Mr. Will goes to Washington

My parents were in Washington on business last week, so Will and I decided to hop on the train and head down for a visit.
Will was such a good boy on the train. He sat in his seat and looked out the window until he got tired and took a nice long nap. He didn't sleep on the way back, but he was still really good. It has made me a lot less nervous about traveling with him in the future.

"I'm just a Bill, and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill" [Eric's note: for those of you born after 1980, you may have to watch this to get the reference.]
We went to the national zoo with my parents before my dad's meetings started. Will isn't too interested in the animals yet (he would rather go to the neighborhood dog run), but it was a nice day to be out.
And Will even made a new friend.
We saw the usual monuments and museums, but one of my favorite things we saw was the Newseum. This is the broadcast tower that was on top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
And this is the "Unabomber Cabin." Theodore Kaczynski was found living in this tiny cabin in Montana in 1996. My mom and I were both amazed by how well we remember so many of the major events depicted in the Newseum. It is definitely worth a visit if you are in D.C.
The view up Pennsylvania Avenue from the Newseum
Will and I had a great time in Washington with my parents. And we would be happy to head down there again next time they are in town.

Halloween

Will didn't understand what was going on, but he was a good sport about wearing his hot lion costume, and I had fun dragging him from party to party.Trick or Treating at Chelsea Market on Friday

I loved the annual Play Area Association party today because there was good food, live music, and great company, but Will loved it because there were juice boxes. He kept stealing other kids juice boxes, so I would have to get him his own. It all, he had 3 juice boxes tonight. Now he is bouncing off the walls. He's all hopped up on sugar, and he didn't even get any candy this year. Halloween is so much fun!

Marathon Sunday

Marathon weekend is one of my favorite weekends in New York. We love the fireworks in Central Park the night before, And the excitement in the air is palpable on Sunday morning. While it is a bit of a traffic nightmare to get to church, it is fun to watch the runners going up 1st Avenue. I wasn't able to get a picture of the huge swarm of mid-pack runners, but it was incredible to see. Over 42 thousand people ran this year, making the NY Marathon the biggest in the world. And this year an American man won for the first time since 1982, which is pretty cool.
Will needed to take a little walk during Sunday School (it's how we get him to sleep), so we headed over to 1st Ave. just in time to see the elite women go by. The picture is not very good because I took it with my blackberry, but these ladies were booking it. I can't believe the can run that way for 26.2 miles. Wow! The woman in the blue top in front is Paula Radcliffe, the world record holder, and the woman on the far right is Derartu Tulu, who won this year.

It was a great day for a marathon. Congratulations to everyone who ran. Maybe one of these years I will give it a go.

happy fall

Last week in Central Park

Three weeks ago in Vermont

Will turns 1 (almost 2 months ago)

It is embarrassing how late I am posting about Will's first birthday. We have been busy around these parts. But better late than never, right?
I can't believe how fast the first year with our little buddy has gone. Will is getting to be such a big boy--quite literally. At his 12 month appointment, he was in the 90th percentile for height, and close to the 50th for weight. Tall like his daddy. He has been walking like a champ, and gets into everything! He loves hammering, pushing things around, and pulling things off the table. I have given up on our apartment ever being clean again. His favorite game is hide-and-seek, but he is always the one doing the seeking, because he won't sit still long enough to hide. He loves balls and cars, but his favorite things in the world are dogs! Or Doggies, DOGS!, or dogdogdogs, as he calls them. He will spend hours watching the dogs at the dog gym on 1st Ave. Too bad he will never get to have one while he lives with us. Dog was even his first word. He can also say dad, mom, bye-bye, baby, and ball. But dog is the only thing we can get him to say on demand!
We had a low-key family party on his actual birthday, but I decided to throw together a cake at the last minute so I didn't look like the biggest slacker-mom ever. Will was much more interested in playing with his candle than eating the cake though. This kid is 100% Eric.
My mom and grandma had come to town to celebrate Will's big day, and he was spoiled all week. I'm sure the poor kid is so disappointed when people leave, and he is stuck with just us.
The Sunday after Will's birthday we had a little shindig in the Sheep Meadow to celebrate all three of our birthdays (Will 9/9, Julia 9/16, Eric 9/19). I love no-fuss parties, and cupcakes+ great weather+ good friends+ Central Park= awesome!
We sure love our little guy, and we are so happy he is in our family.

Willy goes to Philly (again)

My mom and grandma were in Philadelphia last month visiting my grandma's sister Rita and her husband Seamus McCaffery (yes, they are VERY Irish), so Will and I decided to hop on a train and go visit. We love Philly, and it is so easy to get there.
My mom and I headed out for a day on the town. Our favorite place was the Please Touch Museum. It was awesome, I wish we had a museum like that here (puts the Manhattan Children's Museum to shame).
Will loves water! we spent more time at this exhibit than any other.
He was completely soaked, but didn't want to stop playing. My mom was very happy to let him.

He also liked playing doctor.

I guess it runs in the family!

Uncle Seamus, my mom, Will, My grandma Catherine, Aunt Rita

We spent the rest of the time hanging out with the family. I really enjoyed meeting so many aunts, uncles, and cousins that I had never met before. There is a huge McCaffery clan in Philly, and they are hilarious (like I said, very Irish). I am excited that we live so close to my new found cousins.
I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to get this up. September was a crazy month! Stay tuned for a recap of William's 1st birthday!

staying cool in the summertime

Will learned how to drink through a straw a few months back, and now he is a huge fan of icy drinks. And he thinks juice boxes are pretty awesome too.

A Sunday Afternoon Stroll

I know it has been a while since we've posted, and I promise an update on our summer adventures is coming soon.
Today we took a long Sunday afternoon walk through Mid-town. Our first stop was the United Nations and Tudor City.
This is the view down 42nd St. from Tudor City. I love the Chrysler Building in the background. I think this could be a great picture on an evening with a nice sunset and taken with the big camera (we were just using the powershot for these pictures). But since I have no photo skills, I would have to enlist Eric to take it for me. 4 times every year there is an event called Manhattanhenge, where the sun lines up directly with the cross-streets in Manhattan (it happens several days before, and then again after each solstice). This location is the classic place to get a picture of it. We missed it this year, but look for it on the blog next year.
From Tudor city, we walked west to Grand Central Station. I absolutely love this building! This week I went up to girls camp for the 5th year in a row. We take the train, and leave from Grand Central. It's pretty sweet, and definitely beats meeting at the stake center and traveling by Suburban like I did growing up!
From Grand Central, we continued west to see the new pedestrian zone in Times Square. It has been open all summer, but we usually make a point to avoid Times Square at all costs, so we hadn't seen it yet. But today we were feeling adventurous and brave, and gave Will his first experience on the Great White Way.
It is nice to have so much more pedestrian space, but Times Square seemed just as crowded as ever. As you can see, Will was was captivated, and couldn't get enough. Eric and I, on the other hand, had quite enough, and we headed north to nicer parts of the city.
We walked home through Central Park, which is definitely my favorite place in the city. Will loves his perch high up on Eric's shoulders.

Although the weather has been yucky all weekend, and it feels a lot like a rain-forest outside, it was so nice to get out and enjoy the city. We love it so much here.