I had it in my mind to go to the playground...

The car was in the shop. The stroller was in dad's car far away at work. Yet the day was cheerfully beckoning, so we set out on foot. Goal-oriented, I had it in my mind that the playground which is about 150 feet from our apartment would be a good destination. But after 30 chased leaves, 2 picked dandelions, 1 plastic bag captured after a round-about-flight, a view through a white picket fence, and a few screams of delight watching elementary school students playing soccer, the tug of Audrey's little hand as she walked us about had given us a wonder-filled walk without ever reaching the intended destination.

Precocious Purple

At a time when winter coats are still in order for a short jaunt to the park, the wind still making it's crisp cold air turn the slightly warmer temperatures uncomfortable without them...

we see the first hint of new life as spring draws near.


As I snapped the picture, I had a feeling of dejavu. I thought about it a few times before taking a minute to look back in our blog entries to this time last year. Sure enough, there it is! The exact same flowers in the exact same spot of earth were the first little living things to burst through and make themselves known last year. As I looked at a few older posts it is amazing what has changed in one year's time.

New York City by Storm part 2

Then we were off to meet up with our friends the Shorter's at Rockefeller Plaza. The big tree was beautiful and it was fun to see the skating rink where great movies like "Serendipity" were filmed. We ended the night by walking over to Time's Square. So why the title of the blog? One of the things I'll always remember about our trip to NYC was little Audrey in her stoller. There we were in masses of people, and lights and so much to see and hear. Little Audrey (then 8 months) loved it most of the time. She grabbed onto two little poles on the sides of her stroller and leaned way forward so her head was out in front of the stroller. She looked like she was large and in charge and taking things by storm. :)

New York City by Storm

This last December we went to NYC to see it at Christmas time. I just now decided I'd finally share some pics of our experience. Christmas was such a busy time, I just didn't get it done before. We started the day at Patsy's Pizza for lunch. Then, we walked through Central Park. The temperature this day was in the 60's. We couldn't believe it. It was sooooo warm compared to most of the days all around it. We were very lucky as it made the trip so much better than if we had been cold all day. After Central Park, we saw the big toy store FAO Schwartz.

What a beautiful mess...

 

Does anyone else find themselves blogging in their mind as they go about their day? Recently, I started taking pictures of Audrey with the intention of showing some of her daily activities. Before long I realized there was definately a recurring theme...and soon I was singing a country song as I thought about how this post was shaping up. "What a beautiful mess, what a beautiful mess I'm in...spending all my time with you. There's nothing else I'd rather do"
Those words definately sum up our world right now. There are a few other things we accomplish in between making and cleaning up messes. Audrey can pick something up off the floor from a standing position. She say's, "Uh-oh" sometimes adding a "k" at the start for some reason. She waves. At lots of things. She is currently in her crib refusing her afternoon nap. Again. She has six teeth. She loves to eat especially if it's something new. She makes the sign for eat and also for milk. She is starting to like a larger variety of books. For awhile, she had two favorites that are pictured that she picked out from the rest. She can pull some hilarious faces and knows she's funny when she does it. This and other charms make up for the nap thing. And with that, I'll end with a repeat: There's nothing else I'd rather do...