NYC

I was lucky enough to take a short trip to new york with some girlfriends - diaper and stroller free!  We rented an apartment in Chelsea area and roamed around the city.  I've been to New York several times for work, and have seen all the touristy sight seeing stuff, so I was excited to go this time with Y who's lived there and D who's been there a bunch of times.  I got to explore the different neighborhoods (my feet were throbbing after each day of walking) and ate my way through new york.  I can't wait to go again.  Oh, and the weather was so perfect too. Not muggy and really warm.  

Stoop in front of our apartment in Chelsea

Here's a list of the places we ate over 3 days.
Cafeteria
Doughnut Plant
Chelsea Market
Tuck Shop (Australian Meat Pie)
People's Pops
Truffle Salt at The Filling Station
L'Arte del Gelato
The Corner Bistro
Billy's Bakery
Bon Chon
Momofuki Noodle Bar
La Bottega (below the Maritime Hotel)
Magnolia
The Coffee Shop Bar
Le Pain Quotidien (it's like the La Boulanges of the East!)
Famous Original Ray's Pizza
Boqueria

The street we lived on - such a cute neighborhood with tons of brownstones.

Highline Park - Such an oasis in a bustling city.

people are sunbathing

view of city traffic

meatpacking district - meat and high end shopping and restaurants. interesting combo

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Special ordered the fried chicken weeks ahead.  A lot of chicken for a bunch of girls..delish!

Famous pork buns. yummy!

Magnolia Bakery - you can get cupcakes at midnight!

Caught a broadway show.  Good one!

Dive bar with excellent burgers!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Dip in the Pool, nice end to the day.

These are some of the things Lucas loves about his daddy...
-putting me to sleep every night which involves a ritual of storytime, milk time, brush teeth time, sometimes singing.
-giving me baths that are so much fun, like letting me splash so much that you have to hide yourself behind the shower curtain so you won't get too drenched.
-taking me to the park and sliding down the slides with me, running with me all over the playground
-teaching me to be polite and look cute when I say like thank you, please, bless you when someone sneezes, hello, goodbye
-throwing me in the air over and over again when we go swimming together which makes me laugh so loud
-changing all my diapers on the weekends (which is off duty for mommy) and taking care of me when I'm sick
-being my best buddy

Love,
Lucas

Sausalito - Discovery Musuem

Daddy is splashing in the stream with me. We have rubber fish and pretending to go upstream.

Spent father's day with friends. We had a wonderful picnic lunch and the weather was incredible.

Curious George exhibit and this was my favorite. Watching the blocks go down the conveyer belt.

Punching in my time card, and lifting the blocks into the device.

Daddy's always safe so he's wearing a trusty hat.

Spring - Hockey & Vancouver

Sharks vs Canucks - the perfect game to watch together!  We surprised Todd with tickets to a game with the biggest surprise that I invited his best buds and biggest sharks fans, Brian & Mary, to join us.  Of course, I was the only Canucks fan in the group, but I was not alone when we got to the shark tank.  There were tons of canuck fans there.  We taught Lucas how to say "Go Sharks, Go Canucks". It's so funny, but he says "Mommy likes Canucks, Daddy likes Sharks", then I ask who does Lucas like?  shhh..he says "canucks!".  It's been all about hockey these past few months, with the Canucks advancing to the Stanley Cup Championships and losing to Boston Bruins in game 7.  Maybe next year canucks?

We were in Vancouver for Angela & Felix's Wedding in May. Todd could only come for a weekend, while Lucas and I stayed for a couple of weeks.  Lucas loved spending time with his grandparents and they spoiled him silly.  Meanwhile, I took advantage the the babysitting and went out every night.

Milestones with the crew.

In front of the library (also battlestar gallatica location)

Canucks fever everywhere. This is on the sidewalk.

Hosted brunch  - a Mini Highschool reunion

Lucas' favorite things at my brother's house. Bouncy house and a roller coaster.

Cake & Aunty Virginia

Spring Update

Playing catchup...here's what's been going on since my last post...
I celebrated my birthday in April with a fun party at Frjtz, a belgium fries and beer place.  It was perfect since I love fries, Todd loves beer, and we had the back room to ourselves (Lucas & kids could wander around).  Plus, the afternoon was topped off with cupcakes.  Yummy!

Ask any of my friends and they will tell you I havn't missed celebrating my birthday with a party since I was little. It all began with my mom, who loved throwing parties, gift bags, games, treasure hunts, you name it, all through my childhood.  I guess it rubbed off on me too.  I like being with my friends and family on my bday!

Todd continued the celebration by surprising me with a day trip to an unknown location.  First he didn't tell me he was taking the day off work, so when I woke up I was surprised to see him at home.  Then we packed up and just started driving and driving. We started passing factories, like budweiser, and I'm starting to worry about where is he taking us.  Well, i saw the jelly belly sign and knew were were heading there.  He thought since I liked factory assembly lines (don't ask, but I'm fascninated with assembly lines that they show on tv), and candy it would be fun.  Lucas loved all the free samples!

stopped off for lunch and an afternoon margarita

Then dinner he lined up our friends to babysit while we had dinner at our favourite italian restaurant, Stella Alpina.  What a wonderful and thoughtful husband..

Happy Easter! Every year Nana hosts  Easter at her place with a big easter hunt for all the kids.  Last year Lucas was too little and he was napping, so he missed out on the festivities, but this year we was ready to go.  Nana got him a little basket and he watched all his cousins run around frantically picking up easter eggs all over her garden.  Luckily, cousin Ashley helped Lucas find a bunch so that he could put them in his basket.  He was so proud of his little collection. 

On those rainy days, I've been taking Lucas to the Hiller Aviation Musuem.  They have a small toddler area with plane ride ons, a large exhibit of planes and best of all a real 747 where you can go into the cockpit and pretend like you are flying the plane.  We took Todd there one weekend and he loved it - he was the kid that day!  They also were having a big train exhibit (and we know who is obsessed with trains right now), so it was trains, planes and more trains.

Todd and Lucas (his wingman)



We can't forget the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate.  I didn't stay up to watch it, but the next day I was fully caught up on the big event.  I was like a little girl watching a fairy tale wedding.

Here we are at Brian aka Sham's birthday party in the park in Sunnyvale.  They are expecting a little one this year and we are so excited for them, so I guess when we saw that he rented a bouncy house for his birthday, he's getting ready to be a dad. 

Happy Birthday Shams!

Todd was so proud of his ribs.