The B-Hive does NYC

In January, the B-Hive decided to take a trip to NYC to visit Uncle Muck and Auntie D and see a few of the sites.  It was such a quick and relatively easy trip--it took us about 2 hours to get there--so now that we know how painless it is, Marc and Deleah can be sure that we will be up to visit them more often!  The only hard part is all of the gear we have to pack for a family of 5, even for just 3 days!!

Marc and Deleah live on the Lower East Side just outside China Town.  We arrived at their place in the early evening and decided to walk into China Town and have dinner at a truly authentic Chinese restaurant.  We were literally surrounded by Chinese people in a very packed place (they were celebrating a couple of first birthdays that night) and in spite of the fact that the boys were a little overwhelmed by the events of the day, we really had a nice time and great food.  Unfortunately, no pictures were taken that night. 

The next day, we all headed to the subway for the Museum of Natural History.  This would be the boys first subway ride ever, and it was a nice and long one with one train change along the way.  Here are a lot of subway pictures taken to commemorate this "special event"...

The Museum of Natural History was really neat.  And really really really packed.  I guess when one goes on the Saturday of a long weekend that is what one should expect.  Notwithstanding, I know I had a great experience at my first time visiting this national landmark, and I am sure the boys, in their own nonchalant way, did too.  We were thrilled that Uncle Muck and Auntie D decided to accompany us, as they made the trip much more fun and it was nice to actually have better than "man-to-man' coverage at such a packed place.  The exhibits really were awesome as the pictures below depict...

I thought this photo of Sam and his reflection amidst the tiger was really cool...

Awesome life-sized model of a blue whale suspended from the ceiling...

Straight from "Wild Kratts" (one of the boys' favorite TV shows on PBS):  a humpback whale and and giant squid fighting...

There was even a huge dinosaur exhibit...

Outside on the museum steps, Max had (and loved) his first "dirty water dog" (a hotdog sold by a street vendor)...

Jack got a fun little bath in the sink and Marc and Deleah's place that night...

We spent the next day touring Times Square.  At first the boys were a little overwhelmed by all of the sights and commotion.  But, they had a good time walking around and shopping for souvenirs...

We ended up at a restaurant in Times Square for lunch. The boys (especially Max) love to go out to dinner...

Then, we went to the "Top of the Rock."  I thought the boys would love this--staring out at the incredible NYC skyline from the 70th-story observation deck of the Rockefeller Center.  On the contrary, they were pretty indifferent to this experience, much to my surprise.   However, I personally thought it quite thrilling.  

Flashback to May 2007--the last time I was at this same spot with my parents and I was pregnant with Max...

While most of us enjoyed our NYC trip a ton, the youngest member of the B-Hive didn't have such a fun experience. ..

 Poor Jack was sick the whole time and we dragged him all over the city.  At first I just thought he was just feeling bad from the antibiotics he had been taking for his double ear infection.  He threw up a couple of times and was extremely cranky and whiney  However, when rest of us got sick shortly after our return to PA, we immediately knew that Jack had something else going on--something that he passed on to all of us and to Marc and Deleah--those two were apparently puking up a storm.  

January Fun

Typically, my first blog of every new year doesn't get posted until March.  Well, I am cutting it close, but I actually got it up here before then!

This year is already flying by.  I totally can't believe that February is almost over.  I practically can't even remember what we did in January, except for a really fun impromptu trip to NYC (which I will post about soon!), I do know that in this month the weather was all over the place.  Some days would be really freezing cold, then we would get a tiny little bit of snow:

 

Then it would warm up quite a bit and give us a little hint that spring might be around the corner, and then it would be freezing cold again.  It seems like this variety of weird weather would happen in any given week:  one day it would be in the 50s, the next day in the low 30s, and then it would snow.  Repeat.  However, one bit of weather that we can count on around here at any time of year is the rain.  The boys had a lot of fun playing in it and splashing in puddles on this particular rainy January day (which also happened to be really warm as depicted by the boys' lack of winter coats).

When it is really freezing outside we can just play in our basement.  It is full of toys!  Most of the time I feel like I have to really coerce my little guys to play with their toys--they are always begging for the wii or ipad.  But, if I actually get down on the floor and interact with them they love their toys.  Look how creative Sam can be--he lined up all of his monster trucks!

 

Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and all through Mimi's house,

Gifts were tempting youngun's while the grownups milled about...

...SO, per tradition, we let them open one present from Mommy and Daddy... 

New PJ'S!!  Not as cool as a new toy, but still pretty awesome sleeping clothes if you ask me! 

Fortunately, Santa remembered that the Blane Boys were going to be at Mimi's house for Christmas.  Max and Sam were so patient on Christmas morning--the morning they had been anxiously awaiting all month long!  They had to wait for Mommy and Jack to wake up and diapers to be changed and coffee to be made--a lot to ask of excited little kiddos.  But, they were sweetly patient, and very rewarded when they were finally able to unwrap their loot... 

 

My boys have always been into costumes and dressing up, and this year they asked Santa for Leonardo  costumes (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).  Santa had a very hard time finding such costumes at this particular time of year, but his elves must have really searched hard for the good little boys because they managed to deliver... 

And my little ninjas were super excited!! 

They also got some super cool Sonic shirts... 

One of the best things about Christmas at Mimi's is hanging out with Koa...

And the yummy meals Mimi prepared...

Christmas in Vermont provided the Blane Boys with their first snow of the season... 

 

Paul would take the boys on "adventures" in the snow that would always end up at the local store for a yummy, if not unseasonal, treat...

After spending several fun-filled days in Vermont, we had to make the long trek home thru the snow to Pennsylvania.  This is always hard to do as saying goodbye to family this time of year is never fun.  However, once the boys discovered that Santa had also left presents under their tree at home they were quickly reminded of how much fun their own house can be...

Even though it now seems so long ago, I still can't believe that Christmas is over.  Nor can I believe that this was our 4th Christmas in Pennsylvania.  Time is a flying.  And, we miss you Utah family!!!