Happy July

July has been exactly what I hope from a summer: slower pace, more family memories, new explorations. For the 4th, we initially thought we would take that weekend trip to Philly we have been talking about doing since we moved to the city 5 years ago; but cooler heads prevailed and we stuck around here. Here are some pictures of our doings:


On Friday the 3rd, we rode the carousel in Bryant Park. Isaac loved it.

Macy's in Herald Square. Isaac perusing the men's section for a new shirt and tie.

4th of July, we found a patch of grass near the 79th street boat basin and munched on cheese, crackers and homemade ice cream while waiting for the fireworks go off over the Hudson. I was a little worried about how Isaac would respond to the fireworks. In the end, our worry was unwarranted: he mostly ignored them while trying to grab the leaves off a nearby tree.

Dashing across the street this past Monday, the 25 lbs of Isaac on my front and the added weight of the gallon of ice cream and liters of root beer (for the singles ward FHE) unbalanced me and I tripped. The fall happened as if in slow motion--I remember looking at the back of Isaac's head and trying desperately to turn so he wouldn't impact first in my fall forward. It all turned out well and I even made a friend. A woman helped me up, helped me gather my things (strewn across 73rd street) and assured me Isaac didn't have a scratch on him. I, on the other hand, have a large blue welt on my left knee. I would post a picture of it because its pretty amazing, but would feel like an old person who dotes on their aches and pains.

Kim, Tara and I had the exciting adventure of waiting in line Wednesday morning for Twelfth Knight (Shakespeare in the Park) tickets. Audra McDonald and Anne Hathaway are in it; thus getting tickets, though free, requires arriving insanely early to get in line. Tara slept over here Tuesday night, but Kim ended up beating us there. We hung out on lawn chairs and blankets for 8 hours in the crisp dawn, wanting to wrap our frigid fingers around the warm Styrofoam of a cup of hot chocolate. We gave up trying to sleep fairly early, and instead played really cheesy get to know you games. I haven't laughed so hard for a very, very long time. We got tickets, and the play was well worth the wait.