May 16 - 23, 2015 -- New York, Yale, and Family Time

May 16 David and I flew to Connecticut for Adam's PhD graduation from Yale. We left Kollyn with my parents (it felt so weird being on vacation without her, but it was definitely the best decision), hopped on the 7:30 AM flight from Salt Lake, and spent the next 9+ hours traveling. We flew from Salt Lake to Dallas where we had about 40 minutes to grab a snack and hop on our next flight to Charlotte (can I just say that the Charlotte airport is one of the dirtiest ones I've ever been in???). There we had about an hour and 15 minutes before our next flight so we were able to grab some lunch (even though it was a really late one). Then we got on our last leg, the flight to Hartford.

I've never been to that part of the East Coast so it was really exciting to be there (plus, as a Gilmore Girls fan, who wouldn't want to be in those places ;) ) It was so pretty and green and I was very amazed by that. David's parents picked us up from the airport and we rode with them to Adam and Carlee's house. I loved all the old houses and how historic the whole area felt. :) 

Sunday we went to church in their ward (the building was really neat, an older building that had been renovated as a church) and then went to the convocation for the graduate school on campus. Yale is really neat and the buildings are all very pretty. They don't have air conditioning, which surprised me, but I probably shouldn't have been. Being older buildings (most built in the 1930s) it would've been more surprising if they did have air conditioning. 

Monday was the graduation ceremony. Because Sunday had been warm and slightly humid, it didn't cross my mind to think about checking the weather for the next day. It was very much the opposite. It was overcast, windy, and slightly cold. The first part of the ceremony was outside with all the people that were graduating.
After that part of it, they split into the individual schools/programs for the actual graduation ceremony. There were about 400 in the graduate school and they went in alphabetical order by program, so since Adam was doing Political Science, he was closer to the end. Thankfully, this part was inside one of the buildings so we were warm. They read the names pretty slowly so it took about 3 hours to get to Adam, so we all had to kind of keep ourselves and the kids around us amused. David and I (along with Paul and Taylor) played 2 rounds of Life on David's tablet. 

He took all his kids up onto the stage with him and that got quite a lot of applause; I can imagine not many people would attempt a PhD with four kids so I think people were all quite impressed.

After he walked across and got his diploma, we all headed out to the lunch that the graduate school was providing for us. It was pretty good and we got a free Yale lunchbag. ;) Then we all went over to Nancy's house to get together and have dinner later. It was fun being with family we don't get to see very often.

Tuesday we spent the day relaxing and letting the cousins all play together. We went to this really neat park by Nancy's house and it did make us miss Kollyn again because she would've loved it. Tons of places to climb, a zip line, a water table, and a few musical toys as well. I think she would've been all over that. :) We also had some really good ice cream from a local creamery. I'm not a huge ice cream fan, but it was really good. :) 

Wednesday we went into New York with Adam and Carlee and their kids, and met Tom and Rachel and their 4 in the city. First, we went to the Empire State Building, but didn't want to pay $40 per person to go to the top, so we just got a picture in the lobby. :)

Then we walked up to Times Square. We stopped at a branch of the New York library that was really nice. They even had a copy of the Gutenberg Bible which I thought was really interesting.

 

We had these Micky and Minnie mouse people jump into our picture while we were trying to take our own pictures, then they took my phone and tried to take more pictures, and after that, they basically told us we had to pay them. We gave them some money just to avoid being followed and hurried away. That was definitely not a pleasant experience. But it was fun to see Times Square. :) That's where we went to the Avenger's STATION at Discovery Times Square (hence why we were both wearing Captain America shirts). It was fun. :) We got to test our strength compared to Captain America (I learned I'm weak even just compared to other regular people), we got to fly a simulation of Iron Man's suit, and see a bunch of props from the first movie. 

We had a really tasty lunch at Joe Shanghai close to Times Square. They had soup dumplings, which I had never had before, and they were really good. And so was pretty much everything else we had. The orange beef was something I'd never had but would absolutely have again because it was so good. :)

Then David and I walked through Central Park to get to the Museum of Natural History. It was really beautiful and interesting to see all the people but not feel like you're still in a really big city, which is part of why I liked it so much. All the hustle and bustle of the city was a lot for me to process so I was glad for an opportunity to be in a more peaceful part of the city.

And I had to get a picture of the Balto statue because I just love that dog. :) That story has always been one of my favorites and it was really fun to be able to see the statue I've heard about.

And then we made it to the museum. It was really neat. Smaller than I'd anticipated, but it was full of really cool stuff. We didn't get to see the big blue whale up close because there was an event going on in that room that they'd closed it off for, but we did get to see it through the door, which was nice. 

Then we met up with the rest of the family, walked to Chinatown (Tom and his sister Angie, David and I went to go pick up some artisan donuts from The Doughnut Factory, I think that's the name) and then went over this Tom's sisters apartment to eat the the donuts before getting back on the subway and heading back to New Haven. 

Thursday David and I got a ride to the train station from Adam and rode the train into the city. It was a fun experience since I've never been on a train like that before. The train took us to Grand Central Station so of course we had to get a picture with the famous clock. 

Not the best picture, but we were rushing to catch the subway down to  Liberty Island.

Then we went down to see the Statue of Liberty, but we ended up not going out to the island because when we were in line, they kept letting people from the back of the line, come up in big groups and get on in front of us. We missed two ferries that way and it just wasn't worth it anymore since we'd  been in line for about 2 hours and had other stuff we wanted to see. But we did get some pictures of the statue, to prove we actually were there.

We took the subway up to Chinatown and headed into Little Italy to meet my cousin Erik for lunch since he is now living and working in New York. It was good to see him and catch up. :)

After that we headed over to hurry to see the Intrepid museum since that was really the only thing that David wanted to do. Unfortunately, after we had walked about 3/4 of a mile to get there from the subway station, we learned they had closed about an hour before for a private event so we didn't get to see it. It was quite upsetting for both of us, but I think more so for David. We had even checked their website and it hadn't said anything about closing early which made us more frustrated. But there wasn't much we could do about it. At least we got to see the ship.

Then we headed back, caught the subway to Grand Central from Times Square, and caught our train back to New Haven. It was a long day but it was fun to spend the day in the city with just the two of us, walking around, riding the subway, and enjoying the city together.

Friday was another day spent with family. We went out to a park on the ocean that had a neat lighthouse and Jane wanted in on our picture taking action. She's super cute and it was fun hanging out with her a little bit during the week.

It was chilly, but so much fun. :) After that we went to get some fresh seafood (I got fresh chicken ;) ) and then went back over to Nancy's for our last night together.

We flew back Saturday, leaving from Hartford at 11:30 and getting back into Salt Lake at 7:30. We stopped in Philly and Phoenix, but with all the storms that were going on in the midwest, our flight from Philly to Phoenix was rerouted up over Canada and then down.

It was a really fun trip, but we were so happy to be back with our baby girl. The week felt weird without her, but it was good because of all the late nights, early mornings, and us doing things during her naptime. :) And she had a lot of fun at my parents house. My mom sent me pictures everyday of Kollyn chasing the chickens, sitting on the neighbor's pony, and spending days in her pajamas. And that helped us to miss her less, by knowing that she was happy and having more fun than if she'd been with us. :) It was a great vacation for all of us!

May 2015 - Friends, Cousins, and Books

May was a pretty eventful month. David and I spent a week back East with some of his family and I'll do a separate post about that because it was an adventure for sure. :)

The beginning of May, one of my dear friends came home from her mission. We met when we were both singing in the Salt Lake Children's Choir and she is seriously one of the most amazing people I know. I love Emily to death and was so excited that I was able to leave Kollyn with David for a few hours and go to the choir's spring concert with her. We had dinner at Red Iguana in Salt Lake before heading over to First Presbyterian Church for the concert. It was so great reminiscing about our years spent together and remembering all the songs we sang that are still part of the rotation. And being able to see Mr. Woodward again was so great. I was noticing the other day that when Kollyn dances it looks a little like how he conducts music. ;) And that brings back so many awesome memories. :) Those 4.5 years were some of the best years. I sang some great songs and I met some amazing people I still consider good friends. :)

We have a small "garden" on our balcony. We're growing peas, spinach, carrots, basil, and mint. Kollyn loves to "help" me water them and will do it multiple times per day (minus the water part). She likes seeing our plants and has gotten so excited to see them get bigger. It'll be fun to show her that we can eat some of these things and use them in some of our cooking (even though it won't be much). I love watching her soak up information. She watches me water them and wants to do it too, so she does everything I do when I water them. She even shakes it the same way I do. :) She is such a quick learner and it's so fun to watch.

The middle of May my friend Dawn came to visit us. She's from Canada and we last saw each other 5 years ago when she graduated from CEU and went back. We had been in some of the same classes my freshman year and she really helped me with the Math and Physics problems I was having, and since I spent so much time in the Math Lab, we became good friends. :) She came down to do a field study with her Geology professor as part of her Master's program and came in a few days early so we could catch up. She stayed at our house and Kollyn warmed up to her almost instantly, giving her hugs and kisses. Dawn brought her some blocks with a little wagon and she loves those. It is good that we were able to have her stay because I have missed her since she left. :) I'm sad I won't be able to fly up to Canada for her wedding next year, but I am glad that I was able to spend a few days with her before her adventure to Southern Utah. :) 

Kollyn turned 18 months this month, which meant she got to start nursery. She loves it! We started taking her in a few weeks before and stayed with her to make sure that she would adjust well and she has had a blast pretty much every week. The first week there were some little boys throwing a ball around and it kept hitting her, so she took it when it came close and ran away, holding the ball up so they couldn't get it back. Needless to say, when she finally gave it back, they threw it the opposite direction. I think she got her point across. ;) But every other week she has had a blast and is getting better and better about sharing and interacting with the other kids. :) I love to see her social side come out when she is around other children. She doesn't care about age and just wants to play with everyone.
They do bubbles for the last five minutes and I can tell you, as much as she loves snacks and coloring, her favorite time is bubbles. She yells "Bubble!" the whole time she's running around and through the big storm of bubbles from the bubble blower. It's so much fun watching her get so excited. This next week will be the first week we leave her alone there so it'll be interesting to see how she handles that. I'm going to bet she doesn't even really notice we're gone. :)

Too cute not to share. We went to Ikea for a few things and she got super excited about this stack of rugs. She would climb up on it, say, "Two, THREE!" and slide off. She is getting pretty good at counting and is so proud of herself when she is able to do what she wanted to do. She also really likes to slide. :)

The day before we left for our trip (Kollyn stayed with my parents the week we were gone), we had Kollyn's first haircut. She wasn't a big fan. She cried when the girl sprayed her hair with water and again with the blowdryer. It was an interesting experience but probably not one we will repeat in the next little while. :)

But, she did get a balloon and she was very happy about that.

This little girl LOVES books. They are probably one of her favorite things in the whole world. She is perfectly content to sit and have you read books to her for HOURS. She'll bring me books randomly during the day and will keep bringing them to me if I let her. She has to have at least 4 books read before nap and bedtime (more if she can get you to read them) and will sit by herself and "read" for quite a while which makes it easy for me to make dinner or breakfast. :) She also loves to have "Poppa book" whenever she goes to their house. She knows exactly where the books are kept and will run over there yelling, "Poppa!" and then hand him a book as she climbs up onto the couch so he can read them to her. This is one thing I hope never changes. I love that she loves to read so much! We signed up for the 1000 books before Kindergarten program at the Provo Library and we have easily read 1/3 of that (and that's just the ones we've marked on the chart, so I know we've read way more than that). She is a bookworm and it's so much fun! :) It has encouraged me to start reading again. And I'm really glad.

 On Memorial Day (2 days after we got back from our trip) we went to the Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove with Karin, Luke, and David. Kollyn had a lot of fun running around with Luke. It was so cute to watch them give each other hugs and kisses and play together. I think it's awesome that Kollyn has a couple cousins her age that she can play with (Luke and soon Jane will be here) that are at the same stage in life as her. She loves all her cousins (She calls them all Car Car after my niece Carli) but it's fun to see how she reacts to kids her age and how they play together. :)

We had a BBQ that night with Karin and David and Luke, and our friends Book and Amy and their daughter. Kollyn kept trying to sit in Luke's Bumbo and it was cute to watch her and Luke go to the fridge together to play with the magnet animals we have on there. They would take them off, hand them to each other, laugh, and then put them back on the fridge before going off and doing their own thing for a minute, and then come running back to the fridge to start all over. :)

Kollyn loves Lilli. She's so excited when they come over and keeps saying, "baby" and trying to share toys with Lilli and trying to feed her. It's fun to see her be gentle with babies and how much she wants to help. I think she'll be a great big sister someday. :)

This little lady is learning and soaking up things like a sponge. Her 18 month appointment was today and while she's quite petite (She's 21 pounds (9%), 31 inches (29%)) she learns things SO fast. She talks and says more words than most kids, in fact she's on par with most of the 2 year olds our pediatrician and his partners see (the doctor was amazed at the amount that she talks and how much of it is totally clear and understandable) and she has very little fear of new experiences. Having her in our family challenges us and makes us grow, and it's been great! :)