NYC Day 2, 3, & 4

Here is the middle part of our trip. Honestly it is kind of all blending together what we did and when we did it. Here we are downtown in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Look at Ryan grabbing that bull. Ha ha, this picture is funny. Delicious bakery! Sugar sweet sunshine! Who knows, Ryan may be working here someday (or at least visiting on biz)! And it was literally 2 blocks away from Jim and Melissa's house. Outside of Empire State Building! Central Park! Outside Natural Science Museum. Oh I wish we were still there. It was so fun!

NYC Day 1

We had such a good time in NYC visiting Jim and Melissa. I know it has taken me forever to post about the trip....so I'm playing catch up. We got in late in the afternoon and went to Serendipity for dinner. The meal was so-so, but it was nostalgic. After dinner we hit up all the hot spots because so many of them are close to where Jim and Melissa live. Here we are at Rockefeller Center.

Outside Radio City Music Hall! Times Square! Serendipity! And just think...all this is within minutes of their house! There life is so cool! I can't wait to go back and visit again soon!

nyc apartment

Man Jim and Melissa are living the dream. Look how cute their apartment is. It is a 5 story walk up building that is over 100 years old. They live on the 4th floor. I was just dying with how much fun it would be to live in New York City and this would be your apartment. It's like out of a movie!

We can't thank Jim and Melissa enough for letting us stay with them! We had such a good time and we were so appreciative of them letting us crash on their new couch. I kind of felt bad to be the first to break it in. I'm just hoping I can visit again and again in the coming years that they live there!

new york, new york

Next Friday we leave for 5 days in the big apple. We are staying with my brother and his wife who live right in Manhattan. Within 5 minute walk of times square, Rockefeller center, empire state building, etc. We are SO EXCITED! If you have any great suggestions for things we need to hit up let us know. I have been there a few times before, but Ryan hasn't! We have many things already on our to-do list....I'm especially looking for suggestions of bakeries! :)

segway of orange county

Check us out on our Segway's. While we were in California last month we decided to try out a segway tour of Newport Boardwalk. I was there with only my parents because Ryan and the rest of the family that was able to come this summer weren't there yet. I kept jokingly saying that I liked being an only child because of all the stuff I was getting to do with my parents alone..... :) but by the end of the week I was thinking how boring it would be to have no siblings......ha ha, but really, thank you mom and dad sooo much It was so fun!

First of all we had a quick training in the store on how to ride these bad boys. It was kind of scary for the first 15 seconds, but then it was SO EASY and soooo much fun!

You have to try them out the next time you are in a tourist spot.

newport beach

Last month I went with my parents to Newport Beach, California, for a little fun in the sun. The picture above is Corona Del Mar. I always tell Ryan that one day we will retire to the flower streets there. I swear that is my dream in life! Ryan, Carly, and Megan and Clayton came later in the week to join us. It was sad because Jim and Melissa and Hilarie and Robert couldn't come this year. We missed them.

This was a delicious little italian resturant that our segway tour guide showed us on Lido Island. It was FANTASTIC....espically the artary clogging sausages stuffed with cheese........soooo good! mmmmmm yummy!Also, here is Conca d'Oro. My parents have been coming here since they were little (well at least that is what I think). Well I know at least since Hilarie was a baby. They would drive there and eat with Hilarie asleep in the booth. We always have to eat here for nostalgic reasons!

new years eve

Happy New Years!  This is where Ryan and I will be spending New Years eve this year, but don't worry.......

we won't be spending it smashed in between all these people.........can you say CLAUSTROPHOBIC!

Happy 2009!

family portraits

Ryan's sister and her husband were having family photos taken over Thanksgiving so we all got in a few shots.  This was Ryan's families Christmas card photo!  Everyone but Scott who is on a mission.

Ken was giving Tanner candy in between pictures to try to get him to be a good little boy.

It was freezing once the sun went down!

denver

Okay, I am really going to catch up on my blogging........there will be another few post about Thanksgiving, then expect Christmas, and then all of our adventures in Houston!!!

So this is the day we went to Denver and went to the temple and then to the aquarium. Denver is a really neat city. It had a way bigger downtown than I was expecting.  It would be a really cool place to live!

We also met up with our really good friend, Steve St. Piere, who is the accounting program with Ryan. Last year Ryan probably spent more time with Steve than he did with me because of how often there group was working on projects together!

Notice the snowball mark on my back.  Ryan hit me pretty dead on when I was walking out of the restaurant.  Isn't it funny how it stuck in a perfect mark on my back though?!

And finally Tanner was enjoying his first ice cream cone he got to eat by himself.  It was pretty funny but very sticky I'm sure!

air force academy

One of the days we were in Colorado Springs we went and took a look around the Air Force Academy campus.  This is their chapel, it is kind of the  'big' thing to see on their campus.  It is really beautiful and neat.  They have different rooms and levels for different congregations to meet in.

Here Ryan is pretending to be an actual church goer.  Isn't the inside so neat.  It was designed to look like the inside of an airplane, and it kind of does. Here Tanner is running around.  His boots made him walk like Frankenstein, it was so funny because surprisingly he never really feel because of them...oh and also Ryan loved to get him to say "booots" by pointing to them!

And finally this is in front of the visitors center where I found out everything I could have ever wanted to know about the Air Force Academy.  And also, as a side note.  A kid I went to high school with in Texas has been the Air Force Academy's mascot for the past couple of years.  That was my claim to fame while I was there!

And here is a fuzzy picture of some of the campus.  Enjoy!

shave ice

This is the best shaved ice EVER. Mmmmm, sometimes I just start thinking about it and I want one so bad! It is a really famous place and it always has a huge line out the door. This is a cute little restaurant we ate at. The Grass Skirt Grill, Ryan used to eat here when he lived there. I unfortunately bit my lip sooooo bad. I was practically crying. It took forever to heal too! We ate at lots of yummy places while we were there!

the north shore

The famous north shore sign. The town is called Hale'iwa (pronounced hall-a-eva). Oh we had so much fun! There were like a million kite boarders at this one beach we stumbled upon. It looked like so much fun, but really hard. I'm pretty sure this is at Bonzi Beach, but I can't remember. But behind Ryan are the official Volcom Houses where there pro surfers for the Volcom team can live. Pretty nifty.... And this is at Sunset beach.......well at least I think. I can't really remember, but it's a pretty picture :)

pineapples

The Dole Plantation. Yet another little history stop. It was cool reading about the start of Dole plantation and how pineapples grow. It takes so long, I really appreciate them so much more now. The pineapple cutting demo. Learned a few tricks. Eating the famous pineapple ice cream. It was really yummy, even though I wasn't even that hungry for it. But I had to try it....that's what you do at the Dole Plantation! What a cute little baby pineapple! We didn't do the train tour, just got the ice cream, read all the free information boards and did a little walking tour of a pineapple garden and all the different kinds of pineapples. It was sure fun!