January Misc.

Here are some more pictures from January:

Oliver had a very comfy-cozy month 

Taking a nap with Ev - his favorite

Dorie being a cute lil TV watching buddy

Dorie LOVES going on outings to Petsmart

Ev and I visited Ikea to get some dorm room decorating ideas

Nora, Mike, and I went to go see Zootopia 2

I wanted to get a picture with the sloth since I wore my sloth shirt

Nora sent me this adorable picture of the barn cats, Bailing and Twine

Dorie waiting for me at the top of the stairs

This month was a very exciting one for Sam - he finished up his orthodontic treatment and got his braces off!

Mike had to step out of the office for a minute and asked me to make sure Oliver stayed out of his soup. Oliver was sure interested in it

Ev made some delicious GF chocolate chip cookies

Max never ceases to be amazed by the bathtub

Sitting there with his little wet paw lol

Mike and I went on a date night to CreamWorx

Dorie's blood tests came back positive for Cushings disease, so now she takes a medication twice a day. Luckily the pills are small and easily hidden in a pill pocket, so she just thinks she gets more yummy treats now.

Ev and her friends had a cooking night

Zzzz

My mom's January table

Animal Crossing New Horizons came out with a new update, so I've been playing again to try all the new things

Dorie looking very unimpressed

Mike and I got a nice gift for being chaperones on the orchestra trip - a personalized travel mug

Oliver is always scheming to get treats

Ev and Juno matching in all black

Mike was eating a chicken fajita at his desk, and Dorie had the most pitiful begging puppy eyes I have ever seen

The mountains and sky looking beautiful

Sam played a joke on me and rearranged my plushies

Max being very concerned about us packing

He cuddled up into my coat and was very sad when I needed to put it in the suitcase

Him protesting by sitting on my packing list lol

NYC Orchestra Tour - Day 5 and Travel Home

 For our last day, my group decided to have a special breakfast at the bakery down the street

This wig shop was right next to our hotel and we passed by it so many times. It always inspired people to say the "Do you wear wigs? Have you worn wigs? Will you wear wigs? When will you wear wigs?" quote lol

Some pigeons we walked by that had apparently hit the jackpot

Walking through Penn Station

We had several hours of free time until we had to meet back at the hotel to take the busses back to the airport. My group decided to spend the time at Chelsea Market

There were lots of fun shops to look through. The kids especially loved the stationary, pens, and pencils section in this store

Checking out the Duck Library

A fun selection of Studio Ghibli merch

This towel reminded me of someone...

These towels reminded me of Kate!

Trying some pig-shaped gummies from one of the stores

For a snack, we got some Tanghulu from one of the food places. It is a fruit skewer that has been covered in a thin, glass-like hard candy shell. They were really yummy

We did a little more shopping, had some lunch at a sandwich and burger place, and then headed back to the hotel.

We saw something on the floor of the subway station and went to get a closer look...

It was a little sculpture. I looked it up after I had gotten back home, and this sculpture is one of many cast bronze pieces in a permanent art installation called "Life Underground"

Mike's group went to visit some different places. First they went to China Town - here is the fish market there

Then they went to Little Italy

Building painted like the Italian flag

They walked across the Brooklyn Bridge

And went back to the Time Out market in Dumbo for lunch before meeting up at the hotel.

The Jet Blue group left first to head back to JFK airport

The United group left an hour later. While the bus was stuck in traffic, I looked up through the window and noticed we were right below the Edge observation deck where we had been the night before. It was interesting to see it from this angle.

Going through the Lincoln Tunnel

Once we arrived at the Newark airport, we headed up to where they do the group check-ins. They were having some kind of problem with their system, so it took over an hour to get us all our luggage tags and boarding passes so we could check our suitcases and go through security.

Kirby and Ev passing the time

We did finally get all checked in and through security, and still had time to get a bite to eat and sit and rest before boarding the flight at 7:30 pm.

Waiting in the jet bridge to get on the plane - I loved the promotional poster

Our flight didn't have in-seat screens (we have gotten a bit spoiled these days), but they had a holder for your phone.

We arrived back at the SLC airport around midnight, took the bus back to the high school, and then Carrie kindly picked us up from the school and took us home. It was an exhausting trip, but so much fun! I think the kids made a lot of wonderful memories (and the adults too!)