Neighbors forever

When Jill and Skylar planned a visit to see us in NJ after their school let out for summer, we were ecstatic.    Olivia would finally see her BFF after a long hiatus.  And of course, I was ready for some "Jill time".  We had lots and lots to catch up on!  We do not break up for summer until June 21, so it was a nice time for us to have visitors from Atlanta.  The kids took a day off from school on Friday to have a bit more time with the McCurry's.  We headed out to The Bronx Zoo Friday.  Zach had recently been on a field trip to the Bronx Zoo, so he led us around.  Jill and I caught ourselves talking (surprised?!) and missed a few turns here and there, but it was all fun and games.  The weather was superb for a day at the zoo.  All we heard from these girls and boy was, "can we look in the gift shop" and "can we have an Icee?".  We told them if they were good it would be our last stop of the day.  Of course, after 17 requests of "can we have an Icee?", I would say they were not so good, but it became quite funny at times.  Kids running around stopping in front of us to only say "Icee?"  The term of the day.  When it was finally time for a Icee, the closest Icee machine was broken - OH NO! and the guy told us to "go to 7-Eleven".  Oh my, I don't think I'm stopping at a 7-Eleven in the Bronx on a crazy, busy Friday afternoon!  So on we walked, to find another machine.  When said Icees were purchased, the kids made a point, brain freeze and all, to finish every bit of their shared Icee to tell us moms that they, in fact, could handle the much anticipated Icee.  All I have to say to that is ICEE!!

We loved the animals, particularly the bear that sat like a human and we are grateful that Zach informed us to ride the monorail.  It was probably all of our favorite and we saw some pretty incredible animals, most notably, the herd stampede of the almost extinct breed of horse.  The monorail driver had never seen it before!  Also, The Bronx Zoo dates back to the late 1800's....that's crazy!
Our traffic jam of a ride home from the Bronx was quite exciting and scary.  At one point, we saw a man on the ground, a motorcycle next to him, a cop yelling and a detective (business suit), pull a gun on him!  WHAT IS GOING ON?!  We passed by as quickly as we could.  Jill and I thought it was a filming of a t.v. show, but with no cameras in site, this, in fact, was reality.  Yikes!

Every moment we had free at home, the kids would pop over to my new NJ neighbor's house and swim with her kids.  Luckily, my two incredible neighbors were able to meet each other and guess what? They liked each other:-)

Saturday, we had a girls day in NYC.  Zach had baseball and tennis, so Dave hung with him for the day.  The girls were treated to American Girl, where they purchased matching outfits for their dolls and backpacks.  We stopped at Rockefeller Center to dress the dolls, peek into the LEGO store and then they asked for their first street vendor hot dog!  Mmm, mmm.  The summer street fairs have officially started, so Jill and I grabbed Mediterranean food, sat down on a sidewalk bench and refueled (instead of waisting an hour in a restaurant).  The only drawback to this was that the birds hang out in the trees overhead and Jill got a nice surprise in her hair as she was finishing her food!  Gross!

On to (as Olivia and Zach call it), the "Biggest Toy Store in the World", Toys R Us in Times Square.  Skylar had birthday money to spend, and spend it she did!  These girls were on a mission to shop....for toys.  When will the clothes & shoes come into the mix?

My most anticipated part of the day was here....Mary Poppins on Broadway!  We went to see a matinee show and much to my and Jill's delight, it was fantastic!  More like, magical....good old Mary Poppins.  Our girls did not grow up on Mary P. so they probably would rather see Madagascar 3 at the movies, but hey, indulge the mamas, will you?  The girls did like the show, albeit a bit long for them.  None the less, it was well worth it.  

Skylar asked to ride the subway, so we took the subway to Dylan's Candy Store.  Again, another great moment. Candy as far as the eye can see.  The treat bar upstairs was calling our name, so we all had some ice cream and a quick rest.  As the girls were walking toward FAO Swartz and Central Park, Olivia exclaimed to Skylar, "We are SO spoiled", in which giggling ensued.  The people walking behind us had to laugh too:-)  These girls were happy, happy, happy.  They had each other and enjoyed a fabulous day in NYC!

Luckily, we had a portion on Sunday to left to play together before their flight.  I finally had a chance to show them Wyckoff and a few other places...Dave requested the Oakland Diner to showcase NJ, so brunch it was!  A delayed flight gave us valuable time for final goodbyes until we meet again in August.  See you soon, McCurry's and thanks for the visit.  Ya'll come back, ya hear?