The boys lately

So proud of Austin... he did the 1st reading at the school mass last week....

 Andrew's basketball game...

Austin's basketball game...

New York- Rainy Wednesday, part 1

Wednesday started out drizzly...but not too cold...so we made our way down to Chelsea to go to the Doughnut Plant.  I saw this place on Food Network's "The best thing I ever ate" like two years ago and have been telling Lauren to go try this peanut butter and jelly doughnut.... so she brought us there!  And yes, it was worth the wait...homemade blackberry jam infused in a fresh yeast doughnut topped with a homemade peanut butter glaze...mmmmmmmmm....

Then we made our way down to battery park to see Lady Liberty...which was awesome...

Then we made our way down to the financial district, got to cross Wall Street....

We were headed that way to see the 9/11 memorial site... it was very peaceful, and it was a really beautiful memorial.  The most amazing thing to me was just to be there on those same streets that survivors were running down that day, to be on those same streets that were covered in dust and debris from the fallen buildings, and to understand how close together those buildings are...I have a better understanding for what that day was like there.  I will always remember how that day felt for me, but I have a different understanding for what it was like for those there.

The water poured out in lines similar to the lines the aluminum made on the twin towers, only these went downward into another pool, which poured out into another pool for which there was no bottom...as if down to infinity...

There were new buildings under construction just outside the memorial...

The rain almost made the memorial more beautiful that day...

New York, the Second Day

So on our second day in New York, we got up and had coffee with Nick and then made our way to Chinatown...this photo of the Starbucks was really the only Chinese looking building...

 the parking in the city was amazing...here they had the cars stacked 4 high!

 Lauren took us to an amazing deli for lunch, Katz's...this is a picture of Lauren's rueben....we wouldn't have had to eat for the rest of the day except that Lauren had us walk about 7 miles, so we could eat dinner...

 this is an archway in Washington Park...it's seen in  a lot of New York set TV shows...

 the mosaic work in the subways were so pretty....

 and of course we had to go to Macy's!

 this was one of the decorated windows....

and this is the fashion district....

Then that evening we ordered Indian food in at Lauren's apartment and then took the subway to the Target in Queens, which I didn't bring my camera to, so I'll have to see if I can swipe some from Sarah...