The Big Apple

Last week I went to New York.  I wanted to go and play with my sister and see her new baby, so I finally bought my tickets and went.  I had such a fabulous time.  It was much different this time.  Since it is my third time going there, I didn't go see the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, or the Met.  Instead I just enjoyed being there and feeling the vibe of the city.  My first stop was the temple.  Ironically I went to the one place in the city where you didn't feel like you were in the city!  I was really grateful to start my trip by going to the most important place.  I enjoyed the peaceful session, and giving a small service to the Lord.  Then I felt ready to go out and see what was there!  I spent a lot of time in the parks.  I was amazed to find so many parks spread throughout the city.  They each had a fountain, a few statues, flowers, lots of amazing trees, and lots of people!  At all times of the day and every park that I went to was crowded with people everywhere.  I was amazed.  But I enjoyed the parks as well.  I read books in the park library, played chess, ping pong, and a new game where you hit a birdie? (I'm not quite sure what to call it) with your hands.  It was a lot of fun.  I really enjoyed all of the parks in New York.

Over the weekend, we went on a road trip.  From the city, we took a supposedly 6 hour drive (in actuality, it was 8 hours with traffic) up to Portland, Maine.  I had always wanted to go to Maine, so when I was planning this trip, I asked Jenny if she would like to go with me to Maine.  She agreed.  I wanted to taste Maine blueberries, see New England, and see the lighthouses!  Unfortunately, blueberries weren't in season, so I had to settle for blueberry jam.  However, I did have a Maine must-try food.  Despite my general no seafood policy, for the first time, I tried lobster.  It was just a small bite, but enough for me to determine that I didn't hate it.  I just figured I couldn't really go to Maine without trying the lobster.  After a lovely walk around downtown Portland, we headed out to see the lighthouses.  They were so cute, and so fun to see jutting out on the coastline.  The sun was out and the day was beautiful.  I really enjoyed my 18 hour sojourn into the south of Maine.

On our way back to the city, we stopped in Boston.  Another "to do" thing on my travel list was see the Boston Red Sox play at Fenway Park.  It is one of the oldest baseball stadiums in the country.  I enjoyed being there so much.  I felt like I had walked back in time to when baseball was king.  It was great.
While in Boston, we stopped in Cheers for a bite to eat.  Lately I have been watching Cheers reruns with Maddie.  It has been a lot of fun to share my favorite tv series with her.  Since I was going to be in Boston, I felt obligated for the both of us to go there.  We had a great meal, then headed back to the city.
I really enjoyed seeing the city, but a large part of the reason for the trip was to get to know Moe.  Jenny's 2 month old baby boy, Moses Michael Miller was a cute and fun little guy.  He is a very good baby and I enjoyed spending time with him.  I had to do some fun pictures with him, so here he is in his "Moses basket"....ha ha ha.  By the time my trip was over, I was exhausted and ready to head back to California.  I loved every minute of my adventure.