NEW YORK!!

It's here...It's here!!!

Ok..so I told you they were coming! There are so many I can't put them on here, but I made a web album of some of my favorites. Keep in mind that I took HUNDREDS of pictures while we were there and this is just a sample. I was making a CD for Erin so she'd have a copy of our pictures and it took 5 CDs just to hold them all!! CRAZY! We had such an amazing time...there's just no way to describe it if you haven't been. You just need to go.

Erin, Amy and I flew to LaGuardia, hopped a cab and survived the ride to Erin's gramma's apartment where we stayed for our trip. It was a great way to save money, and she was so cute! Amy and Erin have both been to New York, but it was my first time there. We walked miles and miles every day and were exhausted every single day. We only managed to stay up late one night. We went to the top of the Marriott in Times Square to The View. It's a rotating rooftop restaurant/lounge and it was just beautiful. They offer a dessert bar with a never-ending chocolate fountain and all the dippers you could imagine!

We saw Mary Poppins on Broadway..and it was incredible! We really wanted to see The Little Mermaid but we were not disappointed with Mary Poppins. So energetic and the songs are so catchy, I'm sure you know a few! Supercalafragilisticexpialidocious! Just amazing.

I think one of my favorite things was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. I know it doesn't sound terribly exciting, but it's beautiful. It's a great way to see the city and the bridge itself is a fantastic structure. I took more than 70 pictures on the mile walk across!

The pictures sort of speak for themselves...so you'll see what we did. The only big drama we had happened on the first day, on the first ride on the subway. I had my over-the-shoulder camera bag on and my cell phone was attached to the shoulder strap. The first stop we made, someone was shuffling out the door to exit the train and he bumped my bag and my cell phone fell into the floor. He bent to pick it up, but kicked it instead and it fell between the subway train and the platform, down onto the tracks. I didn't realize what had happened until it was too late and the doors had closed and we were on our way. We turned around and came back, the Metro people came to look for it, but we couldn't find it. They said someone must've jumped down onto the tracks and scooped it up. How ridiculous! We went straight to a Verizon store to have my service suspended and reported it lost/stolen.

Have no fear...as soon as I got home I got a new phone. It felt like I was missing an arm! I didn't know anyone's number by heart, except my mom's and Anthony's. I couldn't call anyone, I was worried about my Thirty-One business...what if they called me and it told them I had been disconnected? How does that look? Anyway...no harm no foul. And according to Amy it was for the better...I finally have a phone that doesn't beep/die constantly!!!

Enjoy the pics....tell me what you think!

http://picasaweb.google.com/vwkyla/NewYorkSummer2008

You'll see pictures from the Brooklyn Bridge, Southstreet Seaport, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, The View, Times Square, Central Park, The MET, Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building and soo much more!

Campin' and Creepin'

June 24-26 we went camping with Anthony's cousin, David, and his 5 year old son, Will. We camped in Blowing Rock and it ended up being surprisingly cold! I'm so glad I had just bought a new sleeping bag that kept me nice and toasty. But poor Lile had just recently had her hair cut, as posted earlier...and she just shivered! She had to climb under Anthony's sleeping bag so she could sleep! It was adorable.

Anyway...we took our kayaks and the boys did some kayaking at Price Lake (I had a Thirty-One party that night and got there after dark). Saturday we went to Damascus, Virginia and rode down the Virginia Creeper Trail. It's an old railroad track that has been transformed into a nice, smooth, downhill bike ride that takes about 3 or 4 hours, depending on how often you stop to enjoy the scenery. And trust me, you'll want to stop and look around, but you'll reallllly want to stop and take a rest off your bottom! There are also some really super cute country stores and restaurants who cater to the tourists on the trail. We had some really good ice cream and a great hot dog.

Will went along behind David's bike on a kid's tandem. That was so nice! He had a blast, as these pictures show. I wanted to share them all with you so I"m including a link to the google web album from Picasa. It's the 2nd time I've done the Creeper Trail and it's tons of fun. I'm sure we'll be back again soon.

BTW, Lile was spending the day with our friend Erin, and her doggy friend Hattie while we were enjoying our bicycles. She was well taken care of, I assure you.

No doggies were harmed in the making of this adventure!

http://picasaweb.google.com/vwkyla/CampingVirginiaCreeper

July 4th Fireworks

Yeah..I know it's late but let's just talk about how busy I've been! I'm going to try to catch you up on what's been going on around here!

Anthony and I went to spend our 4th of July in Boone with our good friend, Erin. We picked up a couple of friends along the way, too. We used to house-sit/babysit for a family in Boone that are members at the Grandfather Country Club, so we have the hook-up so to speak.

They called and put us on the guest list and we were able to go to the club house and watch the fireworks as they were reflected over the lake of the country club.

It was one of the first times I've put my NEW camera to the test..Fireworks are a very challenging subject if you've never tried! I think it did pretty good.

These were the best fireworks I've seen in YEARS! WAYYYY better than anything we have around home. What do you think?

We sat in the lawn beside the lake under the shadow of Grandfather Mountain's "Mile High Swinging Bridge." For those of you who don't know, it doesn't actually swing anymore! It's quite safe.

The fireworks were perfectly reflected! This was a series of fireworks that zig-zagged back and forth across the water. They were beautiful!

I think this one looks like a flower and it's my favorite! This one will definitly be printed and framed!