grandma's annual visit to brooklyn

My mom came to town, which is why you've seen so little of me online recently. But even though some might classify me as MIA, there has been plenty of action around these parts. So much, in fact, that it's hard to know where to start.

Grandma Nancy was here for 10 days, and in that time we went on several outings, both in the neighborhood and a little farther from home. Some of the things we saw and did included (but, given my memory these days, are not limited to):

• Walked the High Line;
• Window shopped in Chelsea Market;
• Drooled over just about everything in Fishs Eddy;
• Browsed the Brooklyn Flea Market;
• Ate Belgian fries at Pommes Frites;
• Shopped for paper at New York Central Art Supply;
• Procured ribbon at M & J Trimming (for a project I'll try to remember to report on once I finish);
• A visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden;
• A walk across Prospect Park;
• Devoured chocolate egg creams at Brooklyn Farmacy;
• Visited the newly opened 9/11 Memorial;
• Discount shopping in the neighborhood (TJ Maxx and Century 21);
• Watched fireworks from the promenade to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty;
  
• Ate dinner at the Hungry Store (aka: Five Guys) and breakfast at Bagel Boy; and
  
• Attended our ward's harvest party.

Garrett mastered the art of the balance beam on benches along the High Line.

Caleb proclaiming his independence ("I dooo eeet!") as we walked around the city.

Admiring the bonsai trees and posing for pictures at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. (Also, yes I cut my hair.)

On our walk through Prospect Park, we happened on a seven swans a-swimming.

The Brooklyn Farmacy is a vintage soda fountain in Carroll Gardens, and their chocolate egg creams are divine.

The 9/11 Memorial was a reverently symbolic and lovely place. Garrett, unfortunately, had a hard time grasping that concept. First, during a tantrum, his ticket blew into the fountain, which only made him more upset. Five minutes later, now knowing full well that it was against the rules to put things in the water, he plucked some paper flowers, which had been thoughtfully placed in the laser-cut name of one of the victims by a loved one, and tossed them into the water. We were luckily able to salvage the flowers before they floated off the edge, but it was more difficult to salvage Garrett's good spirits. He burst into tears, knowing he'd done wrong to give into the temptation, and I was mad that he had, so soon after he'd been explicitly told not to put anything in the water. Eventually we all cooled off, and now the whole episode is pretty hilarious. But even so, it'll probably be a while before Garrett will want to go back.

We had to walk past Zuccotti Park to get to and from the memorial, so we got a few glimpses of Occupy Wall Street at its finest.

The Statue of Liberty fireworks show couldn't have been more ideal. We got great views close to home, it was scheduled for just before bedtime, and it was over in 12 minutes. The boys loved it. Throughout the display, Garrett repeatedly turned to me to say, "Oh Mom, this kind of beautiful!"

Mom's flight was scheduled to leave shortly after our ward harvest party, so she got to come with us. The activity was great, but it was even more fun to dress the boys in their costumes. When people would exclaim to Garrett that he was an awesome fireman, he'd reply by pointing to Caleb and saying, "And this my fireman dog." For his part, Caleb absolutely loved being a doggie. He especially loved that his costume had a tail.

Whew. That's a lot of stuff we did. No wonder Garrett was comatose on the bus ride to the church.

We must have crammed all of it into only a few of the days because there was also plenty of lounging around the house, partly because of the weather. We were blessed to get mostly sunny, autumn days, but yesterday we were blindsided with the first winter storm of the season.

Snow, ice, bitterly cold slush and deep, frigid puddles. Before Halloween. The storm, and almost all it left in its wake, only lasted a day (thank goodness), but wow. That was not fun. Especially since we had to wade through it to get to the ward party. I felt bad that Mom had to experience an existence dependent on public transportation in weather like this, but the empathy I get now sure is nice.

Watch out, world, when Caleb wields scissors! Grandma nearly lost a few fingers holding the paper for him.

Caleb loved his rock-a-byes with Grandma. In fact, he grew quite attached to Grandma. When she wasn't in his line of vision, he's get a little panicked and ask, "Where Grandma?" He also frequently insisted that "Grandma doooo eeet!" in everything from changing his diapers and getting him dressed to holding his hand on walks.

Both boys loved having Grandma here with us. And so did I. People are forever telling me how much they love my mom. Well, I really love my mom, too. It's been hard to have to let her go back to her own life in Provo. But we'll see her again soon, and she's only a phone call away in the meantime.