NYC part 3

First thing Saturday morning we went out to Hunter's Point, a spot on Long Island where Tyler went several times on his mission. It was a beautiful morning and we had fun recreating some pictures he took back then!

Way back in 2006

and in 2018.

Look at that baby face!!

After enjoying that beauty for a while we headed back to Battery Park and got on a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty!

She should have told me she would be wearing green so we wouldn't match and it wouldn't be so embarrassing for her hahaha.

We wish we would have had time to get off the ferry at Ellis Island to explore a bit, but since we had tickets for Phantom of the Opera for that afternoon we had to cut that out. The ferry ride sure was nice though.

From there we went to the Brooklyn Bridge! Took us a while to find the path to the pedestrian part but we eventually did. 

Tyler went there during his mission too!

After all that walking (to find the bridge and then along it) we were starving and so excited for lunch. We went to Chelsea Market and ate at Los Tacos No. 1, which truly was No. 1 to us!!

We couldn't find a place to sit so we just plopped down on the floor right there in the market. We were in a corner by a service door and quite enjoyed our little picnic. Looking at those tacos sure makes me hungry now!

By then it was time for The Phantom of the Opera! We needed something to cool off our mouths (the salsa at lunch was very spicy) and there was a McDonald's right by the theater, so we grabbed a shake. Of course, they weren't allowed inside. I've never felt so classy as when we snuck in McDonald's shakes into a broadway show. But seriously, it was needed. And delicious.

The play was amazing! A dream come true for me! I have loved the music and play since I was a little girl. I was remembering my first exposure to it while there: My cool older cousin Kelly came to stay with us when we lived in France (so I was maybe 4 or 5). We went on a bike ride and I must have been in a seat on her bike or something, because I remember looking at the back of her shirt for a long time. It was a Phantom of the Opera shirt, and I asked Kelly about it. She told me the story and that one day when I was older I should go see the play. It must have stuck! I listened to the music all through jr. high and high school and just about died over the movie when it came out. I loved getting to see it on Broadway!!

After the play Tyler showed me around his mission areas a little more. We went to Woodside, his first area, and he showed me where he shopped for groceries, where his apartment used to be (torn down now! Sad) and the church building. We rode the 7 train all the way up to Flushing Meadows. Someday we'll go back for the US Open, but for now these recreated pictures will have to do! 

There was a wedding party taking pictures there too. We also walked around Chinatown there in Flushing, but it was much too cold at that point to pull out the cameras! We ate some yummy Chinese food for dinner and went to bed exhausted. A great day.

Andersen mini-reunion

Kim and her kids were in town (from Belgium!) and we were so excited to spend a few days with them. Steph and her kids also came to Houston so we'll call it a mini-reunion. We had 5 out of 8 of us together! Not bad!

Of course, we swam a lot. Max and "Laden" are still the cutest little buddies.

Seriously, their little friendship is adorable. It is not normal for either of them to be so cheerfully helpful, but when they're together they'll do anything. They were so happy to carry lots of pool toys back, and their moms were dying of shock a little bit.

A pretty sunset on our drive home. We were almost grateful for the random traffic jam we found ourselves in so we could enjoy it longer.

We thought it'd be fun to drive around Houston and see the houses where we used to live. I don't remember much about our first house, except that I shared a room with my 3 older sisters. We had 2 sets of bunk beds and we loved that we could touch both of them at the same time. I learned that it is an 1100 sq ft home and they had 6 kids while there! Amazing! I felt so humbled, thinking that sometimes I think we need more space, even though we have half that many kids and twice as big of a house. 

It was so fun to take our kids there and show them our old stomping grounds. Max was there but having a tantrum in the car. Be glad this is a picture and not a video.

We also stopped by the closest Shipley's we used to frequent. My mom taught preschool in that house and we'd go there when the letter of the week was D. D is for donuts!

Then we went to the house we lived in after France and then again after Australia. This one I remember much better, but it's amazing how different it is now. Both because of my perspective and because the trees are huge! That makes such a difference.

I remember laying bricks to make this pathway to the back yard.

Still have this addressed memorized. This was the house where I broke my nose roller blading. So many fun (and funny) memories.

Then of course more swimming. Tim had been out of town and got back just in time to throw all the kids around in the pool. They loved it!

That evening we grabbed pizzas and went to the waterwall park. My cousin Shirley drove down from Fort Worth with her kids and niece and it was fun to see them. 

Bubba bomb!

Saturday morning we went to my parents' church building to play games in the gym. Sarah taught us her mission game (can't remember the name of it, but it was basically ultimate frisbee with a football and the goal is a basketball hoop). It was really fun. Mom brought hot dogs to the church and we ate lunch there, then went back to their place to swim. We had two more cousins (Whitney and Charlotte) join with their families, so we were quite the crowd! Usually that would not have been a problem, but it seemed that someone else was having a family reunion that day or something. We almost never see anyone else using that pool, but of course on the day we had a big crew it was packed. So funny. We had a great time anyway.

We all loved meeting Kim and Caleb's new baby, Oliver. Millie was especially sweet with him and has since asked if she can have a baby sister for Christmas.

We went up for dinner on Sunday after church. Harvey and Zoe were "helping" Grandma make rolls.

Monday was our last day with the Bakers for a while! We had a quiet day at Grandma and Grandpa's, swimming and playing. We're so glad they came down to TX and can't wait to see them next time!