The Whitelaws

Sunday June 19 - Tuesday morning June 21 - We enjoyed a fun visit from our neighbors from Abilene. Monday, we packed in a lot of local sights - The Penrose Heritage Museum, Garden of the Gods, Focus on the Family, and The Air Force Academy Chapel.
It was fun to see that the girls became fast friends after not seeing each other for nearly 7 years. Our friends had the great idea to reenact these photos - so fun!!




We waited until a little too late at night to try and get one of all the kids. But, this one will be really fun to try and reenact in another 7 years!!
And later, we found out that our friend lost his first tooth, just a day after Kellen! Hopefully it won't be another 7 years until we see them again.

Monday, June 20th - Kellen lost his first tooth! Literally. The first tooth that grew in was the first to come out - the lower right central incisor. He was so excited for the tooth fairy to come!!

For nearly 8 years, either one or both kids and I went to a music class once a week. For about 45 minutes we would sing, dance, and play instruments. On Wednesday, June 8th, Kellen had his last music class marking the end of an era. But, a new one has begun with both kids in piano lessons.

Tuesday, May 31st - Look at that looong escalator! We took the subway E line right down from our hotel at (Lexington & 53rd St) down to 34th Street - Hudson Yards, then walked down to the 34 Street entrance of High Line Park.

High Line Park is a former portion of the West Side Line. An elevated rail line of the New York Central Railroad used for freight service that has now been converted into a 1.45 mile walking path/park.
We walked by the West Side Yard - used to store commuter rail trains operated by the Long Island Rail Road.

At one point, we were going to exit the park and saw this interesting method of parking cars, but then decided it would be more scenic to keep moving toward our destination (The Lego Store, Rockefeller Center) via the High Line.
We just marveled at the outside and didn't go in. Next time, I'd like to spend some time inside.
Right behind the library is Bryant Park. Katie needed to finish the rest of her lunch so we found a great spot to sit for her to eat and for us to enjoy the park.
A quaint little book exchange/library in the park. There were also two ping pong tables set up with people playing.
Jenna chatted almost all the way home about the trip and then fell asleep just a couple exits before home! In bed around 11pm - end of Day 4. 21,681 steps ~ 8.55 miles!

Monday, May 30th - Jenna's 9th Birthday and Memorial Day. Gifts in bed - a great way to start the day! An American Girl Book from Uncle David & Aunt Katie.
Leslie left much earlier than we did and met a local friend for coffee at Grand Central Station.
We got a little later start, walked the 0.6 miles to Grand Central Station and met Leslie around 9 am.

We took the 4 or the 5 (can't remember which) to Fulton Street - to the 9/11 Memorial
I asked Jenna what she thought of her first Subway ride since it was in her top 3 things she wanted to do in NYC. She said, "Well, I thought we were going to be riding a sandwich."
A little cloudy at the top of One World Trade that morning. But, the forecast was 90% chance of rain so we were very grateful that it wasn't raining. In fact, we didn't have one drop of rain fall on us all day. What a blessing!





After the 9/11 memorial, we headed toward Wall Street and Federal Hall. On the way, we passed this sculpture entitled "Double Check" by John Seward Johnson II. It has a pretty interesting history.
"On this site in Federal Hall April 30, 1789 George Washington took the oath as the First President of The United States of America"

We really enjoyed the museum here. This site has served as New York City Hall (1700-1790), the location of the John Peter Zenger Trial - established freedom of the press (1735) the first capitol building of the United States (1789), U.S. Custom House (1790), the U.S. Sub-Treasury 1862-1920, and National Memorial (1955-present). They have some really excellent and well organized literature here.
It was time for lunch and we spotted this little pizza place that's just to the right of the "G" in The Trump Building. Jenna had been wanting to try a smoothie from a smoothie truck and we had spotted one just down the street at the corner, so while the pizza was baking, we got her a smoothie truck smoothie.
Our next destination was Battery Park. Mom spotted this neat looking building on the way. Turns out it is Delmonico's - a famous restaurant.

The carousel has so many different types and colors of fish. Those in the inner portion of the carousel go up and down as well as rotate within their circle.

Next stop, Castle Clinton. I didn't take any pictures here, but thanks to the beauty of the internet, here' what it looks like. The little gazebo on the right is where you purchase or pick up your tickets for the Statue of Liberty cruises. Castle Clinton served as a fort (1811-1822), a garden (1824-1854), an immigration center (1855-1890), and aquarium (1896-1941), and now National Monument (1946-present).

This is a Junior Ranger Badge location as well. The other locations that we visited, we were able to print the activity booklet ahead of time and work on some of it at home before the trip. This one was unavailable online, the first page asked opinions rather than facts (which threw Jenna), quite extensive, and it was quite hot outside. So, Jenna did a few of the pages and then decided she didn't want to finish. We returned the pencil to the Ranger and he asked, "Are you finished?" Jenna said, "No, I decided I didn't want to finish it right now." The Ranger was so very nice and gave her the badge anyway. And in addition gave her two patches and a special centennial badge!
Next stop - The Statue of Liberty!! There was quite a long security line. But, (I think because of our special tickets to climb to the top) we were ushered into a quicker line! (Above picture: Statue of Liberty left, Ellis Island right)









Since Jenna's Junior Ranger Badge for the Statue of Liberty also said Ellis Island and she wanted to do the audio tour and the activity packet was quite extensive and she had studied Ellis Island in 2nd grade and we had a set dinner reservation, we decided against going for a duplicate Junior Ranger Badge.

In 2nd grade, Jenna's school has an Immigration Day and they take the students through the entire process of immigration through Ellis Island. They did a fantastic job - what we read about in the museum and heard about in the audio tour was very similar to the reenactment for the students!
This was a fun computer program that determined if you would be accepted or rejected based on your answers to the immigration interview.
ser-en-dip-i-ty (n) the art of making happy discoveries, or finding the unexpectedly pleasant by chance or sagacity
After dinner, we walked to Dylan's Candy Bar, but the had closed earlier than posted due to Memorial Day. Then we went next door to the Starbucks and they were closing earlier than posted too! They rushed me, but I got my mug. Love it!

We walked back to the hotel after that with another stop at Duane Reade for breakfast items & a red chapstick to bring back to Kellen. Around 10:30pm - end of Day 3. 19,341 steps ~ 7.85 miles!