as President of the United States

Outside Rockefeller Center. Anabelle was SO tired.  My arms got tired so I finally set her down in her stroller.  She whined for about a half a second and was then completely out.  She'd had a long day.

We walked down 5th avenue.  Here's my picture to prove it. :)  We saw all of the overly expensive stores.  It was crazy; there was a line around the corner to get into Abercrombie and Fitch.

 We were able to get into the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for free with our military ID card, so we took advantage of that.  I saw some amazing art.  The design & architecture and paintings were my favorite.  Much of the other art (especially the contemporary and photography) was outside my taste very discomforting to look at.  Here are some photos of my favorite displays at MoMA.

And yes, Vincent VanGogh's Starry Night (sorry, poor picture quality)

What an amazing trip that was!  We were so exhausted by the time we got home yesterday evening, and we're still recuperating today.  Sorry I don't have pics of Central Park (our camera drains batteries like crazy, so we were conserving them).  It was gorgeous, and amazingly, you couldn't even hear the noise of the streets inside the park.  I highly recommend a visit if you've never been.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was our 3 year Anniversary! It's hard to believe that much time has already passed.  We sure have experienced a lot since we got married.  I love you Mike, and I am so grateful to be your wife :)  Last night we went out to celebrate.  A family in our ward volunteered to watch Anabelle (who was an angel for them, thank goodness), and we enjoyed the alone time.  We went to dinner at a Japanese Hibachi steakhouse and then to see the play "Defending the Caveman."  Hilarious!!  It was a great evening.
Then...

And now...

Visit to the Nautilus

There is a submarine base about an hour and a half away, in Groton, CT.  We went up there last weekend.  They have a submarine up there that you can tour, which was awesome.  I got to see what kind of setup Mike would have as an officer on a sub.  To be honest, it made me a little nervous. I'm pretty sure living in that confined space would do wonders for my claustrophobia.  Nonetheless, it was really cool to see.  It's amazing how much they fit into each tiny space.  They also had a museum with all sorts of info about the history of submarines.  I'm sure Mike would have typed up a much better and more detailed explanation of our venture, but I guess you have to miss out on that.  Here are some pictures of us in front of the submarine (called Nautilus).

Oh, and by the way, we FINALLY got our car and got the registration taken care of, which was way more of a hassle than I could have ever imagined.  Happy that's all taken care of.  Here it is. It's an '02 Saturn SL1.  Mike and I still debate over whether it's gold or tan.  Technically, Saturn calls it gold, but I just don't quite buy it.