I (heart) NY

Over four years and a son later, we finally made it back to the "Big Apple". With Graham ("Aunt G") running in the NYC Half-Marathon in memory of her dear friend Mary Claire and to raise funds for the Mary Claire Satterly Foundation (http://www.mcspirit.org/), we decided to make it a family adventure! We figured the many modes of transportation required (airplane and subway to name just two) would provide plenty of firsts for Thompson and a plethora of fun memories as well as make for fitting "big brother" trip before the Jones Trio becomes the Jones Quartet!

And with that, our adventure began...1st time through airplane security (why do I have to take off my shoes? to make sure there is nothing in them that shouldn't be there. see there's nothing in them)...1st time in an airplane (Asheville to Newark)...sights of land from the window seat (houses, water towers, trains, RXR tracks, etc.)...car ride to Hoboken...staying with the Crafts (Carter, Stephanie, Nella and Henry)...walk to the Path train (did you see the RXR tracks in the road!)...subway to Manhattan (H to 33)..."All aboard!"...a visit to Aunt G's office at the NFL (Super Bowl ring display and the Jet's boxcar train Thompson spotted on an employee's bookcase)...Grand Central Station (trains galore!)...subway ride...stroll through Little Italy...Chinatown...dinner at Ping's Seafood...walk to and through the Business District...subway back to Hoboken...sleepy time...rise and shine...subway to Times Square...steps at the TKTS booth (look at all the people and taxis!)...M&M store ("Where is Mr. M&M man?")...Hershey store...lunch at Lenny's...Magnolia Bakery cupcakes...Rockefeller Center...FAO Schwarz (polar express and the big piano)...stroll through Central Park...street sweeper...visit to Bart's apartment (level 5!)...rest time!...another subway ride...dinner at John's Pizzeria (straw snake and piano 5)...ferris wheel ride at Toys R Us...Elmo spotting in Times Square...subway back to Hoboken...frozen yogurt at Koa Koa...sleepy time...rise and shine...subway to Times Square in hopes of seeing Aunt G running in the 1/2 marathon...picture with NY police officer...subway to Business District...spotting of Aunt G 400 meters from finish line...Statue of Liberty...Staten Island ferry ride...subway to East Village...lunch at Phebe's (2 hot dogs please!)...stroll through NYU campus...subway back to Hoboken...playtime in the park...dinner "in" with Mamere, Papere, Aunt G and the Crafts (yummy cherries!)...sleepy time...and an early rise and shine to catch our flight home.

This captures the highlights, and as you can tell, we packed a lot into three short days. Thompson is already suggesting that "maybe we can get back on the airplane and go to Hoboken and New York City."

First time in an airplane

Mr. M&M Man!

Chocolate anyone?

Outside FAO Schwarz

Simply having fun at John's Pizzeria

with Janie and Aunt G after the race

Cousins: Thompson, Nella and Henry

Fly-fishing on the Oconaluftee

After enjoying homemade waffles this morning for breakfast, we headed to Cherokee for the day. Tourist season was in full-swing, but we managed to escape the "chaos" by heading towards the fresh waters of the Oconaluftee River on the north side of the reservation. Bobby was looking to wet his rod in hopes of catching some fish and all Thompson needed was a river to splash in. Among one of his first few casts, Bobby caught his only fish for the day...the 18-inch (or larger!) golden trout pictured herein. The other "fish highlight" was a beautiful, "monster" rainbow trout that courted us for a good 10+ minutes. Avery and Thompson managed to stand about 5 feet downstream of the fish, directing Bobby's casts, but the trout was not interested in biting today. We stopped in the local Dairy Queen for lunch and then spent about an hour exploring Oconaluftee Islands Park in the center of town before heading home. Needless to say, it was a great family day together!

Baby Jones Update

Bobby and I visited the doctor this morning for Baby Jones's monthly check-up. I'm 24 weeks 1 day and measuring right on target with a Thanksgiving Day due date. We heard the baby's heart beating strong and are scheduled for our next appointment in early September.

Having developed preeclampsia in the final weeks/months of my pregnancy with Thompson, we are always interested to learn what my blood pressure is. So far, so good, as it was 96/58 this morning. It is also hard for us to imagine my carrying Baby Jones all the way until Thanksgiving as Thompson was born 3 weeks early and weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces. All this to say, we are at 16 week (or less!) and counting. We appreciate your prayer and ask you to continue to pray for my and Baby Jones's health.

Vacay

We are finally settling back into our routine at home after a "vacay" in the sand and surf. Each summer we convene for a week on the NC coast with friends and their families. This year found us oceanfront in Kill Devil Hills with the Lyons (Raleigh, NC), Vaiksnorases (Richmond, VA) and Howards (Germantown, MD). We have most definitely grown in number since 2005 as we had seven children under roof this year: five boys ages 3-6 and a boy and girl both 13 months old. Thank goodness for Katie and the extra set of eyes, ears and hands she provided! We had great weather, enjoyed seven fun-filled days of fun, food and fellowship, lots of laughs and many memories...Thompson's first time sleeping on a top bunk...cool ocean water...warm sound-side water...golf rounds for the guys...a morning at the sound...ladies day out in Duck...sunny days...hours upon hours of fun in the pool...Thompson overcoming his fear of the water and asking to be thrown in...the red life jacket...splashing in the surf...digging in the sand...tidal pools...dolphins...trip to the pier...cocktails on the beach at dusk...cookout...s'mores...an adult dinner out...relaxing poolside...delicious meals...and on and on. All in all, it was a great vacation and we are already anticipating next summer's beach trip...but this time with two children of our own!

The moms and dads: Bobby and Avery Jones, Jay and Heidi Vaiksnoras, Morgan and Bob Lyon, Sherry and Jeremy HowardKatie with our "little rascals":
Grant, Thompson, Davis, "little" Katie, Josh, Gentry and BenKatie and Thompson

Making Waves

A recap from our beach trip will be forthcoming, but until then, we couldn't help but post these two videos of Thompson being thrown into the pool and running into the pool on his own. It took a day and several unexpected tosses into the pool for him to understand how his lifejacket works, but once he grasped the concept, we could not keep him out of the water or from asking to be thrown up high! Needless to say, daddy got quite the arm workout. We've still got a road ahead of us as he loves his life jacket and has found safety and security in it, but I think most who saw him in and around a pool prior to the beach trip (and even in the first few days at the beach) would agree that he is an entirely different child in the water these days. YEAH T-man, we're so proud of you!