tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76565577091724784282024-11-05T21:58:19.268-05:00ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.comBlogger612125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-76896061420583926922017-10-01T20:00:00.004-04:002017-10-01T20:00:51.630-04:00

Ten years ago (yesterday), I started something new....this blog! I had just moved into a new apartment in NYC and was in the process of interviewing for a job at RGA, which I ended up working for over six years. This blog was to serve as a means to share my NYC adventures and love of travel, Broadway, and food with my family and friends all over the USA. I really enjoyed all my adventures

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-18787856075666448922017-09-08T23:17:00.001-04:002017-09-08T23:17:54.573-04:00

On our last day in Minnesota we went to the Como Zoo. Surprise, surprise, right? Cohen and I totally collect zoos. The Como Zoo is free and they offer giraffe feeding, so it seemed like a good choice. I've been to a couple free zoos and I will say this is one of the nicer ones. The giraffe feeding is a little ridiculous because they charge $5 for a leaf of lettuce (YES...ONE LEAF). You have like

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-60680576864172761842017-09-07T20:38:00.002-04:002017-09-07T20:38:51.855-04:00

Now I would like to interrupt my summer vacation posting to announce that Cohen started Pre-K today! We took him out for a special first day breakfast at Georgio's Country Grill. Cohen wanted waffles and sausage to start his day. He ended up pouring the whole cup of syrup on his waffles.  We then headed over to the school to meet his teachers. They have a great playground in the

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-45828973407449727172017-09-05T23:18:00.000-04:002017-09-05T23:18:40.425-04:00

On day 2 we spent most of the time indoors since it was raining, but on day 3 Jeff, Cohen and I busted out the paddle boat for Cohen to take a quick spin. Cohen and I arrived late on the day that everyone else played with the paddle boats and Cohen saw them sitting there and frequently told me that he wanted to ride one. I kept telling him, "another day." Well, the last day came and it was now or

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-52079351205599024582017-09-04T23:34:00.000-04:002017-09-05T23:19:57.085-04:00

On day two in Newport we went for a quick walk on the Newport Pier. There were a lot of people fishing and crabbing, which was really entertaining for Cohen. He loved going up to everyone and asking them a million questions. He's such a social little guy. After the pier, we met a friend of ours (Amy) at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Cohen loves aquariums. This one had an amazing

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-37067406722445988292017-08-26T21:25:00.000-04:002017-08-26T21:25:09.438-04:00

After an amazing week with my family in Washington/Oregon, Cohen and I joined Jeff and his family in Bayfield, WI for the Neu Family reunion in the Apostle Islands. Everyone else arrived a few days earlier, but Cohen and I arrived late so we could be in Oregon for my grandma's 85th birthday. We all stayed in a bunch of cottages on Lake Superior. It was lovely hanging out with family and enjoying

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-20892869738855771182017-08-22T21:49:00.003-04:002017-08-22T21:49:51.506-04:00

After the Enchanted Forest, we headed to Newport to spend the night and get in a little more beach time before heading to Minnesota. Before dinner we stopped at a little candy shop to restock on gummy sharks. Cohen sure does love those gummy sharks and Grandma A is all too willing to support his addition. We then headed to Mo's for dinner. This was my first time at the original Mo's. The food

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-71373493458754051882017-08-17T21:45:00.000-04:002017-08-17T21:45:15.036-04:00

While in Washington we met up with a couple of my cousins and my aunt at the Enchanted Forest! We had taken Cohen there in June of 2016 and he loved it, so we thought it would be fun to go again. Now that Cohen's older he could go on more of the rides and he loved it! He went on his very first roller coaster (the Ice Mountain Bobsled). He plastered his head into my chest the whole time, but he

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-91711460415909744342017-08-14T23:16:00.000-04:002017-08-14T23:16:33.509-04:00

The main reason Cohen and I made the trek to Washington was to go to my grandmas 85th birthday party. It was a surprise party so she had no idea all her family were traveling from all over to be there to celebrate with her. Her birthday actually isn't until August 31st, but we had it early to accommodate many different schedules and get as many of her grandkids there as possible. Grandma Olsen

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-13293271802064008372017-08-13T21:27:00.001-04:002017-08-13T21:27:23.845-04:00

After an amazingly couple of days at the beach and camping, we spent Friday preparing for my grandmas 85th surprise birthday party and hanging pool side. Well, hanging out in the blow-up pool my parents bought in preparation of Cohen coming to visit. It started out innocent enough. Cohen would splash Auntie Harmizzle....Auntie Harmizzle would splash Cohen. All in fun! It was a bit of a

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-54068103456699429052017-08-12T12:37:00.000-04:002017-08-12T12:58:01.105-04:00

After a surprisingly restful night's sleep, we headed to Seaside to go to the outlet malls and out to lunch. We ended up at Pig'n Pancake, which historically has been a family favorite of ours, but this time it was a total let down. The service was horrible and they messed up Grandma's order....TWICE! I think we will need to find a new favorite Seaside restaurant. We then walked toward the beach

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-87961789575593862372017-08-08T10:00:00.000-04:002017-08-08T10:00:45.358-04:00

I know some might argue that this wasn't a "real" camping trip, but it was for us! :) My parents own a small lot of property in Long Beach, so we brought their travel trailer down and spent a couple days. Cohen, Auntie Harmizzle, and I slept in a tent while Grandma and Grandpa (Anderson) slept in the trailer. I was worried about the tent being a disaster, but we totally were comfortable out there

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-2117067071346063122017-08-06T23:57:00.000-04:002017-08-06T23:57:17.576-04:00

On our way to Long Beach for a two day camping trip, we stopped in Astoria for lunch and a little walk around the docks. Cohen learned what an anchor was and quickly became a fan of them and enjoyed easily spotting them on the rest of our beach adventures. We didn't go into the Columbia River Maritime Museum, but I kind of regret not taking Cohen. I think he would have loved it! I will next time!

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-37806045942384122682017-08-03T16:55:00.000-04:002017-08-03T16:55:46.111-04:00

Last week Cohen I headed out to the Pacific Northwest to visit family and go to my grandmas 85th surprise birthday celebration. It was a wonderful visit, but very very busy. It was nonstop go go go since the moment our plane landed. For the first morning, before we left for camping for two days, Grandpa Anderson gave Cohen his big wheel bike. He has been talking about a bike for months now, so

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-66144015005216221332017-07-26T11:00:00.000-04:002017-07-26T11:00:16.386-04:00

Cohen and I finally made the trek across the park to go to the Met! (we went to three playgrounds the same day...it was a busy day) I didn't know how Cohen would like it, but I was so surprised when he totally got into it. He LOVED the armor exhibit and walking around looking at all the statues. We only saw a few exhibits so we will have to go back soon.

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-46655646749287098432017-07-25T11:25:00.000-04:002017-07-25T11:25:36.467-04:00

The day after the pageant we joined the Buhl's for a quick trip over to Niagara Falls. This was a first for all three of us and we were so excited to finally get a chance to see the falls. We first went on the Maid of the Mist to get an up-close look at the falls. Cohen enjoyed the boat ride and wearing the little poncho they gave him. We then took a little trolley ride over to the Cave of

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-52503142604694858122017-07-25T11:11:00.000-04:002017-07-25T11:11:24.027-04:00

A couple of months ago our good friends the Buhl's invited us to meet them in Palmyra to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Well, they are such a good time and Cohen has never been to Palmyra so it was totally a win in our book! We left on Thursday morning (stopping at Animal Adventure Park on the way) and arrived at Palmyra around 3:30pm. We first went to the Sacred Grove and the Smith Family Farm.

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-82146939309043619222017-07-24T10:00:00.000-04:002017-07-24T10:00:24.516-04:00

The last playground we visited on the East Side was the Ruth and Arthur Smadbeck-Hechscher East Playground. This is an amazingly small little playground. The water feature was similar to the one at the Adventure Park tots playground, but it didn't have much water pressure so Cohen wasn't that in. Luckily there were some little girls playing with water balloons and Cohen was a happy kid.

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-2732391372129142832017-07-23T15:41:00.000-04:002017-07-23T15:41:47.703-04:00

On our way up to Palmyra, NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant, we stopped at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, NY, so Cohen and I could feed and pet April the giraffe! Eek! While checking out travel time to Palmyra, I realized that we would be passing the park and decided to check it out. It was the perfect half way point for us to get out and stretch our legs and have lunch before making the

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-23541396537639742632017-07-21T10:00:00.000-04:002017-07-21T10:00:34.382-04:00

The next East Side playground we visited was James Michael Levin Playground. The play structure was ok, but Cohen really liked the water feature. It was just a bunch of small sprinklers in a row going around a little fountain in the middle. This meant that a lot of kids could sit and play in the water at the same time and the water wasn't too powerful. Cohen just filled up his bucket over and

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-25486996528882579622017-07-19T21:13:00.000-04:002017-07-19T21:13:07.143-04:00

For the past couple months Cohen and I have been working on visiting every playground in Central Park. Since we live on the West Side we have seen most of those with friends and for playdates, but we haven't been to many of the East Side playgrounds. Well, since the weather was so amazing last week, Cohen and I did a little tour of some of the East Side playgrounds. We started with the E 72nd

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-42377794497627451542017-07-17T21:26:00.000-04:002017-07-17T21:26:00.093-04:00

It's official....Cohen and I are collecting zoos. :) I did a quick count and we have now been to seven different zoos and two aquariums. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot, but it feels like a lot to me! We still have one more zoo in New York (Queens Zoo) and I'm hoping to hit up a zoo in Minnesota when we are there next month. Last week Cohen and I made our way to Prospect Park in Brooklyn to

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-58607170679721077712017-07-15T13:43:00.000-04:002017-07-15T13:43:46.326-04:00

Summer is in full swing, which means we have been busy! Last week some of Jeff's family came for a visit. We had Anne and kids at our house on Wednesday night and then Sharon, Gerrie, Emilie and baby Sam at our place Thursday through Sunday. It was a bit crazy, but so nice spending time with them. Cohen LOVED playing with all his cousins. Last Friday everyone gathered in New Jersey for an

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-48949695215518153452017-07-05T23:11:00.000-04:002017-07-05T23:11:21.693-04:00

Happy Birthday America! We totally enjoyed our first 4th of July in NYC! We spent the morning in the park celebrating with some families from our church. The family that hosted did an AMAZING job. There was food, a bike parade, popsicles, water guns, and water balloons! Cohen had the time of his life running around with friends and eating candy and all things sweet! We then headed home

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656557709172478428.post-21865380684474487752017-06-27T20:16:00.000-04:002017-07-02T21:46:54.466-04:00

After we saw the "fearless girl," we met Aunt Harleen, Rachelle, Sarah, and Kylie in Battery Park to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was Cohen's first time down to Battery Park and he loved watching all the "big" boats. :) This kids loves all forms of transportation. He was thrilled beyond reason when I told him we were going to go on one. We had a fantastic time

ELAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18068581041933696905noreply@blogger.com0