J's Golden

Happy Birthday to our favorite Man!

We Love You!

A Tale of Cake and Oreos

We had an adventurous Saturday recently.

There is a little lady named Miss Mary who makes delicious cakes and and sets up shop in Harlem.  Seriously, $2 for a giant three layered cake?

We stopped and got some red velvet on our way to buy 1500 oreos and 20 gallons of milk.  We needed to stock up.  Just kidding...  Jay was in charge of refreshments last minute at a Church meeting and this is the best we could think of.

And Emmi asked for her first pet...

Random summer

Now that we are in the 50s this morning in NYC, I guess the summer is really gone. Here are a few pictures left over of various activities.

Emmi comes by her pick-pocketing skills naturally.

I love it when she folds her arms for prayers!

Central Park skater

This is how we find our little girl some mornings. See how she is trying to change the subject.

We went to Harlem Days, which had great jazz.

Speaking of Harlem, where else would you have this....

Learning to eat with a spoon.

Jay played on a softball team and we had fun watching. Go Stormin's!

Our good friend from India brought Emmi a little present.

"Pull out all the tupperware and get in cupboard". This is on Emmilene's top 5 list of what to do while mom is making dinner. And no, we do not normally store hairbrushes in our kitchen.

Mets Game with Em's friend Kate. People thought they were both our blue-eyed beauties.

Labor day at the beach with dear little Charlie.
I am still vacuuming up sand.

And maybe living in Harlem our child has a hope of getting some cool dance moves, since her genetics are no help...

(ignore the MC Hammer pants)

Camp... After a 15 Year Hiatus

Yep, I went back to Girl's Camp this summer as the Nurse. It was so fun! It was in upstate NY in a beautiful campground complete with Mess Hall, Craft Cabin, and even a lake to swim in.

We didn't have such luxuries back in LV when I was a teenager. In fact, we didn't even have cars back then and had to walk through the dessert. Uphill. In the snow. With no shoes. And no feet.

And we were THANKFUL! (1:08-2:36)

Speaking of luxury, the nurse got a cabin as well. I had my own shower and bathroom, and about 5 brooms.

It was good to get to know all the lovely Young women that live in Manhattan. I especially enjoyed that there were no major health emergencies.

And where was Emmilene all this time? She was at camp with me and she loved it. She had new friends to play with as some of the other leaders had their kids. And the girls loved her, perhaps too much sometimes.

Jay came one night to visit and we were both overjoyed to see him.

When Jay wasn't there, she followed this poor fellow, Marcus, everywhere. I think she thought he resembled her dad. He could get her to anything, even eat, when I couldn't.

So the big rage at camp is a giant slip n' slide. Who knew a hose, some soap, and a long long plastic tarp could be so fun?

I got so nervous watching them go down as I was sure I would have to set broken bones or stitch together foreheads (as I do that all the time in my profession... haha!)

And yes, I even let someone take Emmi down. Twice. But I think I held my breath the whole way down. Actually, I don't know how I could done that from this video:

Nat and Don

My littlest sister and her hubster came to visit. I am trying to encourage other siblings who have not yet been to NYC to see us. See how cool it is to have a blog on the NY Times all about you?

But only if you come.

Anyway, we did all the tourist things you can do in 2 days... Staten Island Ferry, Southstreet Seaport, Chinatown, FAO Schwarz, CP, pizza. We even stayed at the Plaza Hotel... for 8 minutes.

We already miss you! Come again!

Guest Blogger: Jay vs. the Appaliachian Trail*

Here we are at the Trail head hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire as troop 526.
(back: Garrett, Ben, Dave, George, Adrian, Cole, front: Caleb, Me)

Our tent site at Liberty Springs Camp

Garrett and I after a tough first day (2600 vertical feet in 2.6 miles).

Breakfast, mmmmmmmmmmm - oatmeal. George and Adrian

On our way to Mount Lafayette.

Looking back from where we came... Franconia Ridge.

Hiking down, down, down.

At the top of Mount Garfield

Mt. Goyut

The Goyut Hut that saved us from the pouring rain. After this night, we had to retire the tent - may it rest in peace (not pieces). Fortunately before we slept we moved from the tent to the hut. Howland is quoted as saying "the best decision I ever made," which I concur.

Ethan Pond Lake just before it started to rain.

We all had a great time. The weather, for the most part, cooperated. No one complained. It was a tough hike but we had a blast and would do it again.

Thanks to everyone who made it possible.

*Jay Salmon appears courtesy of Nagging, Inc. the maker of Fine Husbands.