In a New York Minute...

I think the entire month of March managed to disappear 'in a New York minute'!  It was a busy month, but filled with fun!  Brody's preschool celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday the first week of the month, and Brody asked if we could make green eggs and ham at home  - thankfully our 'green' breakfast tasted better than it looked!

On the 10th, Billy and Brody enjoyed a night out at Monster Jam.  Two nights before the big event, the kids were able to get 'up close and personal' with the Grave Digger truck since it was on display at a local McDonalds.

Brody wondered how they had a Monster Truck rally in the same place Syracuse plays football and basketball, so Billy took this photo to show him how they prepare the arena!

While the boys enjoyed large trucks smashing smaller cars and flipping over, Alexa and I enjoyed a girls night out, though I am sadly lacking photos from our evening.

On the 11th, Billy and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.  The kids wanted us to all go out to eat as a family to celebrate.  We decided that was a good idea, though they immediately began arguing over which restaurant we should go to - Alexa really thought we should go to Friendly's since they give out free ice cream after the meal, and Brody wanted Wendy's since its his favorite.  Both suggestions were vetoed, and we chose Ruby Tuesday's since they offer food we can ALL enjoy!  Later that week, Billy and I were able to try out a local restaurant to mark the occasion while the kids had an evening at home with their favorite sitter.  :)

Our anniversary fell over Billy's spring break, and the week was a nice reprieve from his hectic semester.  However, due to the number of 'honey-dos' we accomplished that week, he may have been relieved when classes began again!  ;) 

Alexa's first science fair presentation was the 15th and she worked very hard on her project.  She of course wanted to do something with animals, so after exploring a few options, we decided to test whether dogs prefer homemade treats or purchased treats.  She found a treat recipe she wanted to make, and we baked them together.  She then let Penny 'sample' the homemade treat and store bought treat.  To test which one Penny preferred, she had me hold Penny in the living room while she showed Penny one treat and then placed it in a corner about 10 feet away.  She then showed Penny the other treat and placed it in the opposite corner.  I released Penny and Alexa recorded which treat she ate first.  Remarkably, in every single test, regardless of which corner she placed the two treats, Penny would eat the homemade treat first - even if she initially ran to the purchased treat, she would leave it and eat the homemade one!  So, if you need a good recipe for a dog treat, let me know!  ;) 

Alexa's display board

Since the kids had the 16th off from school, we headed down to NYC to try and fit in a few activities we missed during our first visit, like visiting the World Trade Center Memorial - 

This building is adjacent to the WTC - KEPCO+ was a part of the team that restored and reinstalled the stone after 9/11.

Eating at Ellen's Stardust Diner

Brody loved watching the performer's sing - though he was rather embarrassed when our server chose to serenade Alexa and him with a Grease montage!  :)

Not the greatest photo, but the only one we have of all four of us on our trip!

That is a GIANT glass of chocolate milk...and after dinner, he had chocolate ice cream!

Visiting different stores in Times Square, and still squeezing in a ride on the Toys R Us  Ferris Wheel

Exploring the Museum of Natural History

Spending MORE time exploring Central Park

And finally visiting FAO Schwartz, despite the challenges we faced crossing the street!  Because the St. Patrick's day parade was on Saturday in NYC, several streets were barricaded and you could only cross in certain areas.  Though FAO Schwartz is located almost directly across the street from Central Park, it took us over 30 minutes to navigate the barricades!  At one point I asked Alexa if she was sure she REALLY wanted to visit the toy store, and she assured me it was worth it.  :)  Our persistence eventually paid off.

After a busy day, we relaxed in the hotel Saturday evening and headed home Sunday.  As shown in the photo below, at some point on our drive home, the kids decided we needed a little extra help navigating the roads.  ;)