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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

So What Wednesday

So What Wednesday

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


Welcome to a special Halloween edition of SO WHAT Wednesday! Of course I am linking up with Life After I “Dew” and this week I’m saying:

So what if… I was very excited that Parker got to wear his Halloween costume three times this year? I was excited about dressing him up each and every time!

Quick preview of our little Halloween baby (More pics to come tomorrow!)
 
So what if… I ate a bit too much Halloween Candy? We’ve been surrounded by for three days before Halloween! What’s a mama bear to do?

 
So what if… I was glad my husband dressed up for “Trunk or Treat”? I thought it was so cute the way he thought of and carried out his very own costume (I’ll give you a hint… Duck Dynasty…) ... Pics to come tomorrow!

So what if… there are not six, but seven pumpkins out on our front porch? I think it turned out super cute! (Sorry for the shadows!)
 
So what if… I love Parker’s first pumpkin? ... Pics to come tomorrow! 

That's it for this special Halloween edition of SO WHAT Wednesday! I hope that your Halloween is filled with fun and fabulous-ness! I'm excited to share our very Happy Halloween with you tomorrow with plenty more pictures of our happy little lion cub!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

It's a Mule Ma'am



Picking up on our New York trip where we left off yesterday… After two *wonderful* days in New York City, we headed north to the Hudson River Valley.  It was a beautiful drive!

Honey booked our rooms at a Bed and Breakfast called the Pig Hill Inn. It was PERFECT! The B&B was located on the *cutest street* of the most adorable little town. The fall leaves were changing and the air was crisp, it was the best way to tumble into fall.

The town of Cold Spring was so perfectly *quaint*, we loved exploring it! We were about a 20 minute drive from West Point and the drive was so beautiful we all looked forward to making it each day. The campus itself is certainly a *masterpiece*! Surrounded in history, it is something spectacular! We enjoyed letting Honey show us around and share some of his stories with of his years spent at West Point! Here are some pictures of what we saw and did during our visit there:


Our home away from home, the Pig Hill Inn, in Cold Spring NY:
  

On the front steps of the Pig Hill Inn:

  
The West Point Campus:




The beautiful chapel:



The barracks where 4000 cadets live:
 


Lunch Break!

Touring the campus and visiting Trophy Point:
 
 


After a day of seeing the campus we had some time to enjoy Cold Spring, where we were staying and then had a delicious dinner in a local french restaurant:




There was still a lot more for us to see on campus so the next day we continued our tour with Honey as our guide. There was just so much to see and we enjoyed taking it all in! We all found the cemetery very interesting. We were very surprised to find an ancestor there! (Would love to do more research on that one...)
 

Watching the parachute team practice for their jumps on GAME DAY!

That night Honey and I attended a reunion-related social event. It was *so fun* to catch up with his classmates. Some we had seen at our wedding a year and a half ago, and others Honey had not seen in many years. We both had such a great time! 
 
We knew that Baby Parker was having a *super fun* time with Twinkle and Bing back at the Pig Hill Inn. We even found out that he spent some time with them by the fireplace in the lobby entertaining all the guests! By the time we came back he was fast asleep!

 Saturday was GAME DAY!! And we were in for *quite a treat*!

Parker Bear was ready for his first college football game!

On game day, Every. Single. Cadet. (that's 4000 for those keeping count) all put on their full dress uniform and march in *perfect formation* through the parade field for a "pass and review" in front of the superintendent. (They call this a "parade".) Wow. Talk about perfection! It was incredible to see them marching in such perfect step with each other. This experience is so different from what many other college students are doing on *game day*. It was amazing for me to watch this and think about my very Honey doing this as a young cadet just 10 years before!

Mommy and Baby Parker watching the "parade" (Daddy stood with his classmates on the edge of the parade field to cheer on the cadets):

This is what the full dress uniform looks like. Isn't it handsome?! (These two were essentially the head of their class. One was studying Law like Honey did and the other was studying Chinese.)

On the parade field:

After the parade we headed to the mess hall where normally all 4000 cadets eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together. The mess hall was HUGE! I know Honey enjoyed eating there with his family and telling all about being a cadet there!


After lunch we headed to the game. The game was SO much fun! Every time Army scored, they fired the cannon! And the game starts when the jumpers *parachute in* with the game ball!
 

But one of the best parts was the two *mules* hanging out on the sidelines for everyone to pet!

I didn't realize these were MULES at first and when I walked up to this nice, young cowboy from Montana I said:

"I can't believe you're riding a donkey!"
"It's a mule, ma'am", he replied.
"Oh", I said. "I guess I don't really know the difference".
"It's a cross between a horse and a donkey, ma'am", he explained.
"Oh, so it's a lot smarter than a donkey then isn't it" I asked. 
"Yes, ma'am, it is", he said.

We then proceeded to have a long conversation about where he was from (Montana) the working farm his family keeps out there, his brothers (three) that are still in Montana helping his dad run the farm and that he was the only one who went to West Point. 

I hope I made up for my *grave mistake*!

Honey who wasn't there when I called the mule a donkey couldn't believe I had said that! Apparently it's a big no-no to call their mules "donkey's". Oops!

Even though Army lost, we had a great time at the game and had a lovely walk around campus afterwards.

The next morning we took our time at breakfast, then spent some more time enjoying the quaint town of Cold Spring and then headed to the airport.

In the sunny breakfast room at the Pig Hill Inn:

One last pic of the beautiful leaves and my handsome Honey! Happy 10-year-reunion sweetheart!!

What a FABULOUS trip to a beautiful and historical place! I already can't wait to go back for the 20-year reunion!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Little Family in the Big City

We took a 5 month old to New York City! Plus Grandparents! Plus one *excited* Mommy!

This year Honey celebrates his 10-year college graduation anniversary! Ten Years, wow. He went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, in the Hudson Valley, New York. So when he mentioned going back for the 10-year reunion I was *ecstatic* about the chance to go along! I have been to New York many times but always Manhattan. So of course I was *thrilled* to get off the island and see some of the northern parts of the state! Plus I couldn’t wait to see the school and hear about Honey’s time spent there.

We decided to make a mini-vacation out of the trip and squeeze in some time in the city before heading up for the reunion. Of course! Because let’s face it, you can’t take a girl thatclose to one of her favorite cities in the world and then not spend some *time* there right?! Fortunately Honey was just as excited as I was to visit the city since he had not been back in quite some time.

So we agreed on *two days* in New York City and then *three days* in the Hudson Valley visiting and touring the West Point campus and of course catching a game.

In addition to looking forward to the exciting places we were going, there were two other *wonderful* parts of this trip. One: 24-hour together time for Honey, Parker and me. With the way our schedules have been lately that is *rare*! And Two, taking along my parents!

Like me, my parents had never been to West Point. And since we gave each set of parents as their wedding Thank You gift a *trip* with us somewhere, this was also my parents Thank You present! They were *thrilled*!! Fortunately this also gave them the opportunity to baby sit since Honey and I were attending a reunion shindig on Friday night.

So off we went! To the Big Apple!

Parker Bear arriving at the airport ready for his first flight!

On the plane

I should note that Honey decided to rent a car at the airport and *drive* us to our hotel. He was very confident about driving in the crazy New York traffic. I was not sure our marriage would survive it. But much to my surprise, Honey did great! I was very impressed, to say the least. We only used the car to drive to our hotel and then to drive out of the city. Once we were in the city we *of course* used the subway and cabs!

In the Big Apple Honey booked a great hotel in a fabulous location! Right on the eastern border of Tribeca and the Village. How perfect is that? With our two days there we went to Little Italy for dinner and snagged some fabulous Italian desserts, we had dim sum in China Town, we visited the new memorial at Ground Zero, we walked around some of the local neighborhood and we had a fabulous time!

Little Family in Little Italy

Famous Ferrara's Bakery - gelato, pastries, coffee, YUM!

Two Mommy's on a Subway train

Men on a train

Yum Yum Dim Sum

Parker was not impressed with China Town!

Even though they ate it, I don't think the men were pleased with their Dim Sum. As this picture clearly illustrates!

The 911 Memorial was … beautiful… heartbreaking… perfect. The fountains in the buildings footprints and the names etched forever in stone were *breathtaking*. We took a walking tour led by *survivors* and hearing their firsthand accounts of the day was certainly something I’ll never forget.

Ready for the tour

Pictures at the Memorial



After our two fabulous days in the city we headed north to the Hudson Valley. The drive out of the city was *beautiful*. I loved seeing the Meat Packing District from the car and pointing out to my husband some of my *favorite* shops. Then as we continued north with the river on one side and beautiful neighborhood parks on the other I just couldn’t believe we were only minutes from the hustle and bustle of the city center.

I loved having an opportunity to share with Honey and Baby Parker some of my favorite things about New York City. And having my parents along was just the cherry on top! Now as we headed north to West Point, it was Honey’s turn to show me a place that made quite an impact on his life.

Stay tuned for my next post about our visit to West Point and the very *quaint* Pill Hill Inn.



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