4th, Freedom, and Fireworks

You may be wondering what pictures of homes have to do with the 4th of July, but to me walking down the street and seeing all these beautiful Eastern homes with their flags posted is quintessential America. These are all homes along the path we walk the kids to school so it will be fun in the future to look back and remember. And, if I just happened to have a million dollars (or two) lying around I would snatch up that white house quick as a flash.




Okay, so this house doesn't have a flag, but it's cute and the blue color reminds me of the home I grew up in that went from yellow to this blue.
Miss Jane wanting in on all the BBQ'd goods
The fixins
This bridge is on the kids school property and I couldn't help but make them pose for a quick picture...or two.


It was one of the most humid and hot days we've had so the kids enjoyed a lemon Italian ice. I wouldn't let them have any other flavor because they had just all be cleaned up and dressed so I wasn't going to let red snow cone ruin them right out the door :)


Our handsome boy. On a side note, Ethan's feet are now just as big as mine and he's 8! How did that happen?!?
Brayton School is where both Ethan and Anna will attend this Fall. Finally having them at one school will be so nice for me.
Just past the school is Memorial Field and baseball diamonds. They kids loved running around and getting their energy out before the fireworks. There was a beach boys type band that played for awhile and I really think music is what makes the holiday.
what

Watching the firework show Jane initially let out a scream and I realized this was really her first year with fireworks. Last year she was soundly asleep in bed and missed the whole thing. Last year this exact weekend I had just had hernia surgery, we were showing our house looking for a renter, and knew that in exactly 4 weeks we would be getting on a jet plane to come to New Jersey. The times has quickly passed and I'm sure glad it's this year and not last.

The City of Summit put on an amazing show. The fireworks lasted about 30 minutes and we were as close as I've ever been. Almost too close. The booms and blasts sounded like we were in a war zone.

Admittedly I think I missed Utah the most on the 4th than I have since we left. 4th of July is my favorite holiday with Thanksgiving and it's hard to move and have to start all of your traditions over again. I missed the balloons and the parade and going out to breakfast and the stadium of fire fireworks and BBQ's with family. Things were pretty low key around here and in the stores there was NO 4th decor or anything like that. It's also very illegal to set off any kind of fireworks of your own so there were no snap its, ground flowers, or sparklers. While I get that it's dangerous and I appreciate that, I missed driving down the streets and admiring the fireworks in each individual drive way. I was kind of waiting for that "Sandlot" nostalgia of 4th of July and it was a near miss. I think that's why I'm realizing that it will be nice to soon settle down and start traditions that we know can last.

And The Realatives Came

We have been really lucky to have many people come visit since we've been here. My parents came to help us move, then my parents and in-laws came for Ethan's baptism, then Rand's cousin Dave came for a night when he was here on business, my friend Amanda came, although she didn't have the time of her life since we had a car accident and all that stuff. Then 3 more of my friends came in May and then another in May and now my Mom and sis in law Julie this past week and my in-laws come at the end of the month. Whew! We love to have friends and family come. We always have a great time and it's fun to see all the different things that were at the top of each person's list. I have a lot to catch up on but thought I would start with this last week since it's fresh on the brain and Julie needs the pictures from my camera :)

The dinosaur exhibit at The Museum of Natural History


The American Indian exhibit, this was my favorite.
Julie In Central Park in front of Belvedere Castle
While Julie and I strolled Central Park mom played with the kids in the "Diana Ross" park.
In front of the museum
On our NYC day right out of Penn Station we were on the look out for The Empire State Building. We found it, and thanks to Google read all about it.
A GREAT view of the empire state building. I can't help but think of all the iconic movies that involve this great building.
Yes, the woman "asleep" really is my mother :) I love that they guy next to her acts as if this is normal and the other guy is like "who's the nutter?"
This was is the World Trade Center site. The first time I was so disappointed by the lack of almost nothing to identify where and what I was seeing. This time knowing what I would actually find helped the me just stop and appreciate and imagine the people, the streets and all that went on the morning of 9/11 and I actually was really glad we made this stop. (you can see the beginning of the rebuilding of the the towers)

Then we took a taxi down to the Staten Island Ferry. This is a great ferry that is free that gives you a great view of the city skyline, The Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. This picture is on the ferry away from the city, enjoying our lunch.
See the Statue of Liberty? We recently watched an amazing episode on a new show called America: All about us and we watched the cities portion telling about Lady liberty and NY in the early day. It is amazing!



This is a picture from the subway platform. The subway is always fun because it shows a different crowd of people. After the Ferry we took the subway up to the theater district and literally had to RUN, or walk fast up to the Gershwin theater to see "Wicked!!!" This was my 3rd time and I still loved it. We were 8 minutes late and thankfully they let us in. We were hot and tired but happy to be there.

After Wicked, we walked through Times Square and souvenir shopping. After enjoying some sweet nuts from a street vendor we walked over to Rockefeller Plaza. This is one of my favorite places because I used to watch the Today show every single day and just because it the place that is home to the famous skating rink and Christmas tree in December.
The iconic Gold statue that sits below the tree at Christmas
This restaurant is what replaces the skating rink in Spring and Summer. I think it would be so fun to eat there sometime. (without the kids!)
Madison Square Garden. This is to make the men folk in our lives jealous. This is right out of the train station on 7th Ave.
Julies in front of the taxi line.

I forgot to mention that Tuesday when we went in to the museum I actually drove in to NY. I had never done this before and thought it would be no biggie. I had driven in with a friend before to go to the temple, so I thought I could do it. What I forgot to realize is when I went with the friend it was like 5:30 in the morning and there was no traffic. Last week it was the high of summer tourism and about 10:30. It took us a lot longer than we had hoped. We were thinking about 40 minutes to get in and an hour and a half later we got there. Just because of a few "recalculatings" from the GPS and traffic once in the city. While I will stick with the train I'm glad we did it and it's fun to think that I was brave enough to drive us right through the heart of NYC. My new mad driving sills came in handy and I was just as feisty as the next driver. I'm sure that's now surprise :) On the way home it only took us about 35 minutes, not bad. On Wednesday when "the girls" went into the city we took the train!

Thursday we took it easy and drove around town and went to Westfield a really charming local town and saw the kids schools and things.

Friday we went to Sandy hook beach about an hour from here. The weather and the water were perfect. Those pictures are on my iphone so when I figure out how to get them to my computer I will post them.

Saturday we went to our local mall. The Mall at Short Hills. It is probably the most high end mall in the US or at least the East Coast. For fun we went in Tiffanys and Crate and Barrel, Nordstroms and Anthropoloie. We had a good time.

Just after that it was time to head to the airport. This is as Mom and Julie were leaving. We had a great time and are so glad they came to visit! Who's next?