Smith's come to New Jersey & NYC

Finally, I convinced at least one sister to come for a visit!  My siblings tend to love a warm, sunny beach and so far, New Jersey didn't entice them.  Until....school let out!  Karen (one of the twins), Mike and Gavin ventured north to see what it was all about.  We anxiously awaited their arrival.

We spent the first day at my neighbor, Diane's, pool.  It was a glorious sunny day.  Perfect temperature, no humidity.  Now, we are talking!  Kobe missed Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike, but especially Gavin.

The 'trouble makers', of course, found the tween's air guns and took them as their own.  I didn't know they made these things anymore?!  They disappeared to the back playset and trampoline hoping we wouldn't take them away.  Not sure if they even worked, as they were found at the bottom of the pool! Ha!

They hunted fireflies and screamed in utter joy at being together again!  It was a perfect summer night!

Sunday, we took them into NYC for Gavin and Karen's first trip!  Exciting.  It was our first time seeifng the Statue of Liberty (up close).  We took the 'Shark' boat, a 30 minute ride, to see her, along with Freedom tower and lots of other NYC landmarks, via water.  It was the perfect trip, an early afternoon on the water, getting a bit of spray, music pumping, the whole nine yards!  We loved it.  

The boys had to ride where they would get the most spray.....

Jen, Karen, Olivia, Dave and Mike.....fun!

Lunch by the pier.  As long as Olivia had BBQ ribs (and Aunt Karen), she was a happy girl.

Jennifer and Mike...chilling out.

A trip to Toys R Us....and a trip to FAO Schwartz

Central Park

Rockefellar Center....LEGO store

Times Square

Recharging at Dylan's Candy Store....oh, the candy and ice cream we ate!  

Dave scored tickets for us to see a taping of the Colbert Report (Comedy Central).  It's one of our favorite shows, so Diane was nice enough to let the kids stay with her to swim.  We headed back to NYC for an afternoon and evening of fun.

Sunset in NYC outside of the studio

Dinner at The Standard in the Meatpacking District...highly recommend. I'll be at the Beer Garden next time!

Zach begged to take the Smith's to Matthew's Diner close to our house.  Diners are a NJ standard.  No one was disappointed.  Afterwards, we were on our way to the New Jersey Shore....Avon by the Sea.  Again, thanks to Amy & Dave O!  

We played at the pool much more than the beach ( you have to pay to go onto the beach).  Also, it was a windy, almost stormy day from the tropical depression, so we sat on the boardwalk and let the kids play...for hours.

Gavin!  Where are those other troublemakers?!

Alas, our the trip was over and we had to drive them back to the Newark airport.  Saturday through Wednesday sounds like a long time, but it wasn't!  A repeat is in order.  We'll see them again in Canada for our brother's wedding!  Watch out Canada...they may not let us cross the border with these hooligans:-)

Happy Pappy's Day and the Yankee's

Dave's choice:  We took a road trip north to West Point Academy to explore more of our new area.  Kobe went along for the ride.  He probably thought, "great, I get to ride in the back of the car, when I would rather be napping all day at home". :-)  We stopped along the Hudson to tour visiting replicas of the Nina and Pinta boats.  Dave and I had a great time, the kids not so much. They were mad that they had to wear uncomfortable life vests.  Oh, the poor kids...  Zach studied Christopher Columbus this year in 1st Grade, so he had lots to tell us while we were on the ship.

Happy Father's Day

Our main goal was to drive to West Point, NY to see what we could of the Academy.  They had a museum, so it was perfect for Dave.  The kids love dioramas, so that kept them entertained most of the time.  It was a nice, relaxing Sunday and a nice way to start our last week of school.  June 21 cannot get here fast enough!

I guess the Yankee's game can be considered a Father's Day gift too, right?  Someone gave us great seats to Monday night's game of the Yankee's vs. The Atlanta Braves (oh, they knew:-)  We got there early, knowing traffic in the Bronx, especially for the game would be bad.  It's an eye opening experience to drive through the Bronx....

The kids were amazed at the entire stadium, seeing that the place is lit up from head to toe.  We were all entertained....except for the tattoo lady in front of us with a pair of eyes on her back...freaky.  The weather was perfect and we stayed for 3 innings before getting our kiddos home to bed.
Two days, two things to check off our list for NY.  So much to do, so much to see.....

Lest we forget, our dear Olivia had a baby molar extracted today.  It was abscessed, so it was the right thing to do.  She was a trooper, but you hate to have it done.  She's all smiles tonight, thank goodness.  Hello, tooth fairy!  You better bring her something good for this one!

Caldewash Awards!!

Proud to be a Pryor this week!  Our elementary school hosts children's book authors almost monthly.  This came as a pleasant surprise being new to Washington Elementary this year.  I think the proximity to NYC gives them ample opportunity to bring authors in.  What ever the reason, I love it.
Each year, the school has something called the Caldewash Awards, fashioned after the Caldecott Awards for illustration.  I urged, persuaded, coaxed...almost bribed, my kids to participate.  Being new to this project, I had no idea what to expect.  Well, I soon found out.  This is BIG at the school.  Olivia is a natural artist and we see her art expressions growing daily.  We are in awe, mainly because neither Dave nor I, have an artistic bone in our bodies.  That being said, we can appreciate art and truly appreciate Olivia's talent.  I wanted her to at least participate to get some type of award to say "you're good" from someone other than mom or dad.  She did not care to write the story, so Zach came to the rescue.  The rules said up to two people could work on a book.  Perfect.  No help from parents, even more perfect:-)

We submitted the book, 'The Different Dragon', in March, right after Spring Break.  Months went by and we almost forgot about it.  Until....I received an invitation in the mail to attend the awards ceremony.  They didn't tell us what award, but we were invited.  What I didn't realize was that anywhere from 25-50 books are submitted from each grade and only 4 are picked to get Honorable Mention and only one book wins first place.

Well.....our first year at Washington and Olivia and Zach won FIRST PLACE for 2nd Grade!!  Dave and I were so proud of them.  They recieved medallions with their names engraved.  I think this was a great accomplishment and a huge moral booster for both kids.  This makes Zach's 2nd time on the big stage with the Spelling Bee and now the Caldewash Award.  It finally sunk in for Olivia on our car ride home.  I saw the smile finally open up on her face.  She did it!

It was funny, as she thought about it, she said, "you know mom, that wasn't even my BEST work".  Yes, I know, but I wasn't going to say that because it was still good.  "Olivia, you are going to knock their socks off next year!" And to that end, keep on churning out 5 pages of artwork a day.  Oh, you should see the stacks.....

NYC shopping and The Late Show

A little shopping never hurt anyone, right?  Amy & Dave O. were in town last Monday.  I finagled my way into going into the city ALL day.  This was our day......

I drove my Dave's new convertible XKR with the top down, on a gorgeous and well deserved sunny day, down the west side highway to SOHO.  Met up with my partners in crime.  We shopped, we walked, we perused.  Lunch was at Cipriani, starting with a glass of wine and finishing oh so lovely.  Amy and I parted ways with her Dave, as we were headed to see the taping of The Late Show with David Letterman!  Thanks for the tickets, DP! VIP...  As we were there a bit early, we headed for another glass of vino to tide us over for the show.  

Guests on the show were Mark Whalberg, Sebastian Vettle and Anthony Bourdain....great show indeed.  We cabbed it back to their hotel in SOHO to get ready for dinner (because lunch just wasn't enough :-) 

Waiting in the VIP section for the show to begin.

Off to dinner with Dave O. and Amy...to none other than Del Posto.  Amazing food, beautiful atmosphere and a lovely couple to spend the evening chatting away.  I love it that they come to NYC and I love it more that they invite me to play:-)  We always have a wonderful time.  Of course, I had to ride with the top down on my way to back to New Jersey....I hear it helps with digestion...only kidding.  I needed the enjoy the beautiful night.  NYC truly is a magical place.

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?