Manhattan: Day 1

We checked out of our hotel at 1 today and drove to JFK airport.  We parked our car in the long term parking and got on the subway to go into the city.

Checked in at our hotel in Chelsea.  We had not eaten lunch, so we had a few snacks and Pam met us at the hotel.  We wanted to eat pizza, but were starving so didn't go to any of the places that were suggested to us.  We just asked at the front desk and we went to Pizza Town, a few blocks from the hotel.  It was really good.

I don't know if I can adequately explain how hot it is.  The high today was about 98 degrees before you factor in the humidity.  It is almost 11 o'clock now and it is still 91 degrees.  It just doesn't cool off.  It makes me really grateful that it is not like this at home.  The sun goes down in Colorado and it gets cooler!  There were a few parks along the way with water features.  We all needed a little water to cool off!

We walked to Chelsea Market and got some cookies.

 

We checked out the High Line which is a park built on a historic elevated rail line by Chelsea Market.  It is so beautiful to see the Hudson River from here.

It is a beautiful park.

We were going to go to the Empire State Building tonight, but we were pooped.  It is supposed to be a few degrees cooler tomorrow and Sunday should be a frigid 83.  We are looking forward to that!

 

Long Island, New York

We flew to New York Monday night.  We got into La Guardia at around 11 p.m. and it was 90 degrees outside still.  It is a major heat wave in the city.  Great time to visit huh?  So far this week has been pretty quiet.  Gregg has been working every day, so the routine is something like this:  eat breakfast downstairs, I work out at the gym, we go swimming at the pool, come back to the room and make lunch, play a few games, Emi takes a nap and everyone rests, Gregg gets back and we go eat our free dinner.  Our hotel is in Melville and there is no where around her for us to go.  It is surrounded by lots of office buildings and hotels, no shopping, restaurants etc.  Next week we are going to move to a different Homewood Suites, that is a little further from Gregg's job site but closer to shopping etc.

Tonight we went to Jones Beach.  It was lovely out, not too hot.  The kids had a great time.

When we got back to the hotel, we saw all of these lightning bugs flying around, so the kids tried to catch some.

Tomorrow we check out of this hotel and go into Manhattan for the weekend. 

Emi's 4th Birthday

Emi's 4th Birthday was Saturday.  She chose pancakes for breakfast, then we went swimming at the pool, next was dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory and last was the Obon dance at the church.  What a busy day!  It is hard to believe that she is 4.  The time goes so quickly.

4th of July

We came to Clayton for the 4th of July.  The girls and I came down on Tuesday after tennis and Gregg, Pam and Mike came down Wednesday evening after work.  On the 4th we went to a parade.

That evening the family competed in a Burger Battle.  Each contestant needed to make a hamburger and side dish.  There were 6 burgers and sides.

This is my Blue Cheese Burger with onion strings and a grilled corn crostini.

Adam and Mary's guacamole burger on a sopapilla bun with a watermelon salsa.

 

This is Mike's bacon cheddar burger with potato salad, a watermelon shooter and a cherry bourbon milkshake.

 

Taylor and Lisa's cream cheese stuffed burger on a grilled cheese bun with fried pickles.

This is Gregg and Katie's burger topped with cream cheese, chili and bacon with an Asian cucumber salad and watermelon wedges.

The only picture I didn't get was one of Dad's Mediterranean lamb burgers with feta and tzatziki sauce on a pita bun.

 

Everything was so delicious and we had way too much food!

Dad won the Best Taste award.

 

 I got the certificate for best Presentation.

Mike's got a people's choice award for his Milkshake.

Mary and Adam got a people's choice award for their watermelon salsa.

Gregg and Katie were the big winners for the best burger.

 

Pam dreamed up this contest and got the prizes.  Katie made the certificates and Grandma, Cherri and Rick were the judges.  It was a wild and crazy event with a time limit, but we all had a great time!  The burgers and sides were so different and creative.

We had a lot of cleaning up to do!

Katie decorated the cake for dessert.

It was a great 4th of July!