Madison Square Park

Today, we hit one of the iconic places in New York City I had never been to.  Not sure why I hadn't, but let me tell you, we WILL be going back.

SHAKE SHACK!

We went to the Shake Shack literally in Madison Square Park.  Honestly, Marcus wasn't up for a big Times Square excursion, but this worked out way better.  It was a beautiful day.  The park was amazing.  And I think Chase enjoyed being outside.  Oh, plus the burgers and shakes were incredible.  I can't believe I hadn't been there before!

 Chase enjoyed a few fries and a straw :)

We decided to walk around the park a little bit because it was a nice day.  Everything was so green.  If only the humidity could've been a little less... existent.  haha.  It was a really neat place.  We took Chase into the playground area for awhile to enjoy the small slide and swings.

Plus, there was a live jazz group playing!  Sweet.  They were really good.  Oh, excuse me, Marcus said they were a fusion group.  Guess I need to review my jazz history class... 

Chase was enjoying the music.  Just chillin' listening to some fusion.

And he'd tap along every now and then.  (Watch his right hand.)  

He's so funny.

Great afternoon.  We're definitely going back!

Brian's Visit

My brother Brian came out for a long weekend.  We definitely walked a lot, and I think we all had a fun time.  One of the places he wanted to see was the Natural History Museum, so that was our first stop.

I was trying to get a cute picture of the two, and this was the best I could do.

Chase kept squirming away!

He enjoyed crawling around a corner of the museum :)

And looking at the statues

...and trying to touch them.

Ready to get back in the stroller

We made a point to see flamingoes for Mom

And meet Roosevelt for Mimi.

And of course check out the dinosaurs

I highly suggest going to the Natural History Museum with someone who knows a lot about ocean life, like Brian.  It was really interesting to see all the fish and other ocean life when he could tell you so many crazy details.

We walked by the temple.  

Did you know that the rod that Angel Moroni is on goes all the way down through the building straight through the basement?  Apparently that was the condition for it to be added since NY is hurricane prone.  Interesting.

And we hung out a little in Central Park.

Chase liked the grass and especially the leaves.

Brian enjoyed his treat too.  :)

We met Marcus for dinner at his favorite pizza place.  It recently moved down the street.  Luckily we found it okay :)

Almost a good picture...

Making him smile...

TA DA!

On Saturday, we went to the 9/11 Memorial.  Marcus and I hadn't been there in two years, so we were anxious to see it.

Enjoying the Memorial

Trying not to let his knees touch the rocks

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan.  One of my favorite places in NYC.

Brian and Manhattan

Making Chase laugh

Heading back to the train to go home
We thought Chase was tired, but he was so chatty on the train!

We went to dinner at Ottomanellis in Woodside-- fantastic hamburgers!  

Yep, those are the missionaries teaching the owner.

Another day, Brian, Chase, and I went out to lunch in Times Square.

Now there are minions in Times Square too!

We also walked around the Rockefeller Center 

(and really enjoyed the NBC store and Lego store)

Lego Store

I guess he'd taken a class about the statues and things around this area.  We obviously had to see them!

Like I said before, we walked A TON!  We walked all the way down to Houston Street by NYC one day because we were determined to find the big Converse store.  We made it eventually, after a leaky diaper and a little rain.

Hanging out around the Converse

After a weekend of fun, Chase was exhausted :)  But he's looking forward to hanging out with his favorite Uncle Brian again.

P.S.  Hey Gardners, check out what I found in our grocery store this week!!!