The Big Apple

Have you ever wondered why NYC is called The Big Apple? I haven’t until just now when I decided to use it as a title.  I will go google it for you…

<brief pause for googling and to refill my iced tea>

And the answer is…well, there are actually three thoughts regarding the origin of the name The Big Apple:  the first refers to a horse racing term, the second to a show business term, and the third to a tourism ploy dating to 1971.  You can read more about it here if you’re interested.

Last weekend, Maddie and I took a long anticipated trip to The Big Apple with her school’s music department.  Maddie has wanted to go to NYC and see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building for a very long time, and we have just never gotten her there on our own. So when we got the flier back in the fall telling us about this opportunity we jumped at it!  (Well, actually, I didn’t realize it was such a popular trip that you needed to get your reservation and deposit in as fast as you could and we kind of missed the chance and were put on the waiting list.  I know!  Bad parent!  Luckily someone backed out because we found out we were going around late November.)

Anywho, we got up around 4:30 in the morning and sleepdrove ourselves to the school.  We climbed on our bus, settled in, and headed to Gotham, The City That Never Sleeps, The City So Nice They Named it Twice,  or, as I like to call it, The City With Lots of Cupcake Shops.

Here’s our first glimpse of  the Statue of Liberty from the bus window!

And that’s actually about as close as we got to the Statue of Liberty, because this tour unfortunately had other destination ideas in mind, which we were also very excited about, but still….we will have to go back another time and get a little closer to Lady Liberty.

Anywho, the bus dropped us off near Battery Park.  We all used the bathroom and Maddie and the other kids got their first glimpse of the many sidewalk salesman who follow around groups of tourists.  They opened up their blanket-covered shopping carts to show us the fine purses they had for sale.  We didn’t buy any, although a mom on one of the other buses did look through them! 

A local tour guide met us at Battery Park and took us to our first stop, which was Ground Zero. There was quite a line to get in to Ground Zero, and a bag check/body x-ray too, but once we made it inside the park, it was all worth it.  I got a little choked up, which Maddie never realized because I was wearing sunglasses and I worked to keep my voice steady.  Ben was born a month before 9/11. On September 11,   twenty month old Maddie was eating breakfast in her high chair, Ben was nestled away somewhere, and I was going back and forth doing laundry, when I saw the news report on The Today Show that a plane had hit the WTC.  I called Dave at work and told him about it.  At that point it was just an accident.  Eventually, when the second plane hit, and then the  Pentagon was hit, and then I watched the towers fall, the world got really scary to me for the first time, as I worried about how I’d ever keep my babies safe again in this horrible, perilous world.  I’d be up in the wee hours nursing Ben and worrying, and mentally preparing escape routes, and worrying, and I filled giant Rubbermaids with survival supplies, and I worried and worried and worried. 

Now there are two fountains where the two buildings used to be.  Around the fountain edges are the names of all of the victims from that day (and from the WTC bombing in the nineties), including the victims from the Pentagon, Flight 93, the two airplanes that crashed into the buildings, the workers in the buildings, and all rescuers who perished.  It was staggering.  I think they’ve done an excellent job rebuilding the area into a park/memorial while continuing to rebuild around it.

After our visit, we headed across lower Manhattan toward the Brooklyn Bridge. We passed two very old churches, one of which (St. Paul’s Chapel) was used as a resting place for the firefighters as they worked at Ground Zero.

                      Police and Fire badges sent to NYC from all around the country and world as a show of support.

The fence above might look familiar.  There are a lot of photos in the aftermath of 9/11 where people placed photos and mementos of loved ones as they searched or mourned.

After our visit here, we continued east.  We passed Wall Street and City Hall and then began our journey across the Brooklyn Bridge.  Have you noticed the lovely green shirts in any of the previous photos?  Everyone on the bus tour (215 of us, I believe) had to wear the same, nauseatingly green shirt, that screamed “I AM A TOURIST AND NOT A FASHIONABLE ONE AT THAT” to all we encountered.  Ugh.

It was about a 15 minute walk to the first large tall part of the bridge. 

Then we walked back.  Maddie was not thrilled (neither were many of the teens.)  It was a lot of walking to see a bridge.

Here she is when we got back on the bus…

I love this photo.  She was so whiny at this point, her feet hurt, she was hungry (we ate our lunch on the bus so that clammed her up a little bit), she was hot, etc.   Waaaah!  She was driving me a little bit crazy.

The bus took us to Times Square.  On the way we passed the Empire State Building!

                                           This too, was the closest we got to the Empire State Building.

We had fun walking around Times Square though and looking for souvenirs for Ben and Jack.

And then we headed to the Gershwin Theatre to see Wicked!  Yay!  Our favorite part of the day!

The music was fabulous, the singers were amazing, I loved how a back story to The Wizard of Oz was created.  It was funny, sweet, dramatic, and exciting.  I definitely recommend you see Wicked if you can!

Here we are after the show…a sea of slime working our way to Planet Hollywood.

                            On the left is the New Year’s Eve ball, and Maddie is posing with the Statue Man street performer on the right. 

After supper we boarded our buses and chatted about our excellent day.  I promised her we’d be back with the boys (I’m hoping for this summer) to go to the Statue of Liberty and The Empire State Building.  I’d also like to visit the Magnolia Bakery and take everyone to Ellen’s Stardust Diner, which sounds like fun.

And then we went home and I threw up in the middle of the night.  The end.

Dandelions

I love dandelions.  I know they’re a weed, but I really love seeing a yard or a field full of them, both the yellow flower and the lacy white puffball, I think they’re so pretty!  When Maddie and Ben were little I took some photos of them in a dandelion field, and my three favorite photos hold a place of honor over the toilet in my master bath.

I don’t know what Dave has against the sweet, simple dandelion, but he wages a constant battle against them.

The other night while Dave wasn’t paying attention, Jack decided to spread a few dandelion seeds.

But the first thing he did was get the puffball too close to his mouth.

But then he tried again.

Success!

He could only find about five or 6 lone dandelions spread throughout the entire yard, but he blew them all.

So maybe next year we’ll be able to take some updated Kids in the Dandelions photos to update that all important area over my toilet.

An Open Letter to Stephanie from Herbie

Dear Stephanie,
Lately I’ve been getting the feeling that you don’t like me.  I’m sure I must be wrong, because I’m a really nice guinea pig!  I’ve noticed, however, that when you have visited and Jack holds me and follows you around, you squeal like a little girl and seem to run in rather the opposite direction from me, which is confusing.

I mean, what’s not to love?

This could be you, Stephanie.  This could be your face I am gently caressing with my hind foot!  Think of the fun we’d have together!

I am a fan of yours you know.

Maybe you could try a little harder to be a fan of mine too.  I’m just saying, it would be nice.

I wonder if perhaps you have me confused with another type of rodent who gets in your cupboards and eats your food or who leaves droppings around your kitchen or who perhaps skitters across your pillow in the middle of the night.  That would not be me.  I like carrots that are placed lovingly in my bowl.  I am cage-trained for heaven’s sake and would no more poop on your floor than you would poop in the sink (or perhaps I’m making assumptions here I shouldn’t).  Also,  I would never skitter across your pillow in the middle of the night!  I have manners, Stephanie!  I is kind.  I is smart.  I is important.

My name is Herbie. I am a rodent.  But I have feelings too.

Love,
Herbert D. D. Wolfe

P.S.  I hear today is your birthday!  Best wishes!  My mom could arrange a playdate for us if you’re interested, and I'll bring the cake!

An Evening With Papa

Dave’s dad is a biology professor at Lebanon Valley College (wow, look at that!  Thanks to Privacy, I can use real names of places now!) Last week he called us during dinner and asked if the kids were available for a visit to the college.   Unfortunately, Ben was heading to baseball practice and Maddie was heading to swimming practice. Lucky Jack, however, had no plans, so after supper he and I headed on over.

It turns out some special ocean creatures Papa ordered for his students to investigate had arrived!  Bug Boy was delighted to have a sneak preview!

Papa had at least 20 tanks full of sea creatures!  We saw sea stars (left)  and brittle stars (on the right).

The creatures above are sea worms.  When they moved they wriggled back and forth like snakes!  They totally freaked me out.  But Jack bravely held one.  He is totally crazy.  Seriously nuts. Definitely takes after his father who once during his childhood found a dead ground hog, brought it home to his dad (Papa)…they cleaned it up and reassembled the bones onto a board. 

(One time I brought home a harmonica and my dad figured out how to play it.  That was pretty cool too.  Sigh.)

Papa showed him a tank of shrimp and Jack immediately asked if he could hold one.  Papa said that was fine, but warned him they would be very fast and hard to pick up.  Below are his first and second attempts (notice the shrimp in the purple circle flipping out of his hand in mid-air both times):

He finally got one, but my picture is too blurry to show you.

He was allowed to hold everything except the sea anemones.  He handled or inspected sea cucumbers, fiddler crabs, horseshoe crabs, sand dollars, hermit crabs, sand fleas (mole crabs), sea urchins…

and this funny long thing that looks like a…

Hmmm.  I don’t know what it looks like…maybe a slug with leprosy?  Papa told us its name, but I can’t remember it (and no, it’s not a sea cucumber).  I even tried googling it for you but couldn’t find it.   I can tell you that it’s related to the sea star because, like the sea star’s 5 arms, it has 5 rows of those icky orange things.  The interesting thing about the picture above is that creature looks like it’s peeing right at the camera!  Can you see the stream of water shooting out of the top one?  I don’t think it’s pee.  Papa told us, but Jack and I were laughing so hard that I didn’t catch what he said (sorry, Papa).  **UPDATE**My father-in-law read this post and tells me the photo above is indeed a sea cucumber!  I think my hearing was affected by all the crazy peeing going on.

Jack got to look at a few smaller creatures under the microscope.

And then it was time to hit the road.  I hope Papa’s students have as much fun with those sea creatures as Jack did (I’m thinking they did not).  Thanks, Papa, for a great visit!

The Inner Circle

That’s YOU!  If you’re here, it means you have indicated to me that you are interested in continuing to read my blog and that you are fully aware that I may show you endless photos of my adorable children and my husband’s forearms. 

Many thanks to Betsy, Crickit, Dave, Deb, Donna, Jamae, Jennifer, Julie, Kathryn, Kris, Maria, Mary, Pam and Lia, Stephanie, Sue, Tara, and Wendy.  Holy cow, that’s way more than I thought would agree to this crazy scheme [I wasn’t even sure Dave would want to continue reading.  He was getting strangely annoyed at all of my recent attempts to take covert photos of his forearms.  But I know all of you will appreciate them.  Except maybe for Dave’s mom (Julie)…I’m sorry I like your son’s arms].

Ten of you have Google accounts already, so you will be able to sign in easily (I think).  The other 6 of you may need to create a Google account.  I’m sorry.  But a Google account is nice.  I have a separate gmail address through there that I use for all of the junk stuff you have to sign up for so my main email doesn’t get all that junk mail, and I use it for my blog for privacy.  I’m sorry if this is a hassle.
P.S. The next post will be longer and will contain absolutely no photos of my husband’s forearms.  Too bad for you.

Some Changes…

Hi all. 

I started this blog over two years ago with the sole intention of recording the events in my family life.  It was my way of “scrapbooking” since I’ve never been able to do real scrapbooks.  I didn’t have the artistic talent to cut and paste backgrounds and stickers and photos together, but I knew how to tell stories, and I liked taking photos to accompany them.

I initially told a few friends and family members about my blog, though way down deep in my heart, part of me really did hope I’d be one of those famous bloggers who could actually make some money doing something I enjoyed.

And I do enjoy blogging!  I like writing.  Every kind comment, either in the Comments section of my blog or in person sent me over the moon, seriously!  I’ve enjoyed telling you guys the stories and random thoughts of mine that sometimes but not always didn’t have much to do with my family.  One of my favorites ever was this one.  It was kind of dumb, really, but I loved thinking it through and writing it!  But I realized recently that

a) I’m not going to be a famous blogger (I know!  I can’t believe it either!) and

b)  I’ve gotten away from documenting my family stuff. 

You may not agree with the last one.  You may think, “Gosh, she bores us with pictures of her children all the time!”  But really, that’s where I’ve reined myself in for the last year and a half.  Knowing I was building a (rather small) audience of readers who were not necessarily my mother, I was careful not to write too much about the kids.  Not to brag too much.  Not to gush about the cute things they’ve said.  Not to bore you guys with yet another sports photo. 

I was in something of a funk last week.  I did a lot of thinking, not just about my blog, but about my life overall, and I’m making changes, people!  I’m going to be on Facebook less (and I’m not playing any of the games on there at all), I’ll be checking in to Pinterest less, my house is going to be cleaner, I’m going to exercise more, and I’m going to try to be a nicer person.  I’m not as nice as I was 12 years ago.  I could blame that on the children, but….

Well.  Actually, I’m totes going to blame it on the children!  (I’m also blaming my extra weight, my wrinkles, my grey hairs, and my insatiable need for sleep on them.)  I also need to find a job.  I’ve been searching half-heartedly, but I need to get on the stick about that.  I want to feel satisfaction at the end of the day, but mostly I just feel tired and conscience stricken about how little I’ve accomplished, not just because I don’t have a job, but because I’m not doing my Stay At Home Job very well.

So anyhoo, my plan is to make my blog private.  I want to be able to write about my kids more and worry about my audience less.  I’m still going to do my book reviews and recipes because I want to record those, and I’ll still write my random thoughts on things here and there.  But I’m going to write about my family more.  Like how Jack realized there was a hole in his pants at church today, just below the zipper, and he couldn’t stop playing with it in church today.  The hole!  Nothing else!  (I think).  I don’t even want to know what the people around us must have been thinking.

If you’d still like to occasionally check in with my blog, I can add you to a list of people who can access the blog.  Let me know, either in the Comments section,via email, or in person…  I’ll probably let this post up for a week or so before I do that.

Thanks for being a great audience and wish me luck!

                                                                           The end…kind of.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Instagram Easter

Happy Belated Easter to you!  Did you have a nice, chocolate and ham filled Easter?  Did the Easter Bunny visit and hide your baskets in very hard to find spots?  Can you zip up your pants yet after an Easter dinner at your in-laws’ house where you sampled four desserts including red velvet cupcakes, cannoli dip, Rice Krispie Treats, and coconut bunny cake?

(My diet started today, and tomorrow I’m hitting the gym with a renewed, though slightly flabbier spirit).

Our Easter break was nice though.  Gorgeous weather for the entire 6 days off led to a lot of outside playing.  It’s a bummer when the kids have off from school only to be stuck in the house.

Grandma took us and my niece Shayla on our annual Candy Field Trip to this local Farmer’s Market.

After the kids picked out way too much candy, we had some delicious soft pretzels from the soft pretzel stand. 

We decorated our bunny cake…

And painted our eggs…

And on Easter morning we went to Dave’s brother’s church (his brother is a priest in a neighboring county) for Easter mass.  After mass, we ate donuts that Grandma W. brought in his brother’s rectory, and then smiled for Grandma’s camera.

 

We ate our lunch at Uncle Dave and Aunt Jamae’s house (ham) and then supper at Grandma W.’s house (turkey and way too many desserts).  The cousins ran around for the last egg hunt of the year.

Back to school tomorrow, along with the arrival of some rain, which I say is pretty good timing!