FAO Schwartz in NYC

Magical..............

I need this dragon in my entry to greet all my guests.

This soldier boy was made from jelly beans.

How fun!
This is a piano like in Tom Hanks movie Big. This sucker cost one quarter million buckeroos. Can you imagine have that to splurge on the kids? ha

This is one magical place. I would love to have some of these wonderful oversized stuffed animals in my home for us all to enjoy. Immediately I thought of Randy Pausch when I saw the larger than life animals. I love his last lecture and all the fun and joy he had and shared with us all during his last few years. Thank you Mr. Pausch, you are my inspiration.

Central Park Day

Central Park is an interesting place.

Beautiful and peaceful all the flowers placed on John Lennon's IMAGINE.

I love the shadows of the sun shining through. Here is what I remember as Bethesda Fountain and it is quite lovely.
We visited the Metropolitan Art Museum and were intriqued.

The rules are you can stand on the steps but you may not sit.

The girls were told to move along and I asked them to please sit for a picture.

New York has many many rules. Sitting anywhere is not allowed. (hahaha)

One of my favorite, somewhat scary faced statues.

We do not have black squirrels in Texas (that I know about).

I loved this little guy and he came right up to us wanting to eat but we had 0 food.

Central Park is loaded and I mean loaded with a diverse group of people. They walk their dogs, play sports, climb on statues, eat, lay around, jog, ride bikes, kiss all over each other, etc.... They wear swimsuits in the Sheep Meadow and there is not a swimming pool in sight. Restrooms are disgustingly gross. We witnessed a woman dancing topless for a long period of time(no photo. Thank you) later we found out they had a permit to film in the park. Imagine that.

No wonder they put IMAGINE in Central Park.

Contortionists entertained us at the Seaport

These street performers did the unthinkable. Bending in unbelievable ways with such energy. If you look closely or click on it an blow up the picture you can see that he actually squeezed himself in that 17" clear acrylic box. The seaport in NYC was very interesting and filled with life. After watching them bay decided she wanted to be a contortionist and I decided that maybe no definately I needed to try stretching more often. Ha!

Buildings and bridges of NYC

I just loved the architecture in New York City! Unbelievable workmanship. Texas is definately lacking in appreciation of historical buildings. It seems tearing down is easier than preserving.

Here is the Brooklyn bridge. It took 13 years to build this bridge.

It opened in 1883. 125 years ago.

In this photo the Manhattan Bridge is also visible.

It was built in 1909 so it is no baby either.

We just couldn't resist the awesome walk over to Brooklyn.
View of part of NYC from the Brooklyn Bridge.

Baylee and Roby outside the Dakota.

Baybay got emotional due to her love for John Lennon

and the senseless shooting that happened here.

Beautiful Churches all over town.

New York Stock Exchange guarded with police dogs and heavily armed NYPD.

I could have taken hundreds of beautiful photos of the buildings in this town.

I spent most of my time looking up up up!

Cook Rocks

Clearly the best of the night.

We waited with much anticipation and Mr. Cook did not disappoint, he is very comfortable in his shoes and outperformed everyone else. (In my biased opinion) ha

My camera decided it was going to be crabby but I did get a couple of nice photos and videos. Our favorite hometown boy was adorable!
Here is the loudest fan of the night. ( It got quiet at one point and I yelled"I love you David" and he paused and said "what was that, I just heard". hee hee hee I think he heard me!
The 2nd loudest fan for Jason, Michael, and Mr. Cook!
We stayed out until midnight on the 1st day of school! woohoo!! Memories!

David Cook AI Concert

I cant believe I just did it. I couldn't bear the thought of David Cook being in town and not being there. I just bought tickets for Baylee and me. We got center floor tickets row o section 11. I can't wait to leave. What do I wear???? ARGH!! I am so happy and sweaty excited!!!

Datura on steroids

While I was away on vacation, my datura decided it would grow so large that it would block the pathway. I am debating on allowing it to stay or taking it out. It is indeed beautiful but ....I do like to walk around my fountain. This booger is a monster!

First day of School

My Scanner and photo editing program decided not to cooperate today. But here it is anyway....Baylee on her first day of Kindergarten 1996. She had so much enthusiasm.
Here she is arriving to her class and she is not so sure now. First day of her Senior year she is telling me to hurry up the sun is too bright.

Inside was a little better. This is her last first day of school.
Here is my neice Kylee on her 1st day of first grade. The sun didn't bother her!
Here is my nephew Luke on his first day of Pre K. Happy and Jolly!
Now I am free until around 2. What shall I do?

Emotional Day at WTC in NYC

First day in New York....we ate at Friendly Gourmet Pizza.

It was good and the owner was definately friendly and sooo busy and fast! And then the tears began....this hit me hard...a firefighter was wearing this during a rescue at the World Trade Center attack...he did not survive.
Here is one of the walls covered with photos of those who lost their lives in the attack.
This is where the World Trade Centers once stood. A memorial is being built and should be completed by 2012..I believe.
Here is the fire station that lost thier crew during their heroic rescue efforts.

Amish Country

What can I say? Pennsylvania was fascinating to me!We visited the Amish community in Lancaster County

and the girls got a kick out of the town's name!
I enjoyed viewing the simplicity of life that these very caring people live.
Cornfields abundant. This country is not having a shortage of corn. It was a peaceful sight.
Here is an Amish farm. I thought of it often while enduring the hustle and bustle of NYC the next four days of our trip. We bought some delicious food from the farmers market here.
I would definately want to visit this part of the country again.

Kentucky Cabin

We stayed in this wonderful brand new cabin for 2 nights on our road trip to NYC. It was practically new and such a bargain. If you are ever in eastern Kentucky and need great peaceful clean lodging be sure to look up the Cabins of Birch Hollow. This one is called Mountain Spirit. It had everything you would need just like your own home but better. Here we are on our way to the hot tub on the porch.
Bay and me soaking after a day hiking.
This was a fun tunnel to explore!


One thing about Kentucky that surprised us was the tobacco sheds. These were little drive thru shacks all over the place selling cheap Kentucky cigarettes and there were lines. Practically everyone had cigarettes hanging out of their mouths, even at the concession stand the people serving the popcorn at the drive in movie. Bay wondered if they knew about cancer.
The drive in movie was fun and soooooo many stars in the sky and lightning bugs everywhere.

My GBBD Bloom Day Post LATE

Here is my turks cap and lantana blooming happily! Front view of my path.
Black eyed Susan in front of the Maryland Welcome Center. These were spectacular. They are the state flower and they were planted ALL over.
The White House backyard view.

Here it is my garden on Bloom Day. My computer was down on that day. I took a couple of photos of some pretty and then I posted some flowers from my road trip.