The East Coast Blues

WARNING: If you are allergic to long posts, please do not proceed... this is the longest post EVER! If you are prone to seizures from staring at a computer screen for too long, proceed with caution.
Well, I definitely have a case of East Coast blues! I got a little taste of the East Coast for a few days, and then we had to leave... hence the blues. Bryson's dad runs a company out in Connecticut, and they were having their annual company picnic last weekend. The company was nice enough to fly us and most of the family out for the picnic, and while there, we got to do some sight seeing. Bryson's family lived in Connecticut for a few years when he was a kid, so I got to see his old house and beautiful little town as well as a bunch of his mission areas. He served his mission in New York, but that included parts of upstate New York and Connecticut as well... so we had a very busy, exhausting, and super fun time driving around to see all of it! Here are some pictures from the trip.

After an exhausting day of traveling with a few restless babies, we decided to make our first day a relaxing beach day. The East Coast beaches look so different than the West coast beaches, but it was beautiful and lots of fun.
Here Davis is looking oh so innocent right before sampling a little of the sand



No Waves!!


Here we are at Bryson's old house in Southbury, Connecticut... everything was so green and gorgeous here! Everywhere we went was just covered in huge, beautiful trees. I wish I could see it in the fall.


These are a few cute shots of Davis hanging out with his grandpa, or as the grandkids call him, "paca gary." These are at the park in Southbury.





A few more pictures from the park




Sleepy Hollow was one of the areas in Bryson's mission, so we stopped by the cemetary (the picture is by the Irving family plot, including Washington Irving's grave) and the mill/plantation that is depicted in the book.



I had to include this picture because it was right after a squirrel up in a tree peed on Bryson's head! So funny!


I'm posting these pics for Bryson's mom. A few more areas from Bryson's mission. Peeksgill and Westpoint.






Moving on to NYC! For most of his mission in NYC, Bry lived in the Bronx and Harlem. YIKES! I've been to New York before, but I've never seen it like this... it was a very interesting and different experience. Our first stop on the tour was at his favorite pizza place, Crossbronx pizza.... a lovely little place, but it was REALLY good pizza! As you can see, one slice was about twice the size of my head.



Here we are at the church in the Bronx that Bry went to... they called it Noah's Ark. We needed a little bathroom break when we got there and were lucky enough to find missionaries inside having zone conference, so they let us in for the potty and a tour. It had much nicer facilities than the surrounding buildings, as you can imagine.


This is Edgar Allen Poe's cottage, it is directly across the street from the church in a scary looking park.


The temple in the middle of the city... crazy!


Somehow I forgot to take pictures in Harlem... it might have had something to do with not wanting to stop walking long enough to get out my camera. This cathedral was in Bryson's mission, not too far from where he lived in Harlem. Beautiful church.


Of course we hit some of the typical tourist spots too... central park, columbus circle, china town, museum of natural history, the seinfield restaurant, ground zero, and Times Square. I am getting tired of posting pictures, so I'll just include the last stop.


Moving on... our last full day of the trip was the day of the company picnic. It was at a great park with tons of activities for the kids, including train rides, bumper boats, mini golf, etc. I finally got pictures of the whole group.



After the picnic, we went to the Butterfly conservatory. It was awesome! It's basically these beautiful, enclosed gardens with tons of gorgeous butterflies everywhere, and some of them even come land on you. Very fun.