Doing The City With 5 Kids.......

not the easiest thing to do

(in Times Square)

I never counted to 5 so many times in my life.

I was so afraid I was going to lose one in the crowd.

We bought cheap umbrella strollers so we could get in and out of the subways fast.

The kids couldn't stop looking around at everything and all the tall buildings.

Lots of stairs but we got it down. All about team work:)

Imagine trying to fit in with strollers.

Watching them set up for New Years Eve.

This is how we roll on the streets of NYC. ha!

My cousin Rocco (we call him Rocky)just so happened to be in NYC too. Haven't seen him since I was 18.

We met at Rockefeller center and he surprised us with my other cousin Harry and his wife Maria and son Harrison.

Landen and Harrison are so much alike. Cute WILD boys:)

Enjoyed some greasy New York pizza!

Had Christmas Eve dinner in the city.

Went to Federal Hall and museum.

Meeting the family.

Enjoying the city at Christmas time.

Federal Hall where George Washington was sworn into office.

Ground Zero:(

Finley's 1st cab ride. (I think she looks scared!) Crazy cab drivers!

Catching a cab with all the kids was fun NOT ha!

But the kids are now pros at catching cabs:)

This was my 3rd time to NYC but first time with the kids. Whew! New York with babies is A LOT of work! But TONS of fun and TONS of looks ha!

Picture Was Taken At The........

Croton Dam
on the Hudson

Where New York city gets it's water supply. And I have to say that Croton on Hudson's tap water is the best tap water ever!
I don't usually drink tap but was thirsty and had no water bottles. I mentioned how good it tasted and was told it won an award for best tap water.
Just some Snapple lid info for you:)



We never made it up to Niagara Falls:( But we hope to sometime.

I'm beginning to think this trip is a big family reunion. Maybe God's plan right now is to travel around and meet up with long lost family and heal relationships???
Who knows, but in the last 6 weeks we have met family in Texas, Georgia and now New York. Family that I haven't seen in more than 15+years! Now, I have new relationships with them and so does the rest of the family.



Croton on Hudson is located in up state New York where my family (who I had no idea they lived there) lives:) We stayed with them for a couple days and they took us around and fed us A LOT of yummy Italian food! We got to take lonnnnnnnng hot showers and sit by the fire! Things that are now a treat for us:)

I never knew I had so many cousins! It's my mom's side of the family. Big Italian family! Apparently I was told I have family all over New York.

I got to hear stories about my Great Grandparents and met family I never knew I had. (I will post more pictures of everyone on another post)

What a great way to ring in the New Year!



I think we will have to go back when this trip is over.
Maybe sign my husband up for this school.
Then we can travel the world!
Who knows??:)

My Grandma did for 9 months!

Visit to Virginia.......

While in Virginia we parked at my friend Heather's house. (Check her blog for more detailed visit) Beware! No Make-up. But yes, that is me. Lookin' all trailer trash:)
They spoiled us with great cooking and even a night out! With NO KIDS! We went to Bonefish Grill
They have 3 kids of their own. So it was a full house! We all had a blast. It's so nice to have friends you can be yourself around. Pull up in a trailer, no make-up and sweats. Let your kids run wild through their house! And they still want to be friends with you when you leave. There was "no trying to impress" going on ha! Chris (Heather's husband) was so nice to cook and clean up after all of us. Even my kids spilling on their WHITE carpet! We had a great visit and are so thankful for their friendship.

They even threw me a early birthday party! (I'm not 30 YET!)The kids all made me cards and sang to me.
Heather surprised me with some winter clothes,gloves,scarf and boots! As if thrashing her house wasn't enough right? ha!

But the boys did try to earn their keep...


We also went and visited Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown.
I loved all the Christmas decorations in Williamsburg. All natural! I love that look. I ended up picking pine cones and tree branches etc and made some of my own decorations for the trailer:)






the kids did all the Jr. Ranger programs at each place. We watched videos and took tours.



The kids dressing up in Yorktown inside the Nelson house.

You can still see cannon balls in the side of the house.

We had a great tour guide who took us out onto the battle field. We learned so much from him and was very patient in answering the kids questions. I think I learned more history on that tour than I learned in all 4 yrs of history in high school.

Our tour guide teaching the kids......

I didn't get any pictures of Jamestown:( Just video. My camera died. That was such a neat place too!

Here's more of Williamsburg.......

Don't make him mad!
We visited Calvary Chapel Newport News. I love that pastor! We met him and got to chat with him for a bit. He knew our pastor back home too. He had a great message. Do you ever sit in church and think, ok God this is totally to me???

I also left with some great easy crock pot recipes Heather shared with me. I thought I'd share some with you too.......

Here's one....

Austin likes to be in charge of the Crockpot (he likes to feel that he cooked the dinner)

He throws everything into the crockpot turns it on low and when we are back from our adventure for the day........

dinner is ready!

White Chicken Chili

2-3 frozen chicken breasts

1pck of white chicken chili season

2 cans of corn

1 can of Great white northern beans

put all ingred. in crockpot, when chicken is cooked, shred chicken. Serve with cheese and tortilla chips. EZ!

We all know I can't cook remember! But I have been picking up all kinds of recipes along the way. Even some from our Italian family that were my Great Grandma's recipes.

SO, when I come back......Watch Out! I will have plenty of practice on the road and will be ready to show my sister up next Christmas:)

Visiting Family In NY (Part 1)

SO GRIFFIN....

HOW ABOUT......

A KISS

FINLEY IS SURE MISSING HER COUSINS BACK HOME....

BUT SHE FOUND SOME LONG LOST COUSINS IN NEW YORK TO LOVE ON....

AND STEAL TOYS FROM.....

Don't Come A Knockin' If You See The Trailer Rockin'.......

Oh get your mind out of the gutter!
The rv is rocking back and forth right now from the WIND. And I'm trying to catch up on blogging while everyone else is sleeping.
But can I just say, what is with the names of cities in Pennsylvania?



I was just looking at our list of things we have planned and we will be visiting some other towns with names like Blue Balls and Virginville. And in Amish towns too? Who thought of these names?
Sorry! I know I try to keep this a clean blog but I just had to ask.ha!

After spending 10 days in New Jersey, New York and a trip to Boston we are now in Pennsylvania. It's windy and freezing! It says it's 14 degrees with a windchill of -1 degrees.
So cold it takes your breath away.

It's been hard to find time to blog. I'm trying to get back to posting daily.
We had quite the surprise detour in the last couple days:) I have so much to catch up on and can't wait to share stories and pictures with you.
But for now I'll leave you with this picture.



Can you guess where this pictures was taken?

On Your Mark.......

Get Set

Go!

looks like.........

the little sister is taking the lead......

and the winner is the......

Pretty purple princess

Pull Over It's Time For Dinner......

We are trying to eat healthy.

it's hard!

We are now a Juice Plus family.

(That way I won't feel so guilty if my kids don't get the proper fruits and veggies everyday.)

But eating healthy is so expensive!

My grocery bill doubled!

But then again we are not going out as much, so it will even out..(I hope)

Our fridge is full of healthy food....

but to be honest, I'm really craving some peanut M&M's!

We have been starting our mornings out with this breakfast shake...

2cups of water

1/8 cup of raw almonds

1/8 cup of raw walnuts

1/4cup flax seed

1/4 cup of stevia

2scoops of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 handful of baby spinach

1/2 of a banana

2 cups of frozen blueberries

5 frozen strawberries

2 1/2 cups of organic vanilla soymilk

1handful of ice

it's actually really good!

Even the lil ones drink it.

We are learning together as a family to eat healthy.

I believe that next to spiritual health, physical health is the best gift that we can give our children.

I am NOT saying we will never eat fast food ever again (especially our fav. Chick-fil-a)...but we are just trying to change some habits. Make eating healthy a way of life.