First day of School!!

It's one of my most favorite days!!  I think there are two types of mom's on the first day - you either cry or dance, and I'm sorry, but I DANCE!  I love the idea of a fresh new start with new clothes and a new teacher!  There's excitement in the air to see school friends and be back into a routine for both moms and kids.  The kids don't love this day as much as I do, but they are usually a little bit excited/nervous.  Funny story:  I make them go take pictures at 8am (an hour before school, because then there's no other kids and I can take the pictures without being rushed or embarrassing them).  Well, I had to take two pictures of Andrew because he decided to change his clothes when we went back home.  Of course!

Poor Kendall had to wait a whole week to start Kindergarten!!

Soaking up the last bit of Summer

- Tibblefork Reservoir with Amy Bennion and Kelsey Gray + kids 

- Wrap-up swim team for Andrew 

- Date night paddle boarding to Tibblefork

- Late night for Andrew, Adam & Gavin

- Hike to Secret Lake in SLC

- Chalk Festival at Riverwoods

- Pancake art at Kennedy's birthday party

- Thanksgiving Point children's museum with Nana & Parker cousins

- Soccer games started for Rachel 

- Carson is so messy - especially every time we go outside or anytime he eats

- Carson got so many bonks (which caused some stress getting ready for family pictures)

- Rachel wanted to shave her legs for the first time before school started and while she was doing it, Nana and Cade happened to FaceTime - she wasn't embarrassed at all and wanted to show them what she was doing!  ha ha

New York City

Brandon was going to NYC for work right near his birthday, so the grandma's agreed to babysit and I flew out to meet him!

FRIDAY
Travel (takes SO long to get there - met Brandon downtown)
Drunken Monkey, delicious Indian food near our hotel

SATURDAY
Highline, so unique, I loved walking the path
Friedman's, so good - we need to go there again!
Dear Evan Hansen - incredible, but way different than I expected (no fancy set or costumes, only 8 or so characters in the cast, very emotional, amazing music but less like a typical musical, more like a play)
Times Square, because why not?
After face timing with the kids, Rachel said to my mom, "Daddy is smiling!  He never smiles when he is on a trip with us kids.  He is usually grouchy."  bah ha ha
Shake Shack, duh
6th Ave Market, cheap NYC shopping
St. Patrick's Day Cathedral

SUNDAY
Central Park, rented bikes and were able to do the big loop around the whole park
A.Cafe for breakfast, we were in a hurry, so this worked well
Yankees Game with a hot dog and shaded seats made for one happy wife + Brandon's first Yankee's game, so he was thrilled
Brooklyn Bridge, I loved this even though it was busy with lots of people
Juliana's for pizza, 1 hour wait, but totally worth it

MONDAY (Brandon's 35th birthday)
9/11 Memorial, mixed feelings because we should have gone first thing in the morning and bought tickets online.  It just gets go crowded!  Also, we need to not be rushed and leave 3-4 hours for inside the museum and do the walking tour first, then do the audio tour (also we should bring our own headphones and download the app beforehand)
Halal's Food truck
Travel back to our kiddies!

For next time, I wish we would have:  bought ferry tickets early because when we went they were sold out, gone to church at the temple, communicated about who would figure out transportation and details - I let him take the lead and he did an awesome job, but I don't think that was very relaxing for him.