Fun with the Fam

Have I mentioned that I love visitors? Well, I do. Yes, that is a hint that you should come visit me. So come!

My aunt Kathy and my sister Callie came to visit me over 4th of July weekend. They flew in on Tuesday night and were there until Monday (Callie) and Wednesday (Kathy). It was so much fun to have them here! And I didn't have work on Thursday or Friday which meant I had 4 work free days in a row- awesome!!! That hadn't happened since January so I was pretty excited :)

Wednesday I still had to go to work- remember that last post about it being tough to be a grown-up? Haha. Anyway, they took a bus tour during the day then we all met up at the Gerswhin Theater to see Wicked! I'd seen it before and loved it- and it was just as great and fun the second time around.

Obviously I still haven't solve the iPhones take terrible indoor photos problem.

Thursday was the 4th of July. We got up and did a little pre-picnic grocery shopping then headed to 5th Avenue to do a little back to school shopping for Callie. After the morning's success- thanks to my recent discovery of a store called Joe Fresh (it's awesome)- cute clothes at a decent price... a rare find in NYC ;) After shopping we headed back to my apartment to prepare our picnic lunch and head to the West Side Highway for the night's fireworks display. We expected it would be standing room only so we were going to picnic at a nearby place then walk over, but were pleasantly surprised to discover that we could picnic at the fireworks viewing location. Yay! So we spread out my trusty picnic blanket (thanks Grandma!) and had ourselves a delicious dinner while we waited a few hours for the fireworks. They have 4 barges out on the Hudson River participating in the firework show, so it was a good one :) Lot's of fun, so glad we went!

The feast.

Friday morning Callie and I got up super early to head to Central Park to see Imagine Dragons perform as one of Good Morning America's summer concert series. Even though we were soooo tired we had a blast. They were fantastic live- Tina had seen one of their concerts in Utah and told us it was going to be good, and they did not disappoint! After the concert we met up with Kathy for brunch at Sara Beth's (both brunch and Sara Beth's are NYC staples), then headed to take the tram to Roosevelt Island to go exploring. That evening we headed down to Brooklyn for Grimaldi's famous pizza. It was delicious as usual, even if you do have to wait for it. We finished the night off by walking back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge- I love the city skyline at night.

It's 6am. Don't worry about it.

Oh Cal.

 

Love the red, white, and blue lights on the Freedom Tower!

 

Lucky Callie and Kathy- they arrived just at the beginning of what's been the hottest couple weeks of the summer. Don't they have good timing?! ;) This humidity is a killer. But that didn't stop us from spending lots of time outside! Saturday morning we rented bikes and rode the entire loop of Central Park. I didn't realize how many hills there are in Central Park, or how big the hills are. There's a hill at the northwest corner of the park that was just killer (fittingly it's named the Great Hill or something like that), but we survived. I may have to rent bikes more often, it was a lot of fun. I was pretty scared before we started- it's been at least since high school since I've ridden a bike, and to be honest I don't even remember riding in high school so it may have been middle school! But I guess you don't ever forget how to ride :) Saturday afternoon meant an adventure to Costco in Brooklyn to exchange for a new air mattress since the one we had deflated in the middle of the night after three nights... Moral of the story, I officially decided Costco is too far away to make it worth getting a membership. Anyway, after that little adventure we took a refreshing harbor cruise and checked out the city sights.

I'll admit it. I'm a little bit proud of this picture ;)

Sunday we headed to my ward for Sacrament Meeting- we had an alarm clock mishap but we made it. Then we headed up to Harlem to visit the Riverside Church and take a tour. I thought it was really interesting to learn about the history of that church and that building specifically. It just about killed Callie haha, architecture is not one of her interests ;) We spent afternoon in Central Park- my typical Sunday plan. Kathy read a book by the lake, Callie and I wandered around the park chatting. Such a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

This is how Callie felt about visiting the church.

I had to force here to smile for this picture ;)

The light green in the foreground of this picture is not grass- that's Turtle Pond which is currently green from algae (I assume).

This sea lion at the Central Park Zoo had the right idea. (This is the only exhibit you can see when you walk by the zoo)

Monday morning meant I had to go back to work, and Callie left :( So I spent the next few days working and then Kathy and I would meet up for dinner and dessert in the evening, Tuesday night we even went to a 10:35 movie at the theater around the corner from me- my first time there!

I'm so glad they came, it was so fun to spend time with both of them. Thanks for coming to visit me! :)