Penwood State Park

For Memorial Day, we decided we needed to get out and go for a hike.  Austin had heard that Penwood State Park had some cool trails, so we decided to check it out.  I must say, we were not disappointed.  It was soooo humid and hot and bleck out, but a lot of our hike was under the canopy of the trees, so it wasn’t that bad (boy oh boy, I have NOT missed the humidity).  Anyway, we had so much fun and I hope we can try out some more trails in the near future.

We would find these little guys growing in the middle of the trail.

Me and my buddy :)

We came across this purty little lake.

Do you see that guy?  That snake and its baby were hanging out right by the edge of the trial and I walked like a foot in front of it and it scared me to death!  Kylie thought it was sooo cool and she just had to go back and see the snake again.

One of my favorite parts of the hike.  We had to walk up this semi-steep trail and it was all lined with stepping stones.  I think this was Kylie’s favorite part too :)  Love my little hiker girl.

Absolutely loved this look out point.  You could see a clear view of Simsbury.  It was awesome.

Sierra mad about something…

My lil sassy pants

THE END

New York

So we had the wonderful opportunity to have Austin’s brother Jordan out to our house for almost a week.  He came out to help Austin put the Vantage system back in our house (which I am so stinkin stoked that we have it again).  Since Jordan has never been to New York, we decided to introduce him to this crazy, fun city.  Our first stop was to the Freedom Tower.  I have to admit, I got a little choked up seeing this building.  It was still hard to imagine that where we were standing was where the attack happened.  This really is such a cool and TALL building.  Did I hear it is going to end up being the tallest building in the world?  Anyway, loved seeing this.

Love this picture of Kylie and Austin.

Next we headed over to Trinity church.  It is one of the oldest churches in the US and it was a place of refuge for construction workers, firefighters, police officers and others who were helping to clear up the area after 9/11.  I love this church.  I think it is soo beautiful.

After Trinity church, we headed to Battery Park.  Here is the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel Ventilator Building.  It was used as the entrance to the Men in Black Headquarters :)

Sierra, Austin, and Kylie with Lady Liberty wayyyy in the background.

So instead of paying to go on the ferry that takes you to Liberty Island and then Ellis Island, we decided to take the free Staten Island Ferry.  I kind of wanted to go back on Liberty Island again, but we were able to still get some good shots of her.

Jordan and Kylie

On the ferry

Ahh Times Square.  Probably my favorite part of New York.

These men were screaming hellfire and damnation at us. 

I’m still amazed at the thousands of people who are consistently here at Times Square.

Where they drop the ball for New Years Eve.

Here we are at the Empire State Building.  This place took FOREVER to get to the top.  We went through one line after the other.  And then when we finally got to the top, there were so many stinkin people up there it was hard to see anything.  Oh well. The last time we came here it was during the day, so it was really cool to see the city lit up at night.

Kylie has some amazing hair in this picture.

I think we all were pooped by the end of the day.  Thanks Jordan for coming to see us!!!

Who wouldn’t want to look at these cute faces??

Ohio day 3

Saturday was probably my favorite day.  Why you ask?  Because I got to go to Hobby Lobby!  Lol.  It is KILLING me that the nearest store in over 2 hours away.  Anyway, I had a lovely time with Tiffini and her mom eating lunch together and then shopping at several home decor stores.  I must say, I had a fair share of loot to take home.  So glad I was able to cram it all in the trunk.  That night we took the kids to this place that I can’t even remember the name or how to properly describe it.  I guess like a Chuck E Cheese type place.  Anyway, the kids had fun :)  That night before the kids went to bed, we read scriptures with them.  This is something that Ryan and Tiff have been doing with their family for quite some time.  I loved hearing the little ones repeat back the scriptures.  I really want to thank Ryan and Tiffini for inspiring us to do this in our home.  It has really brought us closer together as a family :) 

Hayden, Brightyn, Jaxson, Kylie, Kinlee, and Sierra

We left Sunday morning and drove the 12 hours back to Connecticut.  Thanks Ryan and Tiffini for the wonderful time!

Ohio Day 2

On Friday we went to the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus.  They had this giant display of butterflies in the conservatory.  We spent a lot of time in here.  Butterflies were flying all around us and some of the kids got to hold some.  Later we went to the park and had a picnic and later that night we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows out in Ryan and Tiffini’s fire pit.