the beck family

New York part 3 - May 3, 2014

We enjoyed sleeping in this morning until 8:30 a.m. We ate breakfast then went to the closest subway. We wanted Camille to experience the train. It took forever for one to come, then it only went to the next stop before making everybody get off. It was enough of an experience so we went up to get a taxi to Central Park. We first went to the lake where we rented a sailboat for $11 for 30 minutes. We got one that was having issues. It also is powered by the wind and it was pretty scarce. We got a better one the last 10 minutes and really enjoyed driving it with the remote. Camille and Byron really enjoyed this.

We walked through Central Park getting an ice-cream from a vendor. We walked over to the LDS Manhattan Temple. Too bad we didn't do a session there. We then ate dinner at Carnegie Deli. It was pretty small, but we got a place to sit. We ordered a Reuben sandwich to share. We had to pay $3 for each extra person to share a meal - weirdest thing I have heard of. So it cost us $6 more so Camille and I could sit there also. We did get pickles and rye bread with our meal so maybe that was the extra money. The food was actually really good - I was really worried about the sauerkraut, but would definitely eat one again. It was absolutely a huge serving - probably 1 pound of meat on the top. We didn't even finish it all. We also went to FAO Schwartz. We had fun walking around the store. So many fun toys and things to look at. We got some cool things for the boys to try.

We went back to our hotel and sat outside for one hour. Byron took a nap while Camille and I enjoyed sitting and relaxing on the nice patio furniture.

Poor Carter wasn't feeling very well so mom took him to the instacare. He ended up not having anything that needed to be taken care of by medicine.

Our flight leaves at 8 p.m. We left our hotel to go to the airport by taxi at 5 p.m. It is an hour drive. Our flight left late unfortunately due to the flight at our gate before ours did not leave on time. We got into Salt Lake City around 12:30 a.m. Then we grabbed the kids that were sleeping from Dad and Mom's house. We ended up pulling in around 1:30 a.m. It was a crazy long day. So good to be home.

Byron got a call from his mom right before we flew out that Uncle Lenard passed away today. Such sad news! So hard on the Chapple family.

We saw a photo shoot while there with ladies changing outfits and getting random pictures taken. It was pretty cool to watch them.

The kids were in great hands while we were gone. Mom bought them kites so they loved flying them. They also enjoyed some skating, park and cousin time. So grateful for such awesome parents being willing to let my boys hang out. They had so much fun!

Carter in green and Parker in blue

Parker in blue and Carter in yellow

Parker, Rose, Eliza, Bryant, Myles, Allyson and Bradley

New York part 2 - May 2, 2014

We woke up around 8 am. Then we went down to breakfast. It actually was really good with a lot of choices. Then we got in a taxi to head down to the 911 Memorial. It was so cool to have a worker explain so much of it to us. The falls were so beautiful. It was so fun to show Camille New York. Then we went over to Battery Park and waited till we could go to the Statue of Liberty (our tickets were for 1 p.m.) We ate lunch at "Potbelly Deli." It was yummy.

We got onto the boat to Statue of Liberty. It was very windy today. We went up to the top of the pedestal. It was fun getting that close. We had to wait quite a bit of time for the boats after we were done. Then we went onto Ellis Island. We loved going into a fun store while there.

We ate dinner at TGI Fridays. Then headed back to our hotel. We grabbed our tickets then headed out to see "Newsies." It was absolutely fantastic! When everyone on stage started singing or dancing together it was so awesome. The songs and plot were a little different then the movie. It was still fabulous. We were in a spot where the balcony above us blocked some of the parts at the top of the set. Other than that there were no complaints!

Times Square was so darn crowed. It was crazy to walk around. We got a snack at Jamba Juice then started walking to our hotel. We came across a blocked area with tons of people screaming and taking pictures. Luckily Byron is taller than me and was able to figure out what all the noise was for. James Franco was right in front of us. He is in a play on Broadway and must have wanted to see his fans after his show. Byron got some pictures of him and video. It was pretty exciting stuff! :)

Well back to our room. I suppose we need to head to bed. It is 12:05 a.m.- this city never goes to sleep - it is crazy!

May 2014 - New York with Camille part 1

I am determined to keep this blog up to date and have decided to just jump to the current and hopefully find time to fill in the gaps. The part missing is Camille's senior year of school and I for sure want those memories. However, I have been stressing about this for so long that the only thing to do at this point is to just start currently.

Byron & I surprised Camille with a trip to New York City. We booked the tickets and figured out dates back in January. We were planning on keeping this a secret from her until a week before the trip. Byron and I had a hard time keeping it to ourselves and finally gave in a month early - in April. She was beyond excited. We were excited to let her finally see a show on Broadway. She has never seen a show with that caliber and she was so happy. We tried to figure out a time to go where it wouldn't conflict too much with the last month of school. We ended up leaving right after her last Encore concert on April 30. We left to the airport late that evening and flew through the night arriving in NYC at 6 a.m. Dad and Mom took the 3 youngest kids while we were gone and the oldest 2 stayed at home with Emily Wilcox coming in the evenings to spend the night. Below I will put my journal entries from the trip.

April 30-May 1, 2014 - The past 2 days have blended into one very long day. Camille had her choir concert on Wednesday evening. It was for Encore only. Camille did such a fabulous job. Dad and Mom Adamson came with us. They did a 40's radio show. They even had the jazz band accompany them for some of the songs. Camille was part of the commercial for "Maxford House Girl's." It was so great. She also sang "Everything's coming up Roses." She did an awesome job! So sad that there is only one concert left for her.

Byron went to the last hour of his Bishopric Meeting then came home. Emily Wilcox is going to stay at night with Tanner and Johnathan. Carter, Parker and Bradley went to stay the weekend at Dad and Mom Adamson's house. Byron, Camille and I headed to the airport to go to New York at 9:45 p.m. Our flight left at 11:50 p.m. We had a red eye flight that lasted 4 hours. We probably slept 2 of the 4 hours. By the time we landed in New York, we were hoping to get an early check in to our hotel to sleep. Unfortunately we couldn't. Instead we started walking down by Times Square. We ate breakfast in a Dunkin Donuts. Times Square was so fun to see with Camille. It was very foggy and cloudy all morning along with wet. The past few days they have gotten a lot of rain.

Luckily the fog started leaving by noon so we could enjoy the Empire State Building. The views were great. Such a beautiful city! For lunch we ate at Grimaldi's. The pizza is fabulous! We ordered a large pepperoni and sausage pizza. I have never quite tasted pizza with such a yummy flavor. They make the pizzas pretty close to where the seating area is so it was fun to watch them. Then for dessert we got a cannoli for Camille to try. Then we went back to our hotel - the Holiday Inn Express. We were able to check in and slept for 2 hours until 5 p.m.

We ate dinner at Planet Hollywood. We enjoyed the captain crunch chicken appetizer along with salad (Tricia's), turkey club (Byron's) or Cajun chicken pasta (Camille's).

We also went to China Town this morning. We got some fun finds as we were shopping.

Then we went and saw "Wicked." It was so awesome! We were farther back then we thought when we bought the tickets last month. They were still good seats, just wish I could see faces better. Camille loved it! Glinda and Elphaba were amazing!

Camille also was able to eat some strawberry cheesecake and get a Starbucks apple cider. Such a fun day!

Camille's favorite was seeing "Wicked" and favorite place to eat was Grimaldi's. Two days left - now if we can get to bed since we napped. It is 12:51 p.m.