Fall Photoshoot

Dave's parents gave us a nice camera for Dave's graduation from law school and I have just recently started to really put it to good use. I'm really enjoying learning about photography and practicing with Aubrey. Here are some of better shots:

Central Park Ramble

Central Park Lake & Bow Bridge (below)

Central Park near walk of the Poets

Boardwalk near the Hudson River (below)

Halloween

Halloween in the city has been really fun! On Friday afternoon Aubrey spotted her costume and wanted to play in her 'pretty dress' (as she calls it) Once in it she wanted to look at cars (out the window). the combo made for some fun pictures:

Our friend Kirsten hosted a spectacular Halloween play group that afternoon. It was So much fun to see all the kiddos dressed up:

Aubrey loved the sandbox, as usual, and the candy hunt.

Halloween day got officially kicked off at the ward party. The activities committee did an awesome job. Dave and I got chatting and having so much fun that we forgot to take picture of our costumes. Aubrey was the tooth fairy, Dave was a quarter and I was a tooth (I had tooth that was just like Dave's quarter shown here).

The grand finale was the street party on 69th Street. We went with some good friends (left) but split off to visit a colleague of Dave's at lives on 69th(right). We hung out on their stoop and handed out candy for a while. (it sort of felt like the Huxtables should have passed by)

The whole scene was amazing! All the houses were decorated, some even make it a haunted house and TONS of people come to trick or treat and just be part of it all.

The main attraction were these acrobat/actors that depicted all the major scenes from Star Wars...while suspended to the side of the building!n They were incredible.

Besides the fact that Aubrey basically had candy for dinner it was a great Halloween.

Boston

Our first visitor

The first weekend in October my sister Dixie came up from DC to visit. I LOVE that there are super cheap bus tickets between NYC and DC. She was the first family member to see our apartment in person and our first overnight guest. I loved it!

Federal Hall, where George Washington took the oath of office as the 1st US president.

This Chinese lady came and just picked Aubrey up then had her friend take a picture of her with Aubrey. They then proceeded to pass Aubrey around the entire group so that everyone had a personal picture with the little blonde baby. It was hilarious! Aubrey was fairly confused but didn't cry and they were all very kind. Throughout the day I caught at least half a dozen other Asians taking clandestine pictures of her. We should start charging a fee...

The Statue of Liberty from Battery Park. Dixie came with her friend Russ.

Aubrey loves Dixie...not hard to see why I guess.

(on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn bridge)
I was sad to see Dixie go but glad its not too far away. Now I just need to figure out a way to get down to DC to see her, my other sister Adelia and my close friend Amanda...among others.

This week's highlight reel

Below are a few things we've done this week:
Yesterday we met up with 3 other moms in the ward and went to a super cute little place called Milk & Cookies. I think Aubrey and McKensie (the cutie to the far left) look a lot a like. Taking this picture we decided the3 of them could probably pass as siblings. The thought of triplets...wow. Trying to keep track of all 3 of them is a daunting thought.
I hung this shelf all by myself! I measured the wall, ordered the shelf, drilled into our drywall/cement wall, put in the anchors and screws, screwed on the shelf and shazam...more space for my small appliances. I then hammered in holders for my pots and hot pads. Move over Abe, soon I'll be the most handy person in the family. :)
When I went to put Aubrey down for a nap today this is what I found: all her diapers and blankets piled up in there. No wonder she had been so quiet while I got lunch ready.
One of the things New Yorkers love about the city is that they can get any kind of spice or ingredient imaginable. So I've decided I'd like to try my hand at different countries' food. I started with the Spanish Tortilla. It wasn't until I got out the recipe that I realized my attempt at 'exotic' wasn't all that exotic. The entire list of ingredients: Eggs, Potatoes, oil, onions, salt and pepper. Ha ha. At least it turned out well, Milagro Melendez would be proud (she helped me make my first Tortilla Espanola- it was almost 8 years ago...it must have seemed very exotic then).

Playground City

One of my absolute favorite things about our neighborhood is how many playgrounds there are nearby. Central Park has 21 playgrounds, Riverside Park has 17 (I don't know for sure but I'd say about 6 of those are close enough to walk to) and there are half a dozen other ones scattered around our area. We've had a good time getting to know some of them.

Just about every morning we'll head to Central Park. Aubrey's getting braver with the slides, and climbing on the playground stuff, which I love.


In addition to playgounds the ward has a really great playgroup in our ward where people take turns hosting it at their apartment. This day was HILARIOUS. There were at least 12 kids there and they LOVED playing in this tiny little pool and the gym shower.
We're trying to take advantage of the water features at the playgrounds before it gets too cold.