a great weekend, in two parts

Part 1: Saturday, as told by Garrett [with explanatory notes by Mom]

[While Blake was in Manhattan at a Priesthood Leadership meeting (with general authorities!) for stake presidencies and bishops,] Mom and me and Cay-buh [sic] went to the [Central Park] zoo! And we saw penguins! And polar bears! And sea lions! And monkeys! And birds! And turkeys! [??] And [we climbed on a big rope ] spiderwebs -- like Spiderman! I'm Spiderman! And we played on eggs, and turtles, and went in tunnels. And we feed goats cereal! And [because it was such a gorgeous day] I no wear my coat. And I climbed on [the Alice in Wonderland] statue. It was so tall! That so fun! And we find Dad. And we eat treat! And I eat pizza for dinner. And I play with my toys. I had a great day!


Part 2: Sunday, as told by Lindsay [with supplemental exclamations by Garrett]

Because there were general authorities in town (see reference above), all the Saints in Brooklyn and Staten Island, gathered for a special conference. We met in the Victorian ballroom at the opulent Grand Prospect Hall ["I love this church, Mom. It so nice!"]. Elder Neil L. Anderson, from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke, and, though the particulars of his message were difficult to focus on, thanks to those two little boys climbing all over us during the meeting, the spirit felt was wonderful. Except for when Blake had to help usher during the hour before the meeting started, he was mine, all mine, all day. For the first time in a very long time we went to church together and came home from church together. He took care of (and stood in the back most of the time with) Caleb, which left me only having to remind Garrett (over and over and over) to stop talking and to not whistle and to stop climbing on me like that because it hurts.

Views of the Victorian ballroom and the marble entrance staircase we climbed to access it at Grand Prospect Hall. Images snipped from the website's virtual tours. (Seriously, go look at them. And while you're there, read up on this venue's celebritied history. It's fascinating.)

After church all four of us took long naps ["I no need nap, Mom. I happy."], which were actually more like comas, and it was glorious. Also, it was raining AND was warm enough to crack the windows open, two elements which always make any nap that much better. When we regained consciousness I made a really, really, really tasty (and easy) new dish for dinner: Creamy Chicken Taquitos, which I served topped with guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and fresh tomatoes, with yellow rice on the side. Oh, it was divine.

The day was capped off with phone calls to family ["I talk a Grandma!"] and an evening happily devoid of too many church-related phone calls. It's really too bad that every Sunday can't be like this one.