Trip to TN

Dear Seth and Sydney,

Oh, How I have missed you two while you have been away! I am so glad that you got to go have fun in TN but it just wasn't the same here without you. Mommy never realized what great helpers you are. It amazes me how much your little sisters missed you and needed you. I love that Chloe has prayed for you every night while you have been away and that she will say that Sydney is her Best Friend. I hope you will always be close. Seth you are such a great big brother your sisters are so lucky to have you there to watch out for them. Claire has been so sad in the car without you helping her out. So glad we get you back today!

All my love,
Mom

A new experience

If you know Mike at all you know that he is a country boy. I have been trying to "civilize" him and trust me it hasn't been easy. A few examples of this is he hates traffic any traffic and he calls three cars in front of him traffic; just kidding on that last part. He also hates crowds. So when we were planning on going to New York City you can say we were both a little nervous;) Mike didn't want me to bring in my nice camera having our hands full with the kids. So he picked me up a camera at Costco. It was disappointing that it didn't always work right but as I looked through them again there are more pictures than I originally thought.
Here is our day in the city.

We were told to take the Staten Island Ferry over because it goes right by the Statue of Liberty and it's free (nothing is free in the city)

We had a little lesson on the Statute of Liberty and Ellis Island before we went.

They loved the boat ride and talked about how it reminded them of the house boat at Lake Powell

Once we got into the City our plan was to go to the National History Museum. Now the tricky part was how to get there. We asked a security guard if you need a car seat for infants in a Taxi and she had No idea. We figured it probably didn't matter. It was after all NY. So mike hailed a taxi and we rode it over to the museum.

The kids were really cute in the Cab

We made it ;) The cab ride was full of excitement and they don't slow down even with children in the car!

Here is where some of the pictures aren't the best.

Claire did fantastic, she still surprises me on what and great baby she is.

We found this adorable statue that looked a lot like someone we knew

Seth loved all the FossilsSeth had a great time but the girls didn't love it has much. They were cold, it was a little chilly and I didn't think to being jackets. So we decided to go and get some lunch and head over to Times Square. We decided to take the Subway :)

At Toy-r-us

We made it back home safe and sound and pretty proud of ourselves for surviving a day in the city.

Sooo.....

I am not sure why it has been so hard to blog this summer I have had a lot of down time. We have been able to have a lot of fun on the weekends and overall our experience in New Jersey has been great! Which has been a surprise to me I really didn't think I would like it here but I really do. The town we live in is so cute and has the most adorable main street ever(i need to take pictures it is such a sweet little town.) I love all the homes around the area and how different and unique they all are. I really hate how in the west all the homes look a like. We like to drive the neighborhoods and pick out our favorite houses. It is so pretty here. I can definitely tell why it is called the Garden state. There are trees everywhere which means that we get to see a lot of wildlife. We have seen tons of deer and the kids were really excited when we saw a Mama deer with her two babies. And this was right by target!

Here is a funny story:
While driving home Sydney said "Look, I saw three deer with horns! (This was in the middle of town so I really didn't beileve her.)
But a little ways up the road we saw the Mama deer and her babies so I pulled over. Then Like 6 more deer came up it was crazy!
When I started driving again Syd said, "This is where I saw the horn deer." Sure enough there were 4 deer with antlers and they were already big. Seth was sooo excited he kept saying that he wanted to see a Buck and we saw 4 it was great.
All the way home they kept saying this has been the best day! Then they would say if only Daddy saw them too.
We also see turkeys and ground hogs. The kids always like to play the animal game in the car to see who spots the first animal. But Sydney will always say that Cats and Dogs and birds don't count.

Some other things we have been able to do(Picture post will come, hopefully)
The other nice thing about being here for the summer is we are so close to some many great places so we have tried to take advantage of this.

Places we have been this summer:
NYC of course we had to go into the city. We live close to a train that is only a 45 minute ride into the city.
Washington DC it is only a 4 1/2 hour drive away and this is such a fun city to visit. All the museums are free which is AWESOME!!
The beach. Jersey Shore, is really gorgeous and only an hour away. I am sure there are lots of beaches to choose from the one we went to was PT. Pleasant and it was a great family beach we loved it.
We hope to go up to the Hill Cumorah and see the sacred grove and the Smith farm.

It has been a great summer and it is hard to believe that I will be back in Provo in just a few weeks. We decided to fly me and the little girls back. So we will get in on August 5th and mike will start the drive back with Seth and Sydney.
Here are some pics from our short stop in TN:

Seth hanging out on the porch

Grandpa John We are very glad that he is doing lots better.

The girls at Grandpa John's house

LOVE this picture of these two cousins

We went out to Papaw house and he gave the girls the Roses and we picked up the turtle on the way home.

Chloe loved Mothering jack although I think he weighs more than she does;)

Favorite Picture of Chloe Bug

We stop for lunch in Nashville with Charity and Sandra

Until next time...