A Visit from Momma!

August came and we had our yearly mom visit!  These photos will be a bit out of order...and I am not sure why I'm telling you that, because there's no way you would ever know otherwise.  Well anyway, one of the things I wanted to do while mom was in town was go to MoMA to see the "Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000" exhibit that they had going on.  I won't lie - the main reason I wanted to go is that I had seen that part of the exhibit would include pieces from Pee Wee's playhouse!  Unfortunately they didn't allow any photography in the exhibit, only at the "display" out front.  Don't we just look look like kids?



We also decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well.  We had a nice walk though Central Park and then enjoyed a nice air conditioned visit in the museum.  Mom was excited to have an opportunity to see George...George Washington that is!  She'd always wanted to see the painting of George Washington crossing the Potomac, but for a long time it was not on display.


Here's mom and George.

While walking around we happened on a stairwell that had an Armenian Khatchar.  This particular one was carved between 1100-1200 AD.


We went up to the rooftop exhibit, Cloud City by Tomas Saraceno.







A walk through Central Park.





We had a really nice visit, to so many museums, dinners out and dinners in.  and of course we had our annual visit to Coney Island for a Brooklyn Cyclones game.  It was as always a good game, although there was a VERY rowdy group of kids behind us...I suppose par for the course at a minor league game.  We had a really great time, but ended up having to leave at the seventh inning, a crazy storm was approaching.





And then, as always the time came for mom to return home.  We're just looking forward to the next time we get to have her come visit.  Love that lady!!!

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Tonight's sunset over the Hudson River...a little something pretty for mom on her last night here.


The storm approaching yesterday by Coney Island - we had to leave the Brooklyn Cyclones game at the middle of the 7th inning to avoid the menacing looking clouds.

I love summer weather.  I wish it were summer all year round!

Mom Time!

Cheers - a cool glass of white wine at the Central Park Boathouse

So right after we got back from Grand Cayman we had a really nice week long visit with my mom. I wish it had been longer! (especially since I was tired from the previous week). She arrived Saturday while we were still in Grand Cayman and we got home on Sunday, it was nice to have her here when we arrived.

We spent most of the time just hanging out, at home or out for drinks or dinner. We always try to stop at the Boathouse for a drink after work while my mom is in town. It's hard not to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere, with the light reflecting onto the ceiling off of the water.


Felipe and I

I took the Tuesday off of work, because it was my birthday and I wanted to spend it with her and not at my desk! Mom and I had a nice day walking around window shopping and then decided to head home so we could change and freshen up for dinner. It was super hot that day (although nothing compared to what was to come...but more on that in another post). We ended up meeting Felipe after work and went to Le Relais de Venise (L'Entrecote) - a super yummy french restaurant that has only one menu item - Steak and Frites, with their amazing special secret sauce. We all thoroughly enjoyed the meal (it was as good as it was in Paris).


I swear - it was a different black dress ;)

On Friday night we did our big event for the week - we went to a Cyclones Minor League Baseball game at Coney Island. We did this last year, and super enjoyed it, so we came back again! Since we all went directly from work (except for mom!) we stopped at Nathan's for a bit to eat before the game. Delightfully yummy, awfully messy and not super healthy, but a must go.


Mom and Felipe enjoyed their hot dogs, while I had chicken fingers - if only I liked hot dogs...





Then we rushed off to the game (I think we missed the first inning - but that's what happens when the game starts at 6:30 and the train takes an hour and fifteen minutes to get there). Loved our seats! We were definitely within the foul ball fly away zone behind home plate - and Felipe almost caught one too. Maybe he'll get it next time.






After the game they had the fireworks again, but this time instead of watching them from the boardwalk we watched them from inside the stadium. It's no Fourth of July fireworks display, but it is enjoyable after a good game (the Cyclones won 10-4).



The bright ball of light on the right hand side is the moon! It was a crazy beautiful full moon that night. The photo below is as it was as taken - no photoshop.



All in all we had a terrific time with mom here in town. As I mentioned before I just wish I hadn't been so tired from the weeks leading up to her visit, or that we'd had more time, but we'll take what we can get! Next year we'll have to have her come out for her usual ten days instead of seven...that extra weekend time makes such a difference! Thanks mom for a wonderful time!

Our Fifth Anniversary

Top: Coney Island 2010
Bottom: Coney Island 2005


Nicole and I celebrated five years of living in the big ol' New York City this past week. We've had a lot of good times, and to celebrate it all we thought we should do something very New York. When talking with Nicole, we determined that one of the first things we did when we were bumming around was to go to Coney Island. So we thought it would be perfect to go there and spend a fun afternoon among the crowds. Mom just arrived to New York City on Friday, so she joined, as well as Sammi (another New York City transplant) and Frito. Of course Felipe was there too!! Although he came separately from us, he also arrived to the city just one month prior to Nicole and I.


The Beach was super crowded, as was expected - it was a beautiful day!








One of the first things we did was go on the Wonder Wheel (yes - I know the pics are taken at night and we first arrived in the early afternoon). Mom, Nicole, Sammi and I all got our tickets and waited in line to get one of the cars that rocks back and forth. Felipe opted to stay behind and watch from the safety of the ground, and look after Frito (Nicole's guide dog in training).

After that we all went over to MCU Park and watched the Brooklyn Cyclones vs. Connecticut Tigers baseball game - a perfect night to watch a ballgame next to the ocean!





The Cyclones ended up winning 3-2 in the bottom of the 11th inning, they really gave us all a great time!


After the game they did fireworks, we watched from the boardwalk. It was such an enjoyable afternoon/evening. A perfect way to celebrate. Happy fifth anniversary to Nicole and Felipe!

2008 Mermaid Parade - Coney Island

This last weekend we had visitors in town, my uncle and cousin from the Detroit area were able to get a great deal on a flight to New York City (with www.spiritair.com) and spent the weekend touring the city.

On Saturday, one of the many things we did was visit Coney Island. It was our fortune that the 2008 Annual Mermaid Parade just happened to be that weekend. We watched among thousands of people the costumed mermaids and mermen walking by on Surf Avenue and we later made our way to the Boardwalk where I took these photos (obviously I was not the only one at Coney Island taking pictures!).

It was quite an experience seeing all of the revelry, and hoping that with the proposed changes to Coney Island - that this parade and the spirit that embodies it, do not go away.