FL Beutel Family: July 2007

Road warriors

Chris was given a baby bike seat for Father's Day. He bought the beach cruiser to go along with it, as well as a second baby seat to strap to Krista's bike. Here are Chris and Katie on the inaugural ride back in June (late posting...sorry!) We don't have pics of Ben in his seat yet, but he loves it just as much as his sister loves hers.

Out on the Town

The five of us took in a show on Friday night. We saw "Legally Blonde"--Omigod!--and it was soooo fun!

Me and Barb at the Top of the Rock--70 stories up with unobstructed views of the city. That's Central Park behind us.

Our last night in the city, we all saw "Chicago". Such a different show than the first one, but equally as good. This one starred Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin, pictured behind us.

The girls in Times Square.

Seeing the City

The "Today Show" featured the cast of "Hairspray" on Friday. Here are Queen Latifah, Zac Efron, and Nikki Blonskly.

Michelle, Barb, Heather and Kim on the Staten Island Ferry.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to get ice cream. A five mile walk in all, and the best ice cream ever (or at least that day!)

Kim's first subway ride.

More NY sights

The Empire State Building. We didn't go up, but we passed it several times by tour bus. Quite impressive to look up on.

Wall art on the side of a building.

Lady Liberty.

The skyline, as taken from the Staten Island Ferry.

New York Sights

Barb took the four girls (me, Kim, Heather and Michelle) to NY for a girl's trip at the end of July. We stayed in the heart of Time's Square. I swear, there were more people on the roads and sidewalks at 1:00 a.m. than there were in the middle of the day!

Kim, Heather, Barb and Michelle for lunch at Tavern on the Green. The whole place looked like a cross between a toddler's bedroom and a carousel...on crack. It was DEFINITELY an experience, and I'd chalk it up there as the kind of place you MUST do at least once.

Same girls, plus me, minus Barb.

Another view of Time's Square.

Parting shot

I couldn't resist posting this photo of the two pickiest eaters in the whole wide world. They seem to be eating! Of course, it's cake, but who can blame them!

Sam's 4th B-day party

Katie joined in for a game of "musical islands". Sam is right behind her, and Kim/Abby are behind him. Gotta love the pirate motif!

Swinging with Heather.

Sam walks the plank.

Tyler and Katie stretch their legs one last time before we hop in the van for the long ride home.

Playing around

One of Katie's favorite things to do at Grama & Grampa's was feeding the squirrels. As you can see, the squirrels are VERY well fed.

Playing playdough with Grama (which allowed Mom and Dad to pack for the trip home!)

Katie and Ben enjoyed having "new" toys to play with over at Sam & Abby's house, too.

Our big boy.

The Aquarium

Ben catches a ride with Grampa.

Inside the mouth of a great white, Daddy, Katie, Grama, Grampa and Ben still looked pretty relaxed.

Needless to say, Katie LOVED all the aquatic life. She was especially tickled to see the turtles swimming around. Tyler didn't join us on this day as Aunt Heather took him back to King's Island to ride MORE roller coasters.

King's Island, part 2

More ride pics. The bottom one was taken on Katie's favorite ride, Swiper's Sweeper. She cackled and giggled her head off (well, almost) the entire ride. We enjoyed it so much we actually went back to the park later in the week to enjoy it some more!

King's Island

In the past, theme parks have not been a successful endeavor with our little miss Kate. On this trip, she finally decided she was "ready", and boy, did she enjoy herself! Here is just a sampling of some of the fun she had on the rides. Ben stayed home with Grama and Grampa, and Tyler was off riding roller coasters all day, so we only have pics of us. Sam, Abby and Kim joined us for a bit as well.