back up on the horse

so i have a good excuse for not posting for the last couple of weeks.
first of all, my sister, brother in law and nephew came for a couple days, so i was busy playing host.
then i was busy recovering from the cold that my nephew gave me
then i was busy going to atlanta for my friends angie & elin's wedding.
then i was busy celebrating my 33rd bday. i am now the age jesus was when he was crucified.
not sure what that means for me, but i am going to take it as a sign of all the good things to come.

so i am tired (still trying to kick the cold) so this post will only address my family visiting.
they got here on wednesday night and we basically headed up to two boots for dinner and then came home.
ben had some difficulty getting used to sleeping at our house. kath had got him this totally cool "over the hedge" twin sized blow up mattress, but he wasn't really having it, so kath and greg took turns sleeping with ben on the bed while the other slept on the air mattress.

on thursday it was raining cats and dogs, so we hopped on the subway to head to the american museum of natural history to see the dinosaurs. here is a pic of their first trip on the subway:



now they look happy here before it was the beginning of our journey to the museum. being the stellar navigator i am, we ended up just outside of the bronx. FINALLY i got us to the musuem at about 3:30 (only thirty minutes late) to find out that the dinosaur exhibits were all closed for a private party. i felt like such an ass. so we just stopped somewhere so they could get a bite to eat and then we headed back to our house hung out and got hot diggity dog for dinner.

the next day we tried again, and i followed the directions this time and we made it to the musuem right about lunchtime. we had lunch and then headed up to see the dinosaurs. ben really liked them and he loved the toy snake and lizard that kath got him. here is a pic of jes and i and some dinosaur bones:



and here is a picture of kath and ben at the museum:



after we looked at the dinos, we saw some animal diaramas and then we went to this cool presentation on the big bang theory and the solar system. greg really liked that. after the musuem, kath, greg, ben and i headed to visit ground zero and then we headed home for some rest time. on friday night we all had dinner with jes's folks and their friends martin and helen. we went to an italian restaurant on the corner that jes's folks love. it was great to see jes's folks with their friends and to hear about their trip up and down the east coast. i had a delicious tilapia dish and we all shared various desserts- all of which were divine. we got home after that and hit the hay b/c kath, greg and i were headed to pennsylvania on saturday morning for a wedding.

the trip to pennsylvania was okay except ben threw up. i think it was a mixture of post nasal drip and car sickness. it was really scary b/c i didn't know how to help him or make him feel better, but once we pulled over, got some new clothes on him and cleaned off the car seat, he seemed much better. by the time we got the hotel, he seemed completely fine. they all got ready and headed to the church. looked how nice they look:



i am not sure if you can see, but there are dinosaurs on ben's tie. adorable. after the church wedding, they brought ben back to the hotel and we hung out while they went back to the reception. my time with ben was great. we went to the store, then we came back and played, looked out the window at the highway and the trains going by, then it was dinner, bathtime and then we watched some baby einstein. ben wasn't ready to go to sleep yet so we just laid in my big comfy bed and chatted:



here ben said two things that made my heart melt. first, he snuggled up next to me and said "you're my best friend." i almost started crying. then, when i let my hair down he said "you look like my mommy." i reminded him that kath and i are sisters and therefore we look a like. he just kept telling me that i looked like his mommy and giggled. soon kath and greg came home from the wedding and took over in putting ben to sleep in their room.

after a wonderful nights sleep in my big comfy bed, i got up and finished reading "to kill a mockingbird" (a very good book) and then got ready for our big day at sesame place. yeah, you got that right, an amusement park dedicated to the sesame street gang. it was about thirty minutes from where our hotel was. talk about good luck. so we arrived at the park at about 11am. it was a clear, warm sunny day. perfect for elmo, cookie monster and bert and ernie.



here is a pic of the whole family at sesame place:



even the plants are sesame street like:



so this place is amazing. its part amusement park, part water park and you can see bert and ernie and oscar just walking around. they have a street like sesame street and a parade every day at 3pm. i think everyone had a really good time. there was this huge play structure that was all ropes and you could climb and climb and climb. it was so much fun. i tried it and kept falling down and laughing. here is a pic of kath and ben on the ropes:



on our way out of the park, we got to see the count. luckily, we got to see the count and when i took a picture, he even gave us a little flourish of his cape:



when we got back to brooklyn we met up with jes at prospect park where ben played for a little while. then we got some sushi and that food and watched madagascar. the next morning jes went to school and we hung out here until they had to leave for the airport. i think a good time was had by all. most importantly- at the beginning of their trip, ben said jes was his favorite, by the end, i was. you know it.

ok, must sleep soon. more later.