US...

Jay was cleaning his clubs.  Ali walks in and says "daddy's big hockey!"

Luke made a bunch of paper airplanes and now will test them in the great outdoors

A nice spring day, so ready to get outside and enjoy a snack

Visit with baby Alex

Ali's spring break trip -

Ali spent 3 days on the sunny shores of Dartmouth, MA hanging out with Angie and her husband Joe (and Jax the dog)

She was treated like a queen, spoiled rotten...

and ate like a queen too!

Playground -

 Farm -

 Library -

 Pretty sure she didn't miss us too much!

She even got to spend some QT with Angie's grandson -

Spring Break to NYC

We contemplated taking a BIG trip this year to the islands or somewhere warm and tropical, then we remembered that we have a two year old.  We have a rule to travel: no diapers, no naps.  Ali doesn't pass the test.  Since we couldn't justify leaving her with the sitter for 7 days we didn't have a problem doing it for 3 days while the rest of us headed to the sunny shores of New York City!!

Paige and I have been, a little Christmastime girls weekend in Dec 2014, but Luke had not.  We packed a lot into 3 days including: a visit to daddy's college on the way down, Aladdin on Broadway, Time Square shopping, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty(up to her feet), Chinatown and Little Italy, the 9/11 memorial, Central Park & the Central Park Zoo, swimming at the hotel pool and we managed to sneak in a dinner with Jen Doll and Martin.  Lots of running around and I'm happy to report that we exclusively used the subway (except, of course, when we were on the ferry)

So many good pictures.  Funniest moments - Luke looked at the Statue of Liberty and said, "is she holding an IPAD?"  By the third day, Paige said, "UGH!  I'm so tired of all these people talking different languages!"

Visit to Fairfield.  Paige decided she will go here for college.  Luke is still laser focused on going to Duke...yikes!

DAY 1

View from the hotel, we were right next to the 9/11 memorial in the financial district.  When the towers fell, they closed the hotel for 2 years to rebuild it from the damage.

First ride on the subway, no problem -

 No hands -

 Dinner in Time Square before the show.  Paige with the signature pot pie dish -

 Showtime! We saw Aladdin, it was great.  The genie won a Tony Award for his performance.

DAY TWO -
Battery Park -

 One World Trade :(

 Ferry to the Statue of Liberty -

 Luke became part of the street show -

 Daddy did too!

9/11 memorial fountain -

 SHOPPING!  M&M store

 Paige at the American Girl store.  They each got to pick something.  Luke picked something at the Lego store.

Hanging out with Jen Doll :)

DAY THREE -
Hanging out in Central Park -

Even brought our baseball stuff -

 Central Park Zoo -

 Downtime -

 Dinner in Little Italy -

 Shopping in Chinatown.  Luke lobbied hard for a pair of REAL turtles.  The lady was going to sell them to him for a deal, $10.  I explained we had nowhere to put turtles in the hotel room.  Moms are no fun!

Ali Happenings -

When Ali does something to make us raise our voice to her or correct her, she gets upset.  If she dumps her cereal, throws a crayon or something similar and we say “Ali, don’t do that!’ her response is always “BE NICE, OK?” followed shortly after by a “NO BE MAD, BE HAPPY, OK?”

And if you say you “I’m mad Ali!”  she gets very upset, cries and yells, “NO BE MAD!!!! BE NICE, OK!!!!”

It is an order at that point.

 She is also very considerate often times.  She still apologizes more than any toddler I’ve seen.  If she accidentally does something like gets applesauce on my shirt or bumps me she said “SORRY MOM! SORRY….SORRY MOM…SORRY!”

Usually there are about 5 sorrys.

She is also very good with her Please and Thank Yous.

She is very chatty with strangers when we are out and about.  At Target she likes to tell the check out person which member of the family will be using the item they are scanning.  “Daddy shampoo for wash daddy” or “Paige yogurts for Paige” or “Luke eat apples”  Many times these people have no idea what she is talking about but it usually earns her a sticker at least. She always does the big goodbyes when we leave the store with the wave and yelling “GOODBYE” to anyone within 20 feet.

In music class, the teacher said, “Ali is going to be a little CEO” Not sure if that is a good thing.  She walks around and makes sure everyone has an instrument and cleans up after the songs by making sure everything gets put away.

Ali also had her first dentist appointment last week.  She was a good little patient.  The hygienist comments a few times on how good she was.  She learned about all the instruments they use, got her teeth counted and even got her first real cleaning.  I know it was a success because she has asked to go back about 4 times since then.  I think for the toy more than anything else.