Butterflies!

Every year since Emory was about three or four years old, we have raised butterflies.  It is such a neat process to watch and I enjoy it as much as the kids!  We first started off with this neat butterfly kit that Emory had in his class at his first preschool.  You purchase the kit and it comes with this small butterfly habitat and a postcard that you send away for the caterpillars.  In a few days, you receive a package of caterpillars in the mail.  We did it that way for the first few years but then found that we could get our own butterfly larvae from Home Depot on the milkweed plants or else or in more recent years, from our very own orange tree! 

This year we collected about 10 tiny caterpillars off of our orange tree.  They're pretty easy to find because you just look for the leaves that have been eaten around the edges.  They are pretty hungry little guys and we have been told that they could strip our orange tree of all of it's leaves very quickly if they weren't removed.  This year we were lucky enough to raise 8 butterflies and then release them into our yard.

Here you can see one of the butterflies and all of the crysallis that are still waiting to hatch.

It took all summer for each of the butterflies to finally come out of their crysallis so the habitat often sat there on the lanai with nothing happening for few weeks at a time.  Owen was intrigued by this particular butterfly and couldn't resist checking it out and barking at it.

I tried to catch a picture of each of the butterflies as they were released from the habitat but they were just too quick.  I did manage to capture this one who took off and landed on the leaves of the orange tree. 

It's a little hard to see clearly in this sea of green, but this is the orange tree.  We bought it when Ellie was three and it has grown so much.  We planted it in the backyard and had to move it a second time when we dug the pool.  The tree didn't like this too much and we haven't had much success with growing oranges since we moved it.  This year it is loaded with oranges and we can't wait to pick them around January.

Summer Vacation Road Trip

On July 2nd, we set off on our summer vacation road trip.  As the sign the kids are holding below says, we were off to NEW YORK CITY!  Actually our first stop on our trip was in Richmond to celebrate the 4th of July and then drop the dogs off with Ga before heading off to the Big Apple.

Owen and Piper were so happy to not be left behind for this trip and were actually really great travelers.

Our first day in Richmond we spent with Kenny, Leigh-Emma, Jack and Ga.  We went to a Richmond Kickers soccer game.  Boy was it hot -- I think it was over 100 degrees and much hotter than it was in Florida!  Before the Kickers game, Emory and Ellie tried out the jousting game in the Kid Zone.

Ellie was all smiles as she got to pose with Kickeroo.  Can you even begin to imagine how hot he was?!?

Before the game, Emory was asked to be one of the ball boys for the Kickers game.  He was so excited!  He just stood there watching for most of the game but just once he got to chase the ball down this tunnel.

Afterwards it was back to Kenny and Leigh-Emma's to cool off and play with Jack who had been napping while we were at the game.  It was the perfect day to play in the water table! 

...and the perfect day to tickle sweet little boys!  I just love their "orange" hair.   These two cute are so cute together.  Emory really loves spending time with Jack. 

The next day was the 4th of July and we headed over to Tammy and Dante's to celebrate with a cook out and family and friends.  We got to swim in their brand new pool and meet baby Rylan for the first time.

Emory and Ellie loved the four wheelers!  Maybe Dan did just a little bit too!

After all of that outdoor fun, Aunt Tammy took Ellie upstairs.  Soon it was time for the fashion show with lots and lots of Aunt Tammy's jewelry and fancy headbands.  Ellie couldn't have been happier!

Emory wanted to hold baby Rylan before it was time for him to go home.  What a sweet baby Rylan is.

The next morning, July 5th, we got up bright and early and hit the road to NEW YORK CITY!  It was only a six hour drive from Richmond and after our ten hour drive from St. Augustine a few days earlier that was a piece of cake.  We arrived in the Big Apple by 3pm and checked into our hotel to drop off our luggage before heading off to check out the city.  Our hotel was right on Times Square so it couldn't have been more perfect.  Here are Emory and Ellie at their first view of Times Square. 

After getting settled, our first stop was M&M World.  It was actually pretty amazing store and smelled soooo good!  Who knew that there were so many colors of M&Ms or that you could purchase so many things with M&M on it!

There were just so many colors that it looked like a rainbow of M&Ms.  No surprise that Emory went straight for the ORANGE.  Ellie found the Princess Mix and that was her favorite of course.

There was a cute little game where your M&M color mood was determined.  You had to stand still on this mat, the machine asked a couple of questions or just made comments and your mood was displayed.

Emory's mood was....

REALLY???  While Ellie would have been thrilled, Emory didn't think it was quite so funny.  We tried to convince him that Pink is the new Orange.  HaHa.  I don't think he fell for that!  Ellie's mood came back as Mega Mix...just like the colors of the bow she was wearing that day.

We ran into our first celebrity next....Elmo!

Then on the next corner it was....

At the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center), we got great aerial views of the entire city.  The kids got their first glimpse of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and Central Park.

Inside the oberservation deck at Top of the Rock, there was this cool ceiling that followed you around as you moved.  When you came into the room, it gave you a color and that was yours on the ceiling the whole time you were there.  Ellie especially loved it watching it follow her and listening to the music it made.  ( I loved that it was air conditioned in this part of the building!)

Our next stop was the Lego Store which had just opened in NYC three days before our visit.  Emory was in heaven and we probably could have left him here and come back to pick him up in a few hours.

To celebrate the grand opening of the store, outside in front of Rockefeller Center they had built a HUGE apple made entirely out of Legos.

As if Emory wasn't already happy enough after visiting the Lego store, right around the corner we ran into the Nintendo World store.  I think at that point he was absolutely convinced that NYC does have everything!

Times Square is beautiful at night but it had been such a long and fun-filled day.  New York might be the city that doesn't sleep but we definitely needed to!

After a good night sleep we were well rested and ready to head off again.  This day took us back to the Rockefeller Center, this time to get tickets for the NBC Studio Tour.

 We saw where they were taping the Today Show right inside...

 ...and the Today show thermometer outside showing just how HOT it really was already so early in the day.

When Dan purchased our tickets for the studio tour, we were invited to join some others in the Digital Cafe where Kathy Lee and Hoda taped part of the last hour of the Today Show.  We thought we were just going to get to watch the segment but we actually were on tv - standing behind where Kathy Lee was sitting.

 On the tv monitor below you can see Ellie and her bow on the left side of the screen behind the little boy.

Next we were off to see the Statue of Liberty.  Fortunately I had purchased tickets online before we got there because the lines were hundreds of people long.  We were able to head right through security and onto the ferry fairly quickly.  It really is amazing to see how big she is as you head over to Liberty Island on the ferry.

Inside there is a great little museum with the history of the Statue.  There are also lifesize replicas of parts of her to show you just how massive she really is.  Emory and Ellie couldn't resist goofing off!

After 9/11, tours up to the crown were discontinued.  Just in the past year they have reopened the crown but only 30 people per hour are allowed up there as you have to walk up the stairs the entire way.  Unfortunately we weren't able to get crown tickets during our visit but I did get tickets up to the pedestal.  It gave us great views of the inside of the Statue as we walked up the stairs.

 

We go to New York City without visiting Ground Zero.  September 11, 2001 is certainly a day that we will never forget.  While we tried to explain a little bit of the history of this day to Emory and Ellie, I am not sure they quite understood it all.  Emory definitely had a lot questions that we did not have any good answers to.  Here is the work that is going on today where the twin towers once stood.

Below is a statue that once stood outside of the twin towers.  Amazingly it survived that day and now stands near the ferry to the Statue of  Liberty.

Ellie's favorite part of the trip came on our third day in NYC when she and I went to the American Girl store.  She was so excited to visit the store and the cafe. She brought her AG doll, Gwen, with her for the trip.  They looked so cute that morning in their matching dresses.

At the store in New York, they have an American Girl Cafe on the third floor.  On this girls only morning, we had reservations for lunch.

Gwen got her own chair that attached to the table right beside Ellie and her own cup and saucer.  Gwen also got my dessert!  It was a fun meal for Ellie and I and the food was surprisingly good.  Everything was perfectly themed for a little girl and her doll. 

After lunch, we headed down to the second floor of the store to the AG Hair Salon.  Here Ellie chose a new hair style for Gwen and waited for Gwen's turn with one of the hair dressers.  While we watched, Ellie got some tips on how to style and care for Gwen's hair at home too.

Gwen looked even more beautiful with her new hairstyle.  Ellie loved it too! 

Next we headed back downstairs for the shopping.  There were so many different things to choose from.  Ellie decided to get new clothes and accessories for Gwen rather than getting a new doll. 

We had so much fun looking around and finally choosing new outfits and accessories for Gwen!  Ellie even chose a new pet for Gwen to take home from New York City.

Outside of our hotel and just across Times Square was the Forever 21 store.  It had a HUGE video screen with a camera facing Times Square.  All day (and probably night) long there were people standing there waving to themselves.  Every few minutes the screen would freeze and a girl would come on and take photos.  Here we are in the upper left hand corner.

We checked out all of the toys and fun at the FAO Schwartz store...

and Ellie got to jump around on the super-sized piano like they used in the movie BIG. 

Next it was off to Central Park.

Dan stopped for a few minutes of work and emails on his iPhone while in Central Park.  It was nice to escape some of the heat under the cover of the trees here.

Emory and Ellie enjoyed one of the children's areas in Central Park. 

Our last day in the City we visited the American Museum of Natural History.  This place is massive!  We definitely didn't make it through the entire museum and see all that it had to offer.  We especially enjoyed visiting the museum because before we left home we had just watched the movie Night at the Museum that was filmed here.

Our little monkey fit right in with the monkey exhibit!

The kids were both so excited when we saw Dum Dum from the Night at the Museum movie.  They were actually asking to have a picture taken here.

The dinosaur exhibit is amazing and not to be missed!

Our last New York experience was a pedicab ride around Central Park.  We took a ride up to the Guggenheim Museum.  It was too late, and we were too tired, to go in but the building has neat architecture.

Our visit to NYC was only three days long but we packed a lot of fun into those days and really saw alot.  Bye NYC.  We'll be back!