New York, New York!!

What an experience! It was beautiful, exhausting, exhilerating, delicious, exciting, delightful, addicting, and yes, a bit intoxicating.

Day 1: This was my first experience in New York City. I really didn't know what to expect. One thing I wasn't expecting was the fast pace of life that everyone seems to be living there in the city. I thought I was in shape from my own personal running regimen, but New York pace is a whole different story. I could not keep up. It was a very brisk walking pace, but from what I could tell it probably matched my running pace. I came home the first night with multiple blisters on my feet and purely exhausted! We saw Radio City Music Hall, walked through central park, saw the Plaza Hotel, and ate lunch at Rockefeller Center. We covered a lot of miles that first day and my feet definitely told the story(bottom left).

Day 2: I bandaged up my feet and set out for another day of sightseeing. There are beautiful cathedrals all over the city. The architecture is amazing. We also found some good eats along the way. There are so many places to eat in New York, which made it really hard to make a decision. We found the location of an Italian Restaurant on our cell phones, and since it was close and we were tired and hungry, it was the winner for the day. It did not disappoint. I decided on a Calamari dish with fresh veggies. It was a hot dish, and I still think about how wonderful it was, wishing I could have more - Best dish I've ever eaten! On our way back to the apartment we found a cute french candy store filled with lots and lots of Macaroons(Kaitlyn's favorite).

Day 3: Our first stop was a tour of the Guggenheim. Kaitlyn knows a lot about art, so it was wonderful to have our own personal tour guide. We also made it over to FAO Schwarz, a huge toy/candy store. It was the best. I love candy stores. We picked up a few goodies and were on our way to lunch. We ate at a Mexican restaurant where they made the guacamole in front of you. It was really good. We always ate lunch around 2-3, so lunch was always a welcome break accompanied by lots of water! On our way to lunch we zoomed passed Times Square and the New York Temple. I always had my phone out for pictures as we sped walked through the city.

Later on in the evening we went to see Les Miserables on Broadway. I cannot even begin to describe the experience. It was preformed with a live orchestra and was absolutely amazing. I had finished reading the book last year and watched a high school drama club preform the play. I also went and saw the movie, but nothing compares to seeing it on Broadway. A beautiful story preformed so perfectly. It was amazing, and I loved it!!

Day 4: We were preparing to head home. We did a little grocery shopping and saw a few more New York City landmarks(the diner that was featured on the sitcom Seinfeld in the early 90's). We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local Greek Restaurant, and packed up our things to catch a cab before they shut down for the day. It was a wonderful 4 days girls retreat in New York. Thank you Audra and Kathy for being such wonderful hosts!!

I'll photo dump the rest of the pictures I took while I was there - Good Times!

Cody's 18th Birthday

18 has always been a milestone birthday in our house, mostly because of the jokes we have associated with the "magical" age of 18/legal adult. The first time I heard the words, "but I'm 18" I laughed out loud and retorted with my age(way older and wiser adult).

I have since found a fun website that I love to remind the "adults" in our house of when they choose bring up their age of adulthood: http://www.mumsnet.com/teenagers/legal-rights-at-18. The opening lines cracked me up: "So your child is an adult. The world is their oyster. So obviously your role as (party pooper) vigilant parent is to sprinkle some lemon juice on said oyster by reminding them what they can and can't do legally." It's always been a fun joking matter, nothing too serious but it is always a sad reminder of my OLD age. How did these kids grow up so fast??

Cody's birthday arrived right after graduation, and a day before Kaitlyn and I were leaving for New York. It was a busy time, but we celebrated with some Gigi's Gourmet cupcakes, a few presents and dinner out!

Happy "Legal Adult" Birthday Cody! We Love you!!

Graduation

It has been busy few weeks around here. We've celebrated graduation, a birthday, and a trip to New York. We are excited for all of these fun changes, but it makes this mom a little bit crazy. It's hard to believe 3 out of our 4 children have graduated from high school, and by this time next year two will have graduated college. My life flashes before my eyes on a regular basis these days.

We were excited to hear that Aunt Bev would be coming out for graduation. She came to help me after Cody was born, so having her here was a wonderful way to celebrate Cody's big day.

We were able to take her around town and show her some fun Athens landmarks.

I love Bev. She has been such a positive influence in my life. She is just one of those wonderful people that knows exactly how to help and knows exactly what you need, even when you yourself aren't sure. She will always hold a very special place in my heart. Thank you for coming to spend time with us Bev! See you next year!! (and sorry we got you sick).

Andy and his family also came for the weekend. It was fun to have a full house for graduation. I warned everyone ahead of time I wanted to get to the graduation ceremony early, so we could find good seats for taking pictures. We did find a really good spot, and it filled up around us very quickly.

The kids did really well, and Kaitlyn spent her time taking selfies with whomever was willing.

As the graduation procession began, I thought that this day was the beginning to a very busy, life-changing summer for all of us(mostly me, because I'm a mom who hates change, especially when it involves saying good-bye).

Cody spotted us quickly and smiled(or not) to let us know he loves us so.

I thought I might get a normal smile, at least one.

I should have known better. Cody is the child that hates taking pictures the most, so I gave up. It wasn't going to happen. In fact these are the only three times he looked at us the entire graduation ceremony. The rest of the pictures are just side view shots. Oh well, I'll take what I can get. I still love you Cody!

Thankfully, Andy was able to get a few good pictures with his phone during the graduation.

After the ceremony we(I) wanted to get a few pictures, but it took us awhile to find Cody and everyone was tired and hot, so pictures were not high on anyone's priority list(except mine). I managed to get a few. Janelle had to take baby Josh to the car. He made it through the graduation really good, but he was tired. Oh, and ryan didn't feel good. Does this picture show you how thrilled everyone was for pictures(Andy)????

Let's try it again peeps...

The one and only family photo of the day.

And here's what baby was doing while we were taking a few pictures.

We all survived and headed over to our favorite restaurant for dinner. Ryan really didn't feel good and threw up on the way home. Poor guy. It was the beginning of a yucky flu bug that took it's toll on all of us, except Kaitlyn.

Cody picked out his favorite cake for graduation. There is a cake lady in town that we love. The cakes are delicious and very reasonably priced. Cody picked raspberry swirl.

It was a wonderful weekend spent with family. We are so proud of our Cody and all that he has accomplished these 4 years in high school. I'm now going to enjoy every last minute of the last summer I will have to spend time with my wittle Cody boy!