Conquering Manhattan One Neighborhood at a time -- CHELSEA

Jeff and I thought it would be fun (and essential) to our NYC experience to visit each of the various neighborhoods in Manhattan. We intended on starting this in October, but then the rains came...and never seemed to stop. Well...summer is HERE!! And, of course, our time is getting quite limited (only 2 more months before our move West), so we've started the conquering.

Our first neighborhood...Chelsea...

There are lots of cool things to see and do in Chelsea--the Flatiron Building, the Empire State Building, Chelsea Market, Chelsea Pier, Madison Square Garden to name a few.

We started out at Madison Square Park (not to be confused with the Garden), because it was a nice place to meet near the Flatiron Building, which was the first thing we wanted to see.











I wonder what it would be like to work in a corner office in this building?!







Of course, in NYC, there is always lots of people watching. Check out this dude's outfit! I know you're jealous...we were... ;-)

Wow...I am strong!

So we were walking in Chelsea, and we stumbled upon Chelsea Park. We were getting a little tired, so we thought we'd grab a bench. This little park was a little too scary for us, we all we got was a pic of Jeff in front of the sign.

Madison Square Garden

Empire State Building

Macy's

Jeff LOVES squirrels!

Beautiful greenery near the Pier

Chelsea Pier

One of my favorite places that we saw in this neighborhood was the Chelsea Market. We were looking for an open/outdoor market, but this was more amazing. Just look at the outside architecture and ornamentation. I think it's a beautiful building. And then...when you're inside, there are all these trendy little bakeries (Mmmm Mmmm now this is my kind of flower garden) and shops. The metallic art is very catching, plus there was this cool can you call it a waterfall when it's coming out of a pipe in the middle of a building? Very unique!

Lastly, we stopped at Barney's. Well, Barney's outlet. I popped in to check out the prices...$200 for a skirt ON SALE!! Guess we won't be shopping there anytime soon!

Easter

This past Easter was such a beautiful, sunny Sunday. It was nice to be able to spend the afternoon with Clarinda's family in Minnesota. We were able to attend church with Clarinda's Dad in the Eagan ward. Clarinda's brother, Trevor, and his family joined us as well. Their ward meets late in the afternoon and with egg coloring and everything, we thought it would be better for them to celebrate Easter with us earlier in the day in order to leave time for an egg hunt before it got too dark.


After church, the Pena's joined us. All the girls got into the egg decorating. We had more than 3 dozen eggs to color! The little girls did most of the work, but Treva, Clarinda and Ana got into the fun a little as well. Tatiana and Suzanne look as if they're not quite sure where to begin! Look at the beautiful, yellow egg that Clarinda made. It even matches her shirt! Treva looks a bit too intense in her coloring skills.














And now for the egg hunt...
Treva hid the eggs all over the front and back yards. Then the girls grabbed their shoes and their little baskets and went a-hunting. It was quite the competition to see who would get the most. Clarinda helped Suzanne cuz she's only 3.




Would Easter be Easter without some bubbles?!

Just kidding...it's not really a tradition, but here's Grandma Marna blowing some bubbles--out enjoying the beautiful day.

Game Night...

On Easter Eve, Selena (Clarinda's niece) really wanted to play Pit. This is a game that the Ramseys (Jeff's cousins) taught Clarinda's parents while we were in Oregon for our sealing. Clarinda tried to play it with the Ramsey's but just wasn't cut out for it that night. After a couple of rounds with her family, she decided it was, indeed, a pretty fun game. Of course, it might still take awhile to build up to playing with the near-professional Ramseys!





Jeff has gotten a creative bug in him! He has been inventing all kinds of new games--and this from the guy who claims to not even like playing games. Maybe Clarinda and her family rubbed off on him...

Here he is teaching Emillio how to play his first prototype...Conflict...

We must really love waterfalls...

When we were in MN over Easter, we spend one afternoon with our friends, the Parsons--Bill, McKenzie and Gavin at Minnehaha Park. Here are some pics from our day in the park. (Pay attention to the matching shirts!)






1st time driving a convertible, so we needed proof. Thanks, Marna, for this sweet ride! :-)

Gavin, the Great!

Minnehaha Falls

What are those girls talking about?!

Pause for a photo

Jeff, the Conqueror

The Parsons

Posing in front of a waterfall...








Upside down tree...

Upside down Gavin...