An Affair to Remember

Hey Crystal (and anyone else who happens to read this),

So as promised here are some pictures from my parent's and sister's visit here in the Big Apple during Memorial Day weekend. Let me just say that a lot of walking was involved over that weekend, plus some very goofy pictures.

We kicked off the adventures by going to dinner and a Broadway show that Thursday night. We went and saw Mary Poppins, which without a doubt, was amazing and probably one of my favorite shows ever! It blew my expectations, though I tried to not have any so I wouldn't be disappointed. Crystal, I would definitely recommend it. It was full of fun and magic!!

The next day we went to the MET and checked out some of the exhibits. And of course taking goofy pictures.

Don't I look so happy to be with my parents?

Poor Dad...he never saw it coming.

Kari and I were hitting each other with our rolled up museum floor plans.

After the MET, we took a stroll along Central Park East
on our way to our next destination.

That destination being Serendipity!!! Yummy!
(You can never use too many exclamation points when describing Serendipity)

After Serendipity, we actually took a stroll in Central Park.

Here is Mom and Kari by the entrance to the Children's Zoo.

And everyone's favorite sled dog...Balto!

Chillin' by the fountain.

Needless to say, we did lots of walking that day, but there was still more to come. After the park we hit up Macy's flagship store on 34th street for a bit and then headed back downtown. It was a nice night so we thought we'd go over to South Street Seaport. Oh, and not that there are any pictures, but it was Fleet Week so all the sailors were in town.

Aww, a nice group picture with the Brooklyn Bridge.

Saturday, our first destination was shopping. Good fun. On the way to the 4/5 train, Dad stopped to pose in front of the Stock Exchange.

Ready for another fun filled day.
(Side note: this is where I usually stand every weekday
morning when I'm waiting for the train to go to work)

Like I said, we went shopping earlier in the morning and then met up with our friends the Smith's from back home who are serving a mission here in New York. We had a lovely lunch with them at some little deli up by St. Patrick's Cathedral. Well, I should say the company was lovely, the food...not so much. Whatever.

After lunch, we said our goodbyes to the Smith's and then went back home to drop off our shopping bags. After that we decided to go check out the Bodies Exhibit at South Street. No camera's were allowed, so no pictures to document that portion of the day. The exhibit was pretty amazing though and I must say that I learned a lot, plus nothing was really all that gross, except maybe the smoker's lung.

We left the Bodies Exhibit and caught the 2/3 train over to Clark St in Brooklyn to go eat dinner at my favorite pizza place in the city...Grimaldi's. It was as scrumptious as ever as well as packed full of people. We had to wait in line for awhile, but it was well worth the wait. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. But as any good New Yorker knows, after you have pizza at Grimaldi's you take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

But first, a visit to the promenade.

Walking across the bridge.

Sunday, we obviously went to church as good little Mormon boys and girls should. There were a lot of people there, but not too many familiar faces with all the summer interns coming in. Lot's of moms were in town as well and as Brigham put it so eloquently, it was "Mom"orial Day Weekend. That made me laugh.

When church was over, of course my roommate Brenda made dinner. She made chimichangas and we enjoyed a nice meal out on our terrace. For dessert, we had some Junior's chocolate mouse cheesecake. Yum! Once the dinner was over and all was cleaned up and put away, we went and took a free ride over to Staten Island via the Staten Island Ferry.

Here is a picture of the ferry from the Staten Island side.

And of course, getting on a different island always puts us in a weird mood. Maybe it is Lady Liberty looking over us that makes us do crazy things? Hmm...
(Note: last year we did the same thing while visiting Liberty Island)

The perfect bell kick caught on camera. I sure can get some air.

Kari and her famous cheerleader leap off of a bench or ledge.

I love Mom's faces.

And of course Dad had to join in the fun (actually we forced him to do it).

The next morning we got up bright and early to go check out the Today Show. Maroon 5 was performing and we actually got a picture of Adam Levine drinking some water! Long story short, we didn't get there early enough (6:50am on Memorial Day wasn't early??) and there was only room behind the stage behind some barricades.

Monday we spent most of the day at Rockefeller Center. We did the NBC Studio Tour, the Rockefeller Tour (learning about the architecture, etc) and then Top of the Rock that evening.

Here is a picture of the Gilbertonians chillin' at Rockefeller Plaza.

The view of the Empire State Building from Top of the Rock.

Tuesday, the folks and Kari's last day in the city, we decided to just keep it low key and do a little shopping in SoHo and whatnot. We also had to make a quick stop up at Time Square to get the all important bag of all green peanut M&Ms. Don't ask.


Well as you can see Crystal, it was a fun filled weekend. So much walking, but I guess it made up for all the days I wasn't going to the gym. It was my first time having visitors come out to see me here in the city and it made me realize how well I'm getting to know the city. The following weekend marked my one year anniversary and I still can't believe how the time has flown by.

Well, until next time Crystal, this is KimCast signing out.