New York, New York!

David and I got to fly to New York to visit our lovely daughter, who has just finished two years of military training. She's excited to see the world now. We're so proud of her!

We got to go to New York City, which was another dream come true for me. Little Italy and Chinatown for food, and a Broadway show were on my to-do list. We did eat in Little Italy, which was so good, but we settled for one of the many Chinese restaurants near our hotel, since everything was quite a walk, even riding the subway. Not surprisingly, the chinese food was excellent. Extremely affordable, too, unlike the italian food!

R. and I went to see the Broadway show, "Mamma Mia" which was a real crowd pleaser, as the audience enjoyed singing along with the hits from "ABBA." I had seen the movie version, and wasn't impressed, but the stage presentation was so engaging that it made me cry during three different songs, mostly ones about mothers watching daughters grow up, and one about women getting older. I was happy that it was dark!

We walked quite a bit, and saw many landmarks which we've seen in movies. At least David has. He kept trying to tell me which doomsday movies had which structure being digitally decimated. I guess I didn't watch them that closely. We went to Times Square, which was quite lit up, and had a large, cheerful crowd. The people were all nice that we met, and some asked us if we were visiting. We looked like tourists, I guess, with our camera. Everyone thought we meant Washington D.C. as our home!

We even got to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was awe-inspiring. Imagine standing in front of a Renoir, a Picasso, a Monet, a Manet, a Toulouse Lautrec! I never imagined that I would be in the same room with so many famous paintings by so many famous people. There were many others, too, that I recognized, or names that I recognized. Gertrude Stein's collection was on tour there, as it just so happened!

Much thanks to our daughter, J. for coming to hold down the fort, and take care of our little ones. She did an amazing and capable job. You're going to be a wonderful mother, sweetie. Our other kids, L., S., and B. also helped care for the wild things, and we are so thankful for them (even though we're always nagging them!) Everyone was super happy to see us return!

Together at last!

So cute!

Loving father and darling daughter

Grand Central Station!  It was actually a beautiful building.

The view from our window in the hotel.

This famous actor's wax replica allowed me to pose with him.  He does look a little annoyed...

Delicious italian food in Little Italy.  I enjoyed it a lot more than David did, and he's the actual italian!

In Central Park.  I'm not sure exactly what this spot was.

Amazing wisteria display in Central Park.