NY

Sat morning before leaving the Boston area for NY/NJ Ashok, John and I drove to the mountains in NH to do some hiking. This was an amazing hike although the first part of the trail which was supposed to be 2.2 miles felt more like 4 straight uphill. After a well spent day of hiking we had dinner in Boston then hit the road again. En route to Jersey City it downpoured most of the way, at least during my shift driving. We arrived at Chez Hay around 2am and hung out for a little while before crashing.

Sunday morning Rob made an excellent breakfast of french toast.
-went to the cloisters
-el Malacon for lunch
-Cassie dropped us off at Manhattan Mall
-Took the PATH back to NJ
-Watched Louie CK and ordered Indian for dinner.

Monday
John & I slept in a bit and had a relaxing morning reading and enjoying coffee. We then grabbed a late lunch and gelato at Chelsea Market and continued the hunt for my size Chacos in a color I like. Although we were able to get John a pair I have resigned myself to ordering them online. Afterwards we met Rob at his work and the whole crew (Amy, Maggie, Rob, Cassie, John, and I) went to watch the movie Airplane in Bryant Park. I can't believe this wa s the first time John had seen it. We then headed to Times Square so Maggie could see it at night.

Tuesday:
-John, Rob, and I went to Century 21
-Had breakfast out of a cart on Wall Street
-Took the State Island Ferry
-tie shopping at a street vendor
-Toured the Intrepid and a submarine
-Back to the apt to drop Maggie off at the airport
-ordered Chinese played Monopoly, had a dance off (Kinect), and drank

Wednesday:
-Met Nat & Marina for lunch
-Jim for beers at (Old Town, McSorley's & the Birreria rooftop)
-Met Rob at his work then ate at the Hartland. Thursday
-Peace Corps conference call at 10
-Went into Manhattan to shop
-sky line to read and ran into Nat and his dad
-Chelsea garden for dragonfruit
-Gene's for dinner with Rob and Cassie
-Walked around the east Village and grabbed a couple beers
-Home to do a dance off

Friday John left his phone at Taglitalia so he ran into the city while I packed up and we are now on the road to see Jess and Steven in DC.

Boston

We made it to the MIT campus yesterday and were very impressed.  The graffiti on the buildings were attempted mathematical proofs.  Our kind of place.  Ashok took us to a wonderful Afgani restaraunt and then the Harvard in the evening and it was still full of people milling about.  We are now taking a Boston Duck Tour! Quack!!

Bound for the north

So we have started the trip with the destination of Boston.  We spent last night at my parent's house and my birthday was a wonderful day. 

We are in a polish restaurant "Babushka's kitchen" and I am preparing to eat my first pierogi!

My dad the pirate!

Camp Heart to Heart

John and I just returned to Louisville Friday evening after spending the week as camp counselors for Camp Heart to Heart. For confidentiality purposes we will not be posting any pictures or specifics about the kids. This week was one of the most amazing and fulfilling weeks I have ever had. It took a little time to think of myself as "Ms. Tracy" and John as "Mr. John".

Although I am not used to working with girls, I quickly bonded with the girls in my cabin and several of the other kids and counselors/support staff. During the closing ceremony I almost teared up at the thought of not seeing these kids for the next few years. I can understand how counselors come back year after year. I am glad I had this experience and hope to return to camp after we finish our Peace Corps time.

If any of my kids run across this post I hope they know how much they meant to me, how special they really are, and how bright of a future they have!

Thank you for a wonderful week!
Ms. Tracy

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A busy weekend

Getting caught up on post we meant to do a while back.  This was from the weekend June 10 - June 12, 2011.

We started by meeting Adam, Julianne, and the boys up at my folks to get ready for Ean's 1st birthday party.  Most of it was spend playing games and catching up.  Julianne made two monkey cakes that turned out great.  Daley had a bite of the batter and said "It tastes like monkey".  Later we went into Louisville to watch Rowan's piano recital and then went out to eat at Chuey's which turned out to be great food!  Aunt Kelly and the crew made it out for the birthday party and we slayed some Dinosaurs to cap off a great weekend.

Nothing fancy by any means, but it is family filled weekends like this that we will miss the most!

On the road again...Chicago and WI

We are finally on the road again.  This time we are taking a trip with a couple main destinations, Chicago to visit Chris and Appleton, WI to see my Aunt Barb.

In Chicago, we spent a bit of time checking out the surrounding neighborhoods, which felt like small towns surrounded by lots of people and just a short train ride away from Chicago.  We also walked around the park in Naperville which has a great river walk and as well as a tower with carilllon (an instrument that plays bells http://www.naperville-carillon.org/).  Naperville's has 72 bells.  We toured this, then hurried to get out of the tower before it rang.  I can't imagine being by the largest as it rang...ouch.



We later broke out Clue and played a few games.  It has been a while since I have played and forgot how fun it can be figuring out if it was Mrs Peacock in the billiard room, with the candle stick or might it be Mr. White in the conservatory with the rope.  When I get back to Louisville I think I'll teach Rowan to play Clue.  It was great to catch up with Chris again!

Currently we are in Appleton with Aunt Barb and sadly are leaving today!  Yesterday Aunt Barb took us on a tour of Neenah (where my mom grew up).  It was great to see her old stomping grounds and the houses she grew up in.  We then took a trip to Green Bay to Lambeau Field, had lunch at Curly's and then took a tour.  The stadium is amazing!  Our tour guide was oozing with enthusiasm and had a dry sense of humor.  I could tell he loved his job.  We got to hear all about the history of the team, saw the suites, then got to enter the stadium using the same tunnel the Packers use to enter during the games.  When standing on the field we all yelled "Go Pack Go".  The reverberation that came back was quite loud and there were only 30ish people yelling.  I can't imagine how loud an entire stadium would be.



Afterwards we came back to Barb's apartment and went through some historical pictures, which I was able to capture with my digital camera.  I love hearing stories of my grandparents, Aunt Barb, and their family.  I wish I had known all of them better.  The rest of the evening was passed playing cards, mainly bridge.  All in all, it has been a great trip!

Today we are stopping in Rockport to meet my mom's cousins, Ann & Janet, for dinner before continuing south back to Louisville.