New York, New York

Ben and Kara had a wonderful trip to New York this past week.  Ben went to the 99u conference and got to hear a lot of excellent speakers and about innovation in action during the day.  During mornings and nights, we got to roam the city and see much of what it has to offer.  We walked over 35 miles and rode the subway for another 30 while checking out Times Square, Greenwich Village, NYU, Grand Central Station, Little Italy, Carnegie, Rockefeller, and looked upon many other sites including the Statue of Liberty, One World Trade Center, and the Empire State Building.  We spent an extended amount of time in Central Park and made it to two art museums.  We obviously ate a ton of food and we really feel like we squeezed in as much as we could in those three days.

The ManhattAnt - a new species known in just a 13 block area of NYC

Meanwhile, the girls had a blast in Owatonna.  They got to go fishing, saw a play, went swimming, helped garden, went to a movie, and played plenty of games.  Thanks so much to Grandma and Grandpa!

 

We all had a wonderful Mother's Day as well.  We got to see Granny Annie smile and music was back at Como.  Sunshine poured down upon us.

At the buzzer

Whew, just got this post in on time to bring our April posts up to two.  It has been a busy stretch.  Ben has his usual spring craziness and was a finalist for teacher of the year, Nina had a few events at school, there was a fun wedding in Pittsburgh, a birthday party, and Pip always acts as if she is doing something important.  The girls have been happy to be in swimming lessons again and have even gotten the chance to play in the backyard pool on a few warm days this spring.

laughing at frogger    -----    school carnival

  

Pip's latest funny quotes:
"Nina, I have great news; your scar looks better."
"You're getting a baby gold tooth, like Papa has."
"Hear this," she says anytime she wants your undivided attention.

Fads

 

Spring is barely here and the girls are already talking about next year.  What classes they will be in, what their teachers will be like, who will be in their class... somehow they think they've got it all figured out.  We are trying to prepare them for how reality doesn't always connect with their ideas.  Nina continues to work on her reading and has become mildly obsessed with the following:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Playing cards (slap jack and crazy eights)
• Playing "Just Dance" especially the One Direction song
• Playing a Lego game on the iPad
• Listening to the chipmunks (especially their Bad Romance cover)

Pip mostly goes along with those fads, but likes to play party pooper if Nina has her heart set on one of them.  "Nina, I'm too tired" has become an unexpected go-to phrase.  

cousin craziness   ----   twinning with her daycare bf

trying on Mom's glasses --------counting rings on our stumps

she turns on a dime, folks