Happy 5th Birthday Andrew Isaac!

the little matchy matchy outfits from aunt Jen. i love the the shoes i got Isabella on clearance a few weeks back match PERFECTLY! wahoo!

I had to have a picture of the "city select" in the city!

sweetest thing. ever. she does this all the time. just watches us, and when we look at her, she just smiles so sweetly. she melts our hearts on a daily basis with her sweet stares and smiles.

At the Twins Towers/9-11 Memorial.

the new World Trade Center. they still have 20 stories to add, plus a spire. i think dan said they are having another smaller building or two around this big one. but i am not positive on the details.

me and my 5 year old.

this was 5 years ago. how he has GROWN!!! Few things (if any) have meant more to me than holding my first baby in my arms. Happy 5th Birthday to my first, Andrew, tomorrow (april 6). I dreamed about having a baby of my own all my life. and you have been such a sweet little guy. We're so thankful to have you!!!

this is the memorial, they have one where each building was. i couldn't see the bottom of the middle waterfall. all around the edge are names of those who died.

sweet thing.

our whole family. someone was nice enough to take a picture for me. i would never ask that of someone in NYC with my nice camera, but the guy who offered looked pretty trustworthy, and im glad we got a picture of all of us.

the Korean War monument

i got some new sunglasses here. all the black guys with their suitcases and big bags who try to sell you stuff on the DL. haha.

on our way to Statue Of Liberty, on the ferry

taking a first gander at Lady Liberty herself.

I see the resemblance Andrew;)

I was so mad when i read on their website No Strollers, so we took ours back to the car, and then of course i saw strollers all over. it would have been SOOO helpful. Ugh. next time i will remember that!

Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge is behind me

she was in this sling a lot, thanks crystal  for letting me borrow it! it took a couple tries to feel like i had it right, but she was very happy in there.

we kept putting jackets on, and taking them off. it was sunny and warm, but in the shadows and on the boat there was such a cold wind!

abby under protest. but now there is proof she was here.

he had the idea. that's not such a hard job is it? i mean i think he does just as good a job;)

that was the boat we rode on. we could have stopped at Ellis Island (and technically we did, we just didnt get off), but we were all exhausted and ready to head home.

she was such a handful for this part. she was so tired and ready for a nap, and just kept dropping to the ground unwilling to go on. we carried her a lot. but it was hard with our bag, isabella, andrew and carrying her...stroller. next time. for sure.

i cant believe hes actually 5. he is getting so big. i have a FIVE year old.

i got her a couple little things because i knew how she would be... i was the little sister for a long time. i got her a little car and crown.

Nerf guns. i got two so he could play fair with somebody. they are surprisingly hard when they hit you. i thought when dan was telling andrew the rules (never at someones face and never with the baby, and never when someone isnt playing) was kind of overkill, i mean they shoot foam circles. but it actually shoots them with quite a bit of force!

thank you target daily deals:) i got him two Imaginext Dinosaurs. they are pretty cool!

and Ipod Touch. we got it free when we signed up for internet here. SWEET !!! we only had one internet option anyways, so to get a free ipod touch was great. andrew now has his own to play on and it will be great for the airplane ride to Alaska.

got a package from Jen and had a lot of fun opening that! my mom also sent one but somehow didnt end up coming yesterday. we'll have to watch for it today.

even with getting a couple things herself, she wasn't happy about someone else getting to open all the presents.

a BIG calculator. haha, he was so excited though.

A Cars book that was read by his Jacobson family in Utah!

a Cheesecake. which was so welcome, we had such a busy day, i am glad he had requested this. requires no decoration. and it was SO good.

had his favorite ice cream, mint chocolate chip

YUMMMMMY

Mr Cool. i think its one of my favorite pictures of this little guy.

these now are from my phone, this was from last week. who said you cant have fun playing at the park with a broken arm?

i got these obviously from FB, i really like this message. try to make sense of it...:)

some comments about general conference this year.

Hinkley was that last part incase you didnt catch that.

that made me laugh. so true.

he longs for the day when he gets his own, a neighbor kid at the park was nice enough to share.

he was kind of jealous the girls got their nails painted, so i made U's. kind of sloppy looking, but it was tricky on tiny toes.

driving in NYC was nuts. i mean i never in a million years will do it. i dont even understand how dan got us in there.

ready for it ? Holland Tunnel folks!!

he was excited about riding in the tunnel

we're in!

we had pizza here, it was WAY good.

 Well, its a big post i know. For Andrews 5th birthday I wanted to do something he would remember, especially since we are so close to NYC. We are about 25 miles away, yet an hour drive with the tolls, tunnels and traffic. it was our familys first trip into the city together. Dan and I have gone once in for dinner, but not until yesterday with the kids. We went to bed late thursday night,  cleaning up and wrapping and decorating the house. then we woke up early, abby came in at 6:40 so i hurried and put the kids in the tub, and then showered and we got ready and pulled out about 8:45. and we were hurrying the whole time. we got to the parking garage near battery park just before 10, which was the cut-off for the special ($22 until 7 pm). We then went up to the 9-11 Memorial site and got tickets, and walked around inside. After that we  made our way back to Battery Park and stopped at a pizza place that was really good. I got fresh mozzarella with basil (my new favorite flavor). then we got our tickets for Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island at will call, but we had about an hour before we needed to be in line for the boat. we walked around Battery Park, and looked at watches, sunglasses and things from the secretive street vendors. i got a new pair of Sunglasses. i love how he started the price at $40 but quickly accepted $10. Also I have to note that DID walk past a NYC Cop with a bag of Dunkin Donuts. i had to laugh a little at that... We had a good day yesterday. Andrew kept saying as we were tucking him in "Best Day Ever. Best Birthday Ever" it made me really happy. i worry a little now that he is bigger, i mean if he ends up having a crappy birthday he is going to remember that now. i am glad he enjoyed the day. now to the clean up. oh my how this place gets messy quickly. ... well good day to you!