NYC

New York City is the closest temple to us, so Sam and I decided to take a day trip to the city. We went to the temple in the morning, had a picnic in Central Park, then explored the city.

The temple in NYC is kind of interesting, its just another sky scraper until you notice the angel Moroni on top.  We got off the subway walked about a block looking for the temple, then noticed we had been right next to it when we got off the subway.

 This little girl had a blast playing in Central Park.  She made lots of new friends, and became a little obsessed with kites, we just might have to get her one.

We stopped at a famous bakery, that had a ridiculously long line, so Sam could get this scrumptious cookie.  He said it was definitely worth it...Best cookie?!

We finally got this little girl to take a nap. 

 It was fun to see all the Easter decorations up at Rockefeller Plaza

 We stopped by to see Grand Central Terminal (or Grand Central Station as I like to call it).

 This little corner of the terminal was fun.  The room acoustics make it so if you whisper into one corner you can hear on the other side.  We had fun playing with that.

I was so glad Sam had the subway system figured out, I would have been lost on my own!

Brylee had so much fun in the city, she just loves all the people and the busyness.  She definitely has a high threshhold for stimulation, she never gets overwhelmed by lots of people.  She was surprisingly content to stay in her stroller most of the time.  Brylee is not shy, she loves going up to strangers and meeting people.  It was cute as we were walking down the busy NYC streets, both of her hands were waving and she just kept saying hi, hi, hi, so many new people to meet!  Asian tourists especially love her, they were just laughing over her antics and thought she was the cutest thing.  

Brylee is such an amazing example to me.  We all could learn a few lessons from little kids.  On the ferry home she met a little boy from France.  It was the cutest thing they were instant best friends.  They speak different languages but had so much fun playing together.  He just adored her and would copy everything they did.  At one point she started crawling on the floor, which I instantly stopped because...gross! The little boy was too funny. He started pointing his finger at me and speaking French really fast.  I am pretty sure he was telling me off for getting after Brylee.  I just love how kids don't care about differences, and can be friends with anyone.  This is just a short clip of them playing, we missed the really cute part, but you get the point.

Washington DC

Wow, I am extremely behind in blogging.  We've gone on a couple day trips...like a month or two ago and I'm finally blogging about it.  Sam had never been to DC so over his spring break we did a two day trip there.  It takes us about three hours to get there from out place.  While we were there we wanted to see the DC temple.  It is gorgeous.  As you are driving along the freeway suddenly the temple appears above you.  All lit up it looks like a castle.

The first day we visited the National Zoo, and Arlington Cemetary.  Brylee loved the zoo.  Sam and I loved the baby tigers and baby panda.  I think Brylee's favorite were the gorillas.  They were right next to the glass so she got a very good view of them.  It was cute, she kept saying hi to them.

Brylee is not a big fan of the stroller. she is a busy girl and would much rather be running than riding in a stroller.  This was the only way I could get her to stay on the stroller!

On the second day we visited all the memorials, the White House, Capital, and few of the museums.  We loved DC.  When I visited in high school it was my favorite city.  I told Sam that it is probably the only big city I could actually live in.  I love it, everything is free, and its so clean and white.

Selfie at the White House.

Changing of the guard at theTomb of the Unknown Soldier.

This is how Brylee prefers to be carried on Sam's shoulders. Silly girl loves being upside down!

Posing next to the WWII Memorial.  My Gramps served in the Navy during the war.

Korean War memorial, somehow we missed the Vietnam Memorial.

It was a fun trip.  I'm so glad we have the chance to live out here and experience the rich history.  I couldn't live in the East forever, but I'm so thankful for the opportunity to live out here for a couple years and have so many experiences we otherwise wouldn't have.