A Wedding In New York

Last weekend Kevin and I flew to Poughkeepsie, NY. His co-worker (and our friend) got married. Both Brian and Jess are from New York, but they moved to StL for his job at Boeing. If you have never been to New York outside of the city, I recommend it. It was beautiful! Here is the view from the train ride from the city to Poughkeepsie.

 

I tried to get pictures with Brian and Jess, but none of them turned out well. But here is the church, and a picture of the reception hall. I was a bit obsessed with how much I liked this town.

 Us at the wedding.

One of my favorite things about traveling for this trip was the train ride. Here is the (real!) train station in Poughkeepsie.

Since neither Kevin nor I have ever been to New York City, we stayed one extra day to explore the city. After we arrived at Penn Station, we dropped our things off and then started walking. We started in Times Square, which neither of us liked at all, but at least we can say we have seen it now. We first headed to the Brown Building. I wanted to see the building from the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Kevin didn't care about that. He wanted to see that building from movies and tv. It was the same building, luckily. After that, we just kept walking south(ish). We walked through Midtown, Flatiron District, Lower Manahttan, Tribeca, Noho, and a few other neighborhoods that I don't remember. It was a straight shot, but it was still interesting to see the different neighborhoods. We both knew that we would only get to see a very limited amount of the city, so we didn't set up goals for things we wanted to see. We just went with it. (Much to Kevin's dismay, and my enjoyment.) This walk took about 2.5 hours, so we took the train back to the hotel.

Afterward, we headed to dinner at an Irish pub.

The next morning, we only had until 2:00 to do anything. We went to the American Museum of Natural History, and only paid for the two hours we were there, thanks to Brian! (Not the one who just got married. We know two Brian's from New York.) My favorites were the Hall of Human Origins (We saw the real Lucy!) and the Cape York Meteorite. It was amazing!

We got a big kick out of the dinosaur exhibit that needed updating. (Do dinos still walk like that?) 

And good thing they let us know the T Rex was extinct. (It is a bit scary that that detail was needed.)

 

After that we headed to the airport and flew home. We were both very happy to get to see the kids before bedtime. 

A big THANK YOU to Downtown Grandma and Aunt Pat for watching the kids!

Halloween 2013

Sorry this blog took so long to get written and posted. We have been pretty busy with a marathon, Halloween, and wedding in New York, and Kevin's birthday.

This year for Halloween Gwyn was a horse, Colin was a ninja, and Kevin was Harry Potter. I was so excited to find a horse costume. She loves horses, galloping around saying "giddy up giddy up." Since she had yet to actually wear a costume without screaming in terror, I thought this would be her year. She even asked aunt Pat for days leading up to Halloween if she could put her costume on.

And then Halloween evening came. It was rainy and windy. Gwyn made it up to the first house, carrying her umbrella, and before getting candy, she asked to go home. I convinced her to go to 3 more houses, but she was more than happy to spend the rest of the evening in the house snuggling.

As for the boys, they had to stop by the house after an hour to dump out their candy. Because of the rain, there were very few kids out for the first 90 minutes or so. We only saw 3 other groups in the first hour. That means that EVERY HOUSE gave out handfuls of candy. They boys are very happy.

This is how upset Gwyn was to stay home and snuggle.

P.S.
The boys wants their names typed on the blog. Colin is the first. (<- br="" he="" made="" me="" that.="" type="">
Colin Stephen McGuire
Kevin John McGuire III

World Series 2013 Game 3

Kevin's parents have season tickets to the Cardinals, and since K1 was in Thailand and Kevin had a marathon the next day, I got to go to Saturday's game 3 with Louise.

I don't go to many games. It is something that Kevin does with his friends, or Louise and Kevin (1) do with the boys, but I normally do not go. I was just telling Kevin that I would like to go to a meaningful game, since I usually end up with tickets that others pass on. And then a few days later I was asked!

The game was.... crazy. If you have not heard (Where the heck have you been????) the game ended in the strangest, most bizarre way a WS game has ended ever. One word - obstruction. I won't go into it, since there is more than enough on the internet to explain it, but it was a game where I will be able to say "I was there!"

Before the game, but since I tried to spend my time watching the game instead of taking pictures, this is the best picture I have of the field.

Ozzie Smith threw out the first pitch!

This was the 7th inning when the Cards scored 2 runs. I didn't even think about the camera during the 9th inning.

Gwyn's Hair

Gwyn's hair is awesome. Sometimes she let's me braid it, twist it, and I have been able to put it in awesome pigtails since she was a few months old. But whenever I pull it up, the short hair on the sides falls out. She is (FINALLY! okay with headbands. But for now, she still reminds me of Judy, the girlfriend from Revenge of the Nerds. (Side note - excellent movie.)

Does anyone else see it?

UCDC Pumpkinland Visit 2013

Each year our preschool takes a visit to the farm down the road for Halloween/Fall. This year it was all about Gwyn and Joel. Joel is a boy in Gwyn's class, and his older brother Noah happens to be Colin's best friend from preschool. (They do not attend Kindergarten together.) You may remember Noah when Colin was learning to say his name when he was called No-no and the No-Ya. (They met when they were two.)

I love this trip since the pumpkin patch is kept open just for us. It normally closes at 5:30, but it stay open to at least 7:30. (That is when we leave, but we are never last.) It is so dark, you need a flashlight to walk around. I have wanted to walk through the maze that late, but I am not sure that would be a good idea. We lost 2 flashlights this year (Well, Colin did.) but at least we did not lose a wedding ring like last year. And Gwyn was so brave that she just went into the dark Tower of Terror on her own. I had to get in behind another family to just try to follow her. Nothing like the boys.

Here are some pictures!

A replay of American Ninja Warrior training.

Gwyn just had to do anything her brother did... until Joel showed up.

Chillin with the boyfriend.

Swinging with Noah.

Between all the activities, they held hands.

Last week, UCDC had a field trip to the Litzinger Road Ecology Center. (Sounds like a place Megan would like.) Aunt Cathy took Gwyn, and here a a few pictures from the trip. Joel is in most of them. I tried to get a picture of the holding hands at the pumpkin patch, but it was too dark. I am glad Cathy got one!

Pumpkin Patch 2013

This weekend we headed to Thies Farm's Pumpkinland. It is one of my favorite pumkin patches in St. Louis. (They have two locations, and we are going to the other one this Friday with Gwyn's school. They stay open late for us, and we are there when it is dark. I love it. You need a flashlight just to walk around.)

For a trip down memory lane, here are Halloween posts from yesteryear: 2010 Boo at the Zoo, Pumpkinland 2011, UCDC 2011, Halloween 2012, and an October 2012 McWeekend with the Kerr's. (To the best pumpkin patch ever!)

All 5 of us went up this year! Even Gwyn.

At the top. The boys were too interested in the "American Ninja Warrior" course to hang out for pictures.

She is actually smiling with her eyes open!

While the boys practiced being ninja warriors, Gwyn spent a lot of time on the horse. (She is going to be a horse for Halloween.)

The start of the "American Ninja Warrior" course. For everyone else at the pumpkin patch, it is just an obstacle course. Most of it is in the background of this picture.

Part of the ANW course.

A bit more. As the day got more crowded, they were not able to run through it, but they still had fun.

Gwyn enjoyed the slide of the ANW course.

A rare moment. I am not the one taking the picture!

Possibly, my favorite picture of the year. We are all looking at the camera, our eyes are open, we are smiling, and hair is not in our faces!

Gwyn chasing her brothers in the maze.

Kevin stopping for a snack.

The weather was beautiful! Coats came off after an hour.

 

Waiting to go down the slide.

She loves to be carried. I blame her father.

Overall, another successful trip!

Cooking Dinner

I usually cook dinner with an apron on. Gwyneth got one for Christmas, and she runs to get hers when I cook. Sometimes she even wears her chef's hat.

Tornado!

This past Friday (May 31) an F3 tornado went through our neighborhood. We did not get hit by the tornado, but it was close enough to cause some damage.

We heard the sirens and headed downstairs. The last time this happened was 2 years ago, and a huge tornado bounced over our house (Literally. The news reports said if you live in our neighborhood to take immediate cover. It landed not too far on the other side of the river.) and tore through Maryland Heights, so we take this kind of stuff seriously. Just like last time, you can see the line of damage. Things could have been worse.

We took phones, wallets, keys, computers, shoes, snacks (eating lessens the fear), diapers, small radio and headed downstairs. (We had a few minutes to prepare.) Since the boys love to play with flashlights, we struggled to find ones that worked. We angrily reminded them that this is why we tell them to play with their own flashlights and leave our alone. After that set back, and two working flashlights were located. After being down there for about 3 minutes, we took cover in the far corner of the basement, the part furthest underground by the play area. the electricity was out before we were even there. Kevin and Gwyn were the most upset, and Kevin was getting Colin scared. Gwyn just clung to me the entire time and wouldn't let me put her down for anything.

We could hear the wind getting stronger and, much to my frustration, Kevin kept going upstairs to check on things. At one point when we were all down there we heard something very loud fall. But it sounds much worse than it really was. We could hear things, but nothing was very close. The boys were scared, but I kept reminding them that it is easy to be safe if you are smart, and the sounds were not close to us.

We couldn't have been down there longer than 15 minutes when we went up. The tree in our backyard was down, and there was debris everywhere. We thought that was really the worst of it. Then Kevin went up in the attic and found a leak. By then, the clothes in my closet were getting wet. Things were starting to get a bit crazy. Kevin needed tarps since we had shingles blown off, the kids were scared and in the dark, the house was getting stuffy and hot, and water was dripping in. So I put the kids down in the same room. (Gwyn would not let go of me at all until I asked if she wanted to sleep in her brothers' room. At that, she finally let go. I moved her whole bed in so she would feel safer, and a bit more normal than just sleeping on a mattress.) Kevin called his dad for tarps. Then I got my clothes out of the closet, throwing wet ones in the bathtub, and everything else on our bed and floor.

Kevin got up on the roof and started hammering up tarps. A couple neighbors stopped by since he made everyone nervous. That side of our roof is 3 stories up, it was dark, very late, raining, slippery, and more storms were on the way. There was still a tornado watch for those storms as well. But he did not want the ceiling to collapse in. (A friend of ours had hers collapse in, so it was a smart move, but still very dangerous.)

At about this time I decided we were going to stay at his parents house. Kevin had turned down their offer at first, but it was after 11:00 and the kids were hot and scared. I needed them to feel better. So we all headed over where there was electricity, familiar beds, and normality.

The next morning clean-up began, and thankfully K1 had a gas-powered chainsaw. (And a friend kindly offered to help.) Driving around I even saw a trampoline in a tree! Thankfully, the grandparents took the kids (Gwyn was VERY excited about her trip to DTG's, and the boys got a night Cardinals game.) Saturday evening so we went out to dinner and relaxed.

As of now, it is Sunday night. We got electricity back last night, but there are still downed power lines not too far. There are piles of branches and tree-parts lining the streets, waiting for pick-up. The streets and houses are still covered in leaves. There are tarps up on roofs. The fridge and freezer are restocked. The house is a mess with my clothes out of the closet, leaves dragged in the house, ladders out, and beds in the wrong rooms.

At some point you just need to laugh.  We kept instinctively turning on light switches and then cursing. When we drove around we kept saying "Ooh, free siding! Free shingles! Sweet!" It sounds so much more dramatic than it really was. And we could have been worse. The houses up the street that really got hit have ripped-off chimney and garage doors, missing walls, and holes in roofs.

We have been asked about the siding Kevin put up. No damage! (It is designed to withstand winds up to 150 mph.)

After some clean-up.