9/11 Memorial

Mikey had school in the morning (Nana picked him up while I got my hair cut..finally!) but we decided to go to the 9/11 Memorial in the afternoon.  We got our tickets online and took the express subway (or as Mikey likes to call it the "downtown train") to the Fulton St. Stop.  We went thru a pretty secure entrance, picture cameras everywhere and going thru security similar to the airport, showing our tickets about 5 times before we were finally able to get to the actual memorial.

Seeing pictures and video of it on TV is completely different than seeing it in real person.  It was very peaceful, calm and screne.  There is still lots of construction going on the buildings that will be part of the entire memorial are still being built as well as buildings in the surrounding area.

I can't imagine what it looked like on 9/11.  While at the memorial, it brought back the memory of what I was doing on that day 11 years ago. I was a freshman in college at The University of Pittsburgh and had just gotten back from Chemistry class when I saw postings everywhere that classes had been cancelled for the rest of the day. Flight 93 crashed down just 65 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

I was so glad to have seen the memorial for the first time with my mom.  Mikey slept the entire time and we were able to stroll along the entire memorial taking it all in and not feeling rushed in the slightest.

A must see here in NY.



View of the tower right off the subway.  We see this shimmering in the distance at night time.

Nana in front of the tower.

The kids and I at the entrance.

Hard to see but this small 10 foot wide area to get into security housed at least 12 cameras that I counted.

The South Tower Pool



Mom and I and Katie at the South Pool.  Not sure to smile or not.

A different view of the south pool.



Miss Katie loved the soothing water noise.

She won't remember this but I'll show her pictures when she is older.

Mikey and Nana. He is still sleeping.

Katie and I.

This name "Vanessa Lang Langer and Her Unborn Child" just tugs at your heart strings.

No matter the vantage point, you can't see the bottom of the center pool.

View from the base.

He he woke up for a brieft second.

Woops, he fell back asleep again.

The survivor tree.  You can see the gnarled stumps followed by smooth branches.  The only tree to survive the attack.

Nana in front of the tree.

Katie and I in front of the tree.

Some items on display from that horrific day.  There was still soot and debris on this helmet.

Survivor Tree.

Someone woke up!

Love this flag!  So proud to be an American.

Pic. 1...this makes it feel personal.

Pic. 2

Pic. 3.  Can imagine what she must have went thru to see her personal items like this.  Her mangeled keys, scorched cell phone and melted cards.

Fall in Central Park

Today was a gorgeous day in the city and a perfect day to go for a walk in Central Park.  Fall is my favorite season followed closely by spring and we couldn't let this day go by without enjoying the trees, leaves, weather and Nana so off to Central Park we went!

We walked around the Great Lawn, took in familiar sites to us (new to Nana) and even fed the ducks courtsey of a lady visiting from Dallas (her husband sent her to NYC with a bag of crackers to specifically feed the ducks in Central Park since he couldn't make the trip).

We took a detour on the way home and stopped for the first time in a bakery called Two Little Red Hens.  It's close to our home and I'm sure we'll be stopping back there again.  Their cupcakes were delicious!!! (Much better than Crumbs!)

Katie insisted on walking once we were in the park.

Katie and Nana at the Duck Pond.

No turtles today, but lots of ducks which makes Katie really excited.

Pretty girl.

Happy to point at all the ducks.

Pic. with half of her grandkids.

Brotherly love.

Looking for ducks along the waters edge.

Pic. with midtown in the background.

I got in on the action too.  Mikey counting how many ducks there are.  He can now count to 20!

Taking our time walking on the rocks.

The Castle in the back.

The turtles sunbathing.

Stop at the bakery.  Don't they look delicious.  I promise they are as good as they look.  You eat with your eyes first right?!



Guess who loved his cupcake...I mean... the frosting on his cupcake!

Dad and Mom Visit

We had a week to recover from vacation before my parents came to visit.  It was my Mom's first time coming to the city to visit us since we've lived here.  My mom was spending a full week with us so we have lots of stuff on our list we want to go and see while she is here.

They arrived with a trunk full of food (we had to get creative when trying to fit it all in our pantry, fridge and freezer) and Bailey, our dog they are watching for us while we are living here!

My Dad could only stay one day as he had to get back to work, so I sent him packing with lots of toys the kids don't play with anymore or aren't age appropriate.  Prior to them arriving we spent a week going thru things deciding what we were giving to "Baby Joey."  Mikey didn't want to give anything to "Baby Joey!"

Nana and Papa

A cute little sign we saw walking over the bridge in Carl Schurz Park.

Closer inspection.  Isn't it cute.  Put a smile on my face.

Checking out the tug boats and barges on the East River.

Nana and Papa and Bailey.



Mikey wanted the dogs in the dog run to chase him.  He loved it...I just didn't want him to slip on a puddle.

I told Mikey whatever we put in this box was going to Baby Joey.  I guess he wanted to give Katie away. :)

Katie climbed into this box on her own. She just has to crawl into any container, box, storage bin she sees.

Walking along the river taking Bailey for a walk before it rained.





 

KPMG get together in my building

One of the KPMG mom's Jenny lives in my building.  It makes it very convenient whenever we need anything.  She decided to organize a KPMG get together for the month of October.  There were many KPMG moms who turned up, about 13 or so and everyone either brought wine or a dessert.  Lots of yummy fall desserts and familiar desserts to gorge yourself with.  We took over the roof top and had great conversations and a great time....you can't really talk in depth to someone at a restaurant at a table with 10 plus women.  I had so much fun, I was only able to snap one badly lit picture.

Aquatober

I've been seeing all over the internet this pledge of drinking nothing but water in October...dubbing it Aquatober.  I don't really drink sugary drinks and have an occassional Starbucks drink but since I saw this mid-October I think I'll try it out for the full month of November...although Aquavember doesn't have a good "ring" to it.

I originally read about it here.