The "Fishing Cole"

So after our fishing success at Bushkill Falls we decided to invest in a couple of fishing poles. We even bought a little Cars pole for T, which he calls his "fishing cole." So we've been fishing five out of the last seven days and have gotten nothing but nibbles. Finally we bought some chicken liver and headed back down to the Delaware to try again. Success!!!! Eric caught a fish with T's "fishing cole." It was awesome watching him reel in this fish with this tiny Cars pole!!! As soon as he realized he had one, I quickly reeled in my line to go help him with his. As I pulled in my line there was this tiny little fish dangling off the end. So we both caught a fish, though Eric's was more impressive than mine.

Before we left, Eric decided to clean the fish really quickly. I was trying to distract T while he worked. In the middle of trying to keep T's attention I felt a bite and started to reel the fish in. The fish managed to get away, but he had kept my attention just long enough for T to run over to see what Dad was doing. All of a sudden I hear, "Ewwww, yuck!!! Mom, Dad broke the fish! He broke it!!!" What would we do without him?

Oh yeah, did I mention that I grabbed the camera that didn't have any batteries in it? Nice huh? So we don't have any pics of the fish but here is a pic of T's "fishing cole." Yep, that's what Eric caught his prize fish with. :)

New Callings

Eric and I have both recently received new church callings. Eric was released as the first counselor in the Elders' Quorum Presidency and is now working with the Valiant boys, ages 8-11, in Primary. I was also released as the second counselor in the Young Women's Presidency and will be working with the CTR kids, ages 4-7, in Primary as well. We're both excited for the change and look forward to getting to know the kids in our ward.

T's First Day of School!!!!

Today Tayeson started preschool!!!! Man this makes me feel old. He had no idea what he was in for but he was so excited. He got up and ready with no major pitfalls. He was so excited that he got to wear his "packpack" to school. We were lucky enough to have Daddy home for the day so we all drove to school together. T had a great first day and really seemed to enjoyed it. Mommy, on the other hand, was a little bored without him. :)

Here is T waiting to go into class. Notice that his "packpack" is almost as big as he is. :)

He had a great time with the other kids. I think he'll enjoy his first year of school.

After school we went and had ice cream to celebrate.

We love you Tayeson and we're so proud of the sweet boy you've become.

NYC

Last Thursday we went up to Manhattan for a couple of days. When we got there Thursday we hopped a cab and had lunch in Little Italy. We ate at Puglia Ristorante. They had great food and a gentleman singing some awesome Italian songs. Even Tayeson got into it. After lunch we walked over to Ground Zero. Since it was 9/11 there was a lot going on. It was so sad to see all of the flowers, pictures, and memorials everywhere. Then we hopped a cab up to the Museum of Natural History. We had a great time walking through all of the different exhibits. When the museum closed we headed down to Times Square to ride the ferris wheel at Toys'R'Us. T thought it looked like fun until it came time for us to get on. Needless to say, we had to get a refund on our tickets because he wasn't having it. We quickly grabbed some dinner and headed over to Broadway to see Mary Poppins. It was fabulous!!! T had a great time clapping with everyone and when the mean nanny came out his looked at me and said, "it's Trunchbowl." This had everyone around us giggling.

Friday we headed back into the city to meet some friends. We had planned on swapping kids so the each couple could spend some time at the temple together. They bailed at the last minute so Eric went to the temple and T and I walked over to FAO Schwartz since it was raining. We had a great time and could have spent hours there. They had tons of stuff for the kids to do and try. On our way back to meet Eric, we grabbed some lunch in Central Park. After Eric was done we hopped a cab to the Guggenheim Museum. It is such a cool building. We had a great time walking around and touring the exhibit. After we were done it was pouring rain out so we stopped halfway to the car and grabbed some dinner before heading home. We found this great little cafe on Madison Ave called City Market Cafe. They had awesome strawberry cheesecake and fabulous eclairs. When we were ready to brave the rain we took a nice soggy walk through an abandoned Central Park, which was really quite nice despite the wet weather. All in all we had a great time and can't wait to go back.

Having lunch at Puglia.

Here we are at Ground Zero. It's really hard to see anything because they have it mostly tarped off to the public. It was so weird to see this huge plot of undeveloped land in the middle of all of the huge buildings.

Here is T in front of T-Rex at the Museum of Natural History. I think he was disappointed that it didn't come to life and run off to fetch a bone. :)

This is looking up at one of the dinosaurs in the entry way of the museum. This thing is HUGE!!!!

Here is Eric in front of his favorite childhood dinosaur.

This is inside the New Amsterdam Theatre. All of the carving and details are so pretty.

Here we are waiting for Mary Poppins to start.

T had a blast attacking me with this shark at FAO Schwartz.

This display is entirely made of Legos. Who takes the time to do this?

A shot looking up at the rotunda at the Guggenheim.

T and Daddy preparing for the soggy walk to the car.

Alright, One More Time

I know that I said Wednesday was the last time we were going to the shore this year, but we just weren't ready to give it up yet. A few of the girls got together Friday and headed back to the shore. We had a great time hanging out with our friends.

T jumping the waves.

Cute, happy Sage. This is one of Kay's girls.

T and Marlee heading off into the sunrise together. Marlee has already staked her claim girls so watch out. When Kay made a remark about how cute another little boy in our church was, Marlee informed her that she was going to marry Tayeson and at a later date told everyone that it was because they had been together for so long. She always has the greatest things to say.

This is Aubry. This was her first time at the beach and she was a little unsure of the waves. She quickly warmed up to it and by the time we left she didn't want to go.

T and Marlee braving the waves.

Marlee and T playing in the sand.

You know when Sage looks at you like this, that it's time to go. :) Despite the look on her face, I think she had fun in the sand too. Thanks to Kay for driving!!! We had a great time.

Beach Bums

Since the weather here in Philly has warmed up again, we decided to head to the shore for the last time this year. It was beautiful on Wednesday and we took full advantage of it. We had a great time, as usual, and even managed to escape without any major sunburns. We're sad that the shore season is coming to an end but we're looking forward to the cooler weather.

Dad trying to teach T how to body surf.

Eric getting clobbered by a wave while body surfing.

T playing in the wet sand. I love the stripe on his back.

There are tons of these huge clam shells all over the beach. T had a great time digging them out of the sand and collecting them in his "truck."

T catching some air. Who says white kids can't jump?

The tide was out while we were there. When it goes out there is this huge layer of these tiny little shells. When you pick them up you can feel them try and dig down into the sand. T thought it was so cool to watch them move around in his hands.

Mom enjoying the sun.

Mommy and T collecting shells. T made me do all the dirty work. I look like a big kid pulling the wagon and holding the pail.

T's shell collection. I was pretty impressed.