First Day:Manhattan

We took millions of photos on our trip and it is going to take me a while to edit them and show them to you, but here a few of the experiences we that were most exciting to me.

NYC was the most scary and exciting part of the trip for me. I checked out every book from the library, bought books and maps, studied every web site I could find, asked the peas (twopeasinabucket.com) and spent at least a month trying to learn everything I could about NYC and what we should do there. From all that advice, I made a list of the things I most wanted to do and we were able to do them all except one.

1. Three Hour Circle line boat tour of Manhattan Island

We saw 3 rivers, seven bridges, five boroughs and 25 renown landmarks. It was a very good choice and I'm glad we did this first.

2. Central Park
One thing I wanted to see in Central Park was dog walkers. I was thrilled to find these guys. They were just finishing their walk and were telling each other good bye when we found them.

We found everyone in NYC to be very friendly and helpful (including the taxi drivers) and every where we went we saw people gathered in the parks and outside their apartments visiting with neighbors and friends.

3. Top of the Rock

The advice I got was to go here instead of The Empire State Building, because it is easier to get there and you can see the same thing. (It is Rockefeller Center where the Today show is taped.) I took this with the cell phone so we could email it to everyone. We got there about 4:30 and stayed until dark taking photos in the daylight, sunset and dark.

4. Riding the subway

If Basil looks a little spooked here, it is because we were a little anxious about how to get back to our hotel in Brooklyn on the subway. We had printed instructions, but we still had to ask 2 people for help. They were very nice and we got back with no problems. I studied the subway more than any other thing about NYC and was assured that it was easy, but I found it very complicated.

The one thing on my list that we did not get to do was walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We saw it several times and took lots of photos of it but there was a storm when we got to Brooklyn the first night so we did not get a chance to actually walk over it. We were going to try again before we left for home, but it was too complicated to manage with luggage.

Movie Stars

Everyone on our flight from Baltimore to DFW was surprised when this guy walked on to the plane and sat down right behind first class. We learned he is a movie star. He starred in Air Bud. The flight attendant was the first to take his photo, then everyone else got a chance while we were stuck on the runway waiting for clearance to take off. By the time it was my turn, he had settled down in the floor for a nap.

We also found this movie being filmed in Central Park. The next day we read in the paper that Madonna is directing and it is about the romance of King Edward and Wallis Simpson.

We didn't see Madonna.

Nurse Granny visits a homeschool group

I enjoyed visiting a local homeschool group and talking about nurses this week. The hospital let me borrow their germ powder and black light so the children could practice washing their hands and seeing the germ powder glowing if they didn't do a good job. All the children knew me as Granny. Some of them, including my own grandchildren were surprised to find out that I was a nurse. They were shocked when I wore my scrubs and asked me why I had on those clothes.

We read a book about what nurses do and where they work and every family got to take a book about handwashing home.

We traced our hands and put germs on them.

The little girl in the plaid on the right wants to be a nurse. The little girl in the aqua beside her is scared of blood and doesn't like shots. In fact, she told me she doesn't like anything that happens at the Doctor's Office.

I took some of my tools and instruments and told them how I used them.

I told them my most important tool was my name badge because if I didn't have it, I didn't get paid. (Some of the Mommies laughed)