Fifth Avenue

Do you remember Fred Astaire singing in the Easter Parade, “On the Avenue, Fifth Avenue…?”  The song kept playing through my head even though the scene was nothing like the stroll he took in a carriage in the movie.

We had a little time to kill before heading to the 9/11 Monument.  We killed it on Fifth Avenue.

The Trump Tower had a sign saying, “Open to the Public”, so we went in.  This was pretty inviting to me when we entered…

We actually had lunch in the “garden café’.  We took the elevator down with the stroller and an attendant in a nice striped tux took us up and down.  Andrea and I took our picture in the reflection of the elevator door.

This sign was interesting, as you got on the elevator.  Hope opur shoes were proper enough!

After lunch, we went up to check out the “gardens” and get a coffee.  The “gardens” were more like some planters, but the view was nice.  And there was a fountain that ran down the wall five stories and lots of mirrors.  I thought it was pretty elegant.  We also had a very clean bathroom, that’s kind of unique in New York!

I thought it was interesting that in the middle of a busy city, there were cathedrals and churches standing along die the tall skyscrapers.

New York is sure an interesting city!

Central Park

Wally arrived by motorcycle very late on Sunday night.  The axle on the trailer broke and he had to get a mobile welder to come to him…off the side of the road near Hagerstown, Maryland.  Kind of glad he had a smart phone and could do a search for that!  Also, very thankful to the Lord for protecting him so that the wheel didn't come completely off and cause an accident!  Here’s the bike and trailer all parked safely in front of Andrea’s apartment in Brooklyn.  Of course we only got this wonderful spot because it was street cleaning and a whole of car shifting was going on…Wally and Andrea were out there waiting!

We had tickets for the 9/11 Memorial for Monday afternoon so we thought a carousel ride and visit to the zoo at Central park would be fun to do before that.  Here we go off to the train.

At the entrance to Central Park, pregnant Andrea was famished and we stopped to get a hotdog.  These birds were really fussing with each other over who got to sip the water in the hole. 

Kind of like a couple od kiddos who were also having their own water issues…only Momma was not having any of it! 

Unhappy granddaughter.

Exasperated Mom.

Best get to the park.  I do like to walk in the park, it’s very pretty.

Move on Grandma and Grandpa, we want to get to the carousel!

Yeah!  Cotton candy, and ponies!

Then we had the shortest zoo visit ever….it was closed due to a power outage!  Elaine was devastated!  She had been talking all morning about feeding the goats!  It looked like a pretty nice zoo too!

What do you do with disappointed kids?  Spend fifty cents to smash a penny and imprint it with an animal….then call it a day!

Apparently Elaine is not very fond of pigeons.  She chases after them and says “Go away!”  She’s pretty boisterous and determined about the task…especially for such a little thing!

I don’t blame her really.  The pigeons are a mess.  I told Wally that if I were ever to become famous or do a heroic deed, and they want to put up a statue to honor me, please don’t let them do it.  Only the pigeons seem to really care and I don’t want that kind of attention!

Elaine and Nolan

Here’s a little hodge podge of photos I took of the kids the first few days here in Brooklyn.  On Sunday when the kids were all dressed for church I wanted to get some pictures of them together.  Elaine had her hair all curled and a new purse from the neighbor downstairs!  She’s kind of into having her picture taken these days.  She wants to look at it right afterwards.  Nolan, not so much!  He doesn’t stay still long enough.  But I tried!

This is Elaine’s “Princess” move, holding out her dress!

And can you tell she is saying “Cheese”

Out on the steps with Mom’s help, we did a little better

Here they are busy keeping those pearly whites nice and clean

Ben and Andrea do not have a television and movies are a recent thing for Elaine.  Grandma put a Lassie on for them to see.  Elaine really likes it and Nolan is interested only as long as Lassie is barking since he too can bark!  Woof! Woof!  It also sounds a little like a growl!

Nolan enjoying his snack!  Truly you just put food in him and he keeps moving!

And here’s a cleaned up version of Nolan…I can almost smell how good he smells with his lotion!

Enjoy Grandma’s Brag Book…there’s more to come!

Thankful Thursday

Pretty simply, I am thankful to be a grandma and to be in New York with my grandkids for a few days!  Today we just had a good time of being together!  It was fun to watch their little personalities. 

Elaine, almost three, dress herself, chatters, does not like to have hair on her hand or pepper on her fries. It takes her a long time to eat two chicken nuggets. When we walk through the automatic doors at a store, she runs up to it and yells, “open”  then turns around and tells them to “close”!   She is a bit of a dawdler and wants to stop and pick up leaves and acorns on the sidewalks and look through the pickets of fences.  She does not jump very big and Grandma should not have suggested that she jump over the cracks of the sidewalk…that slowed our walk quite a bit!  But she does look so cute bouncing down the sidewalk, chatting and singing to herself! 

Elaine is into “princesses”.  I have a Cricut cartridge, “Once Upon a Princess”.  I brought it along and we cut out some paper doll princesses.

Nolan, 15 months old, is just busy.  He moves, a lot!  There’s not a lot of noise and it seems like when he slows down, you just feed him and he starts moving again!  He’s a tease and he just grins and laughs at you!  He’s kind of a smarty too.  He finds something of yours and he picks it up and brings it to you…my glasses (I could  use that service at home when I can never find them!), my Bible, my camera. Sometimes the things he brings were plugged in, like the hair dryer! 

 

He helped me wash the dishes!  Well, I was trying to wash, not sure what he was doing!

He’s Mamma’s helper too.  He climbs right up in the chair and is ready to help out.  I guess the fact that food is nearby might be a motivator!

It’s great to be a Grandma!

Thankful Thursday

This past Thursday was the Annual Community Dinner here at the Polo Club.  It reminded me that a year ago at this same dinner, Wally and I were introduced as the new Resident Managers.  That evening is such a blur to me.  We had been working about a month and a half and had only just moved into our new apartment.  What a difference a year makes.  My Mother in law had told me, “it will take you a good year to adjust”, and she was right.  I won’t admit to being fully adjusted, but it does feel more like home every day.  I just wanted to say how thankful I am for the Lord’s help over the past year as Wally and I transitioned to this new “life”. I am thankful too for Wally’s patience when I have those panicky moments that tell me I don’t belong here!

I really enjoyed the dinner this year.  We had a good turn out and it was nice to actually know many of the residents and chat with them. Here’s a few photos of the big event!

This is Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Downing and  Mrs. Galas. The two ladies that I caught with their eyes open, have been organizing the dinner for several years.  They made all the flower arrangements for the tables.  They bought little pumpkins and filled them with flowers and greenery that they cut from the gardens in the community.  I heard Mrs. Downing went about doing all the collecting!  I thought they turned out so nice.

This arrangement was put together by a gentleman who is a designer.  He has been doing Peyton Manning’s new house here in Denver).  I saw him going around and snipping greenery and grasses and then he put them in a real pumpkin.  It was in the entry way as the guests arrived.

Here are the tables all set and waiting to be filled…

…and fill them we did!

This is Dr. Eliff.  He played the piano while the guests arrived and mingled.  He actually plays in a jazz group.  We just purchased a book he has written, Sterling Heroes.  He interviewed thirty-six WW II veterans from rural northeastern Colorado and compiled their stories.  It took him ten years. He himself is from the town of Sterling and many of these men he knew personally.  The book is quite interesting.  He is quite talented and has been very kind to Wally and I.

This gentlemen Wally is talking with is Ben, another remarkable man.  We became friendly with him right away because he used to come and swim every afternoon.  Until this year, he was still teaching some medical classes at Denver University.  In January he had heart surgery which has slowed him down.  He no longer comes to swim.  His wife told me was going to have his 95th Birthday soon.

So we have one year behind us!!  There are many people we have not even met in the community.  Many whom we have met have lived amazing lives.  Many are quite challenging and give us interesting days!  I am thankful to reach this point and to discover that I like helping the people here.  And living in an apartment isn’t so bad either!