The Big City

Michael and I just got back from our trip to NY on Saturday and I wanted to take some time to write about some of the highlights of our trip. This might be totally and utterly boring to some of you but seeing as I plan on printing out the blog at the end of the year and we hardly took any pictures (what do you take pictures of when there are just two of you?) I wanted something to help me remember, when we are celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary, what we did for our fifth. So here it goes...

*We got in around 7pm the first day and by the time we got to our hotel it was time to go out and get a late dinner. I should take a minute to talk about our hotel. Hotel on Rivington in the Lower East Side is this really funky and modern hotel with a bar/ club occupying the first floor. Although we didn't love love the area it was in we really wanted to stay somewhere other than midtown and our over-reaching goal for our trip was to do things in NY we hadn't done before. Put simply- do things that we would NEVER to with our kids. And this hotel fit the bill. We would never have stayed here with our kids. The room was tiny but with floor to ceiling windows we had a pretty great view. We went to Frankie Spuntinos for dinner (this tiny but well known restaurant with rave reviews) and we ate the best meatballs I have EVER had. Seriously amazing.

* The next morning we woke up pretty early and went straight to Central Park. I went for a run which was so beautiful. I ended up running around the reservoir which boasted some of the best views from the park I had ever seen.

* That night was Jimmy Fallon (we debated and debated on who to go to)- we had tickets to Letterman and Fallon we decided on the later and ended up sitting in the front row. He was hilarious. Salma Hayek, Jeffrey Donovan, and Herbie Hancock were the guests. We both gave him a high five at the end of the show and Michael exchanged some friendly banter (mostly how are you? good. and you?) with Jimmy (they are on a first name basis now) and then we found out that Eminem was going to perform because, although he was scheduled to perform Friday, he was unavailable so we got to experience an extended show. Super fun.

* I should mention that Michael (the man who can spot a celebrity from miles away) saw Eric Estrada on 5th Ave. and Steve Nash getting on an elevator in the Rockefellar building. That's right, 2 celebrities in the first 24 hours of our trip.

* The next day we walked around and shopped (I swear we walked about 30 miles on this trip). Michael had made reservations at a restaurant that had been recommended to him called, Quality Meats. Located in midtown, it's a funky steakhouse with incredible food (we had this cream of corn creme brulee side dish that was AMAZING). Then we were off to Wicked. This show has been raved about by so many people we know and we were not dissapointed.

* On thursday we decided to rent bikes and ride around Central Park. Good idea except it happened to be 92 degrees that day with a ridiculous percent of humidity and so we were both dripping in sweat when we were done. I enjoyed the ride- not sure if Michael shared my same level of enthusiasm.

* That night we had reservations at a well known and highly regarded restaurant in the West Village called "The Little Owl." It was a tiny restaurant with only 10 or 12 tables but the food was INCREDIBLE. And, in typical fashion, Michael spotted (looking out the window of the restaurant and across the street) Larry David who proceeded to walk into the restaurant and sit two tables from where we were seated.

* Our last day there we decided to shop around and make sure to get some souvenirs for the kids. We got some breakfast at Cafe Lalo's (where Meg Ryan and Tom Hank's characters meet for the first time in "You've Got Mail") and although the breakfast menu wasn't great it was fun to see it especially since that movie is one of my favorites. That night we got to meet up with one of our friends from high school who had just recently moved to NY. We had a blast hanging out with her, catching up and walking around the city. We decided to check out this place Michael had read about called Spin. Spin is a ping pong club (that's right Ping Pong club) where you can get a few drinks and play some ping pong all at the same time. We didn't stay too long because the drinks were a little out of our price range but as we were exiting we saw Susan Sarandon (she owns the club). Michael was the smoothest among us because in the few short seconds that we passed by her he managed to say, "Hello Mrs. Sarandon" Yet another celebrity sighting he can add to his list.

Here is our sad excuse for a collection of pictures. Yes I am in them all. Can you tell Michael was the one carrying the camera?

Happy Father's Day!

Here is a picture from our Father's Day festivities. Look at all those handsome men:)
And here is a photo from the joint (Michael and Steph) birthday celebration the other day. Anyone notice any similarities. Let me help you out here: one small boy with eyes closed "smiling" at the camera.

Cake Video

Here is Wesley during the happy birthday song and then devouring his cake.

Wesley's First

I would say, with certainty, that Wesley's first birthday was a success. Well I am not sure that he really cared about everyone that was there but more about all the balloons and balls scattered ALL over my parents house. My friend Marcie said, "I think the first birthday is more for us (the parents) and for the pictures than for them." Which I think is probably true. But here are a few photos from the day. I am trying to get all of the pictures us on shutterfly so they can be viewed but have been having some technical difficulties.

I should also mention that I took Wesley in today for his one year well-check. He is doing very well. 30.5 inches tall (80 percentile) and 21.25 pounds (35 percentile). We are glad for the 35th percentile in weight...Oliver was in about the 3rd percentile at this point, if I remember right.

So many presents for Oliver, I mean Wesley, to open:)

Proud Papas with baby Micah and baby Bella

Loving the balloon on the back of his chair

Auntie Ev, Uncle Cos, Annabelle, Papa, and Birthday boy

How cute is he?

This party is exhausting.

Playing with the big kids

Oliver and Caleb were hilariously entertaining

Sweet Annabelle

What is going on right now? And why are all of these people singing?

Okay this is alright.

Yeah this is pretty good.

SD Half Marathon

This past weekend I am proud to say that I ran my second half marathon in San Diego. It was a great race. I couldn't believe how good I felt all the way through. I got to mile 9 and felt good, mile 10 and felt good, mile 11 and felt good and then before I knew it I was at the finish. I felt confident that I had beat my time from Phoenix and I did 2:29.50. Which was three to three and half minutes better. However I had to stop and wait in a line for the port-o-potty at mile 2.5 for at least 4 minutes, maybe even 5, so in my head my time is 2:25.50. I was so mad I had to stop and that I wasn't wearing a watch so I had an accurate time. Oh well. I guess I will just have to run another one:) Here is a picture of me in our hotel in La Jolla following the race. And I should also say congrats to my other Team Mitch members and specifically to Emily for running faster than she has in years and to Amy for finishing the FULL marathon (that's right 26.3 miles). Seriously, amazing.

Birthday Boy's Videos

Here are a few videos of Wesley. He has decided that he too likes Michael Jackson and anytime he hears one of MJ's songs he will start dancing just like his brother. It is hilarious.

And just yesterday, the day before his birthday, he decided (finally) that it would be okay to walk all on his own without holding on to anyone's finger. I got this video of him walking all over the playroom ALL BY HIMSELF! So stinkin' cute.

WEsley is Turning 1

I am sitting here on the eve of my youngest son's birth reminscing a bit about the day leading up to his grand appearance. Last year this time I was probably getting ready to fall asleep having gotten home about an hour earlier from pregnancy pics with Auntie Steph and Uncle Stephen. I remember feeling great and thinking how thankful I was for the somewhat unseasonably cool weather and having no idea what was about to happen. I remember waking up at 2am with a pain and thinking hmmm this could be it but who knows. I remember laying in bed for about an hour and thinking I had about four pains. I remember getting up and and going out into the living room. Perusing the HBO channels for a decent movie (a tough task at 3am) and settling on a movie called "Forget Paris.' I watched the whole thing, ate some grapes, finished packing my bag, and woke up Michael. AT 7am my wonderful husband convinced me to go to the hospital and I do mean convinced me. I wasn't in that much pain, and nothing in comparison to labor with Oliver, so I was SURE they would send me home. We got to the hospital and the checked me, I was 4-5 cm, and fairly shocked about it. And at 11 am I met my second VERY sweet and ever so handsome little boy.

I wondered throughout my pregnancy. Will I love him like I love Oliver? Do I have enough room in my heart? Enough love to give? And I found out in the short seconds after his birth. YES. YES. and YES. 3 emphatic yeses. I love him not because he is like Oliver but because he so different. From his eye color to his attitude. His solid build to his low key, easy going manor. I love him because he is Wesley. And there is no one else like him in the world. He is easy to make laugh, he already looks up to his brother, he can eat more in a short time than anyone I have ever known (aside from my Grandpa Sardachuk who he has inherited this trait from:), and he is just the sweetest little man on the planet. We are so thankful for you Wesley Jack. You are the perfect addition to our family. We LOVE you!

Here is a the journey of his first year in pictures!

Summer is Here

Today it was 107 degrees so I am pretty sure it is safe to say that summer is here! Here are a few pictures of us swimming the other day as a family and a few from Memorial Day. We spent Sunday afternoon at our friends, The Anderson's house, and celebrated with some other wonderful friends!

Here Caleb is chatting up Wesley. We have no idea what he was saying but it was pretty cute:)

All the sweet babies and their sweet mommas born in the last 4 months:)