Birthday Parties and Yale

It's the summit of summertime, and my need-to-be-blogged pics are piling up. Thank goodness I'm not a scrapbooker, I'd be in way over my head. Anyways, I know it was forever ago, but I just have to share our pictures of Yale.

A couple Sundays ago, probably a month ago by now, our friends Jeff and Nicole invited us to their little boys' one year birthday party. Brayden and I are best buddies now so of course I couldn't say no. They were having the party at Nicole's parents' house in Connecticut, and on the drive there I fell in love with the green countryside. If I had to I could totally live in CT. It's got that small-town feel and fresh country air that's so hard to come by in Jersey.

Brayden's party was a blast. Nicole got wraps catered for lunch and we found a bunch of Mickey Mouse supplies from the party store to decorate the deck with. They rented a bounce house, although Brayden wouldn't go near it with a 10 foot pole. However, he was so content watching everyone else jump in it that even the opening of his own presents couldn't sway his attention from the bounce house. If he was watching though, I'm convinced his favorite present would be the Yankees hoodie one of his aunt's got him. *Nicole and I have this joke that we have to go to a Yankees game just because our husband's hate the team so much. So when she opened up the hoodie I couldn't help but giggle at Jeff's reaction. ;)

*So I took tons of pics and I know I uploaded them on my comupter, but I can't find them anywhere! :(

Since we were so far from home it was great to spend our Sunday at a family party. Although it was the first time we'd met Nicole's family they opened us with open arms. Her aunts bombarded me with questions, Jace and I talked cruises with her grandparents and her mom sent me home with so much food! They were such sweethearts, and when it was time to leave they welcomed us back to swim in the pool and barbecue it up on the 4th of July.

When it was time to leave Jeff suggested we check out the Yale campus since we were only 45 minutes or so away. Jason loves that kind of thing. Two summers ago we had to stop at the University of Florida on our drive back to Utah because we had to see the Heisman in person duh! Or at least that's what Jace seems to think. ;)

I was so glad we stopped at Yale though. It's in a cute little part of town with plenty of little shops and cafes around the campus and such incredible detail on every last building.

It was awesome to spend our Sunday at one of the oldest private schools in the country. In fact Yale is considered one of the most prestigious and selective universities in the world. Lucky people like Eli Whitney, Doug Wright, David McCullough (I've met him!), the Clintons, Gerald Ford, Jennifer Connelly, Jodie Foster and thousands of other famous people gained their education on this campus.

The tribute on this memorial was so eloquent.

"In memory of the men of Yale

who true to Her traditions gave their lives

 that freedom might not perish from the Earth."

Is there anything more incredible than the gothic style of these buildings?

Dixie State sure ain't got doors like that!

The entrance to the library was so cool! See the seven shields at the top of my pic? Each carving had a year beneath it depicting just how Yale looked each decade. Amazing right??

Can you see the hand holding the lantern? I wonder who the overacheiving architect was who said, "Yeah let's have hands holding each lantern. They can't just stand alone you know."

I felt like I was wandering through Hogwarts.

This was my favorite- the Law building. They had sculptures of what law represents, like the cop above. They also had criminals complete with striped inmate outfits and masks over their eyes. Fun huh??

They must have been doing freshman orientation or summer camp or something because we stumbled into this busy courtyard bustling with high school kids. There was a corner for luggage, a table to pick up dorm keys, and grills cooking up hot dogs. I was dying to sneak into one of the tour groups. I peeked into one of the dorm windows and I couldn't believe how suave they were. Oh what I would give to go Ivy League.

Harkness Tower

Especially if my campus were as amazing as this! It was a good day.

:)



Sweet Summertime

While Larissa and Joel were visiting us in Jersey we found it essential to visit the beach. One day was spent at the Jersey shore and another day at Coney Island. With the 4th of July weekend approaching it seems everyone had the same idea. Because what better way to spend a hot summer day than at the beach!

 

We nicknamed Oliver the Castle-Crusher because Joel couldn't build a thing without Ollie tromping all over it. It seemed he didn't want anything erected without his permission!

 

He loved the water, but ran every time he spotted a wave. He just couldn't understand why they kept chasing him! :)

Riss was thrilled about finding whole shells.

Little Ollie found relief from the heat in the shadow of the cold cooler.

Since Joel couldn't build any castles he started digging a hole. Ollie soon joined in, digging fast as he could and measuring the hole by how easily he could fit in it. We laughed when he got in, then turned around and digged more room for his bum.

We started burying Joel then realized he looked more like an egyptian mummy than a mermaid. ;)

 

A week or so before they came out Larissa and Joel watched some kind of show that featured the oldest amusement park attractions in the country. The Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone were two of them so we were sure to check them out in person.

Speaking of seeing things in person, Larissa and I were sure to get pics of the building Sandra Bullock goes to in our favorite chick flick Two Weeks Notice.

Ever seen Big with Tom Hanks? We watched that the night before we went to Coney Island and then spotted the same fortune teller in the movie right there among the carnival games. Joel thought that was pretty cool.

No beach trip is complete without the right kind of food! Larissa had yet to try a funnel cake, so made sure to get one as we walked the pier at Coney Island.

Summer just isn't complete without a trip to the ocean!

Welcome to New Jersey

I've got some blogging to do.

In the space of two weeks I toured NYC with my siblings, got some sun at the Jersey shore, visited Yale in Connecticut, watched fireworks in Indiana, got Dippin' Dots in Chicago, suffered through the plains of Wyoming and started fixing up a house in Utah. We've been busy that's for sure. But I have to say these past two weeks were probably the best of my entire summer. Oh how I love this time of year. I'm convinced the only bad thing about this season is the speed at which it goes by. Anyway, I've got some catching up to do as far as blogging goes.

As a graduation present my mom and I decided to send Larissa out to Jersey as a senior trip. My mom wanted to come too, but being the selfless woman she is she sent my youngest brother Joel instead. Since we lived just west of the Hudson I'd been dying to explore New York, but navigating the busy streets and admiring the sights is no good on your own, so I was thrilled to have them come.

We sampled the Jersey beaches, as well as Coney, Ellis and Liberty Islands, but those pics will come later. My sweet parents sent plenty of money, so we created a plan of attack and got to work. :)

Our adventure started with a train ride to Hoboken, because no one can leave New Jersey without a trip to Carlos' Bakery. Once at the bakery, we found a handful of people at front, but no line to be found. I had just finished telling Larissa how lucky we were- that usually the line stretches all the way down the street, when one of the bakery employees informed us there was in fact a line, just around the corner and out of sight. Boy was he right. That line not only was around the corner, it was all the way down that street and around another corner too!

So while Larissa and Joel joined the line I ran up the street to Rita's, a frozen custard place I'd heard so much about. After that the wait wasn't so bad with Georgia peach frozen custard in hand. :)

Just as I did a few weeks ago, Larissa got the cannoli and lobster tail because like me, she did her research on the best good Carlos has to offer. Mmmm. So good.

Isn't that such an adorable cake? I wish I had those kind of skills. That would be so fun for a little boy's birthday!

On my way to Rita's I found a little place called The Shannon. Of course I had to get a picture.

While we were wandering around Hoboken we stumbled across an awesome park right along the Hudson River. Locals were sunning on the lawn, riding bikes and walking their dogs so it was the perfect place for us to snap a few pics of the NYC skyline without having to elbow other tourists out of the way. ;)

It was overcast, but still awesome in comparison to previous 90 degree weather.

I could have stayed there all day just watching the sailboats go by.

At the end of the day we hopped back on the train to get back to Ollie.

I couldn't get over how gorgeous the Hoboken train station was. In my opionion it was almost prettier than Grand Central.

Larissa was dying to get into the city, so the next day Jason dropped us at the steps of the American Museum of Natural History- better known as the Night at the Museum location. ;)

Looks a bit different in person huh?

These little cities were so cute. Don't they remind you of the little cities where Owen Wilson and the Romans fight each other?

Apparently they house the world's largest dinosaurs.

Am I lame or does anyone else recognize this part of the museum from one of the dates off last season's Bachelorette? Okay I'm lame I know.  ;)

Course we had to see the Easter Island head.

I couldn't believe how many exhibits there were. It was huge! After four hours in the museum we still hadn't seen it all.

Later that day we made our way through Central Park. We stumbled across Cleopatra's Needle, one of three ancient egyptian obelisks in Paris, London and New York.

This guy was painting a picture of the Belvedere Castle in front of him. I think that would be awesome to just pick up your paints and canvas and paint your own rendition of Central Park.

My favorite part of the day, however, was finding this gorgeous lookout of the city. So pretty!!

It was so gorgeous that a bride and groom were using the backdrop for their bridal pictures. Dang I should have waited a few months! ;)

We wandered through Central Park until we reached civilization again. Seriously, Central Park is really a world of its' own. There is so much peace and serenity, yet so active at the same time. We walked right into a full-blown marathon and kick boxing class within five minutes of each other.

We were starving by this point, but when we found the Met we had to get some pictures. Larissa was sure to tell us about how the main characters in Gossip Girl regularly eat their lunch on the steps of the Met. You could tell she was so excited about being there in person.

 I wanted so bad to see the Met, especially after learning of their Alexander Mcqueen exhibit. But it closed at 5 and we arrived about 4:35. Dang Central Park and its' ability to get you lost! I was definitely bummed, but Jason keeps reminding me this won't be our last visit to the Big Apple.

Since it was too late for the Met we wandered around to look for food. And lo and behold we found a Shake Shack right down the street! I've only ever seen it in Madison Square Park and Central Park so I definitely didn't expect to see it right in the city, but there it was just like any other food joint with tables and all.

Oh how I miss that place!

After a long day it was time to get home, but the subway stop was on the west side of Central Park so we wandered through for the second time that day.

I didn't mind though. :)

The sun was starting to set and a breeze was blowing through the park. Love those kind of summer days.

Me and the sibs had a good couple of days together. And there are plenty more of those to blog about!