You guys had to bring up Lemon Jello Cake so I had to make one! Normally I would say this is not blog-worthy, but look at it, family! It didn't sink in the middle. That like never happens to me, so I just had to share the miracle with you. I cut myself a piece that night and told the kids they could have some when they felt like it. I took mine up to my room to eat while I was watching tv. When I came downstairs almost the whole thing was gone! Everyone blamed Dean, but he pinkie-promised it wasn't him. Well guess who was throwing up Lemon Jello Cake the next morning?! It just might have pushed him over to your side, Stephanie!
I am back from a great week of relaxing, eating, and lots of laughing. After two way too short days in the Big Apple I now understand why everybody hearts NY. It is absolutely amazing! I could have stayed there for the whole week instead of going on the cruise, but since I already payed for it, I figured I better get on the boat! Here are some of the NY highlights and I'll blab more about the cruise later.Most of you know how much I hate Coach purses, so I had to laugh when I saw these shoes! Please, please, please don't let this trend start up in my town!
Being in Rockefeller Center was too cool! I was looking for Matt Lauer or Al Roker, but apparently they don't meander around in public after the Today Show taping ends.
But I found the best panini ever!
We went to the Top of the Rock observation deck for an amazing 360 view above the city.
We met Officer Penetti up there and talked with him about 9/11 and he pointed out where the WTC buildings were. Such a nice guy and so much fun to talk to a real New Yoka (good accent, huh?!).
Being at Ground Zero felt surreal. All the images and emotions from 9/11 filled my mind and it took my breath away seeing the hole and imagining what it must have been like. It was surprising that all signs of the disaster were gone (besides the gaping hole). But it was also surprising that there isn't really any progress on the Freedom Tower. I guess it is a political mess.
Since we we're short on time we took a rickshaw ride through Central Park so we could see as much as possible. It was like a movie trivia game. Our driver would point out an area and we would try to figure out what movie was filmed there. It was awesome.
We walked down Broadway and we were so bummed that we couldn't catch a show or at least see Letterman. Next time, for sure!
This is probably a dumb question, but why is it called Times Square? (Ok, I looked it up...it was named after the New York Times which used to have it's offices here a hundred years ago. Who knew?!)
A view of the Empire State Bldg as we cruised down the Hudson out to sea.
That's me with the Brooklyn Bridge behind me. It was a little bit windy on the deck of the ship!
And let's not forget Lady Liberty. Ok, I'm pretty sure this one is a guy, but it cracked me up to see the Statue of Liberty walking around.
Here's the real one! And it was absolutely breath-taking sailing past her. 
More to come about the cruise and other places we went. New York was my favorite though!
When Burke plays soccer he is very hard core. He runs hard, kicks hard, falls hard, etc.
And then there is Dean.
Before fall comes I had to try this summer's "it color." All the cute teenie boppers have been wearing it, so I had to push my luck and try to fit in. Honestly, it's not my favorite and Jim says it makes me look like I have jaundice! Nice. I guess I'll set this color aside for Jamie:)
This is the recurring theme of my trip.
And I had to have a pic with some real Harvard boys.
#4 is the ivy everywhere. We were told that the term Ivy League is actually a sports reference, as in division iv (the Roman numeral). So a sportswritter nicknamed the schools the i-v league. I thought it was because they all have ivy growing on them. Guess there's a reason I couldn't get into Harvard. 
#5 is the Old North Church. This is the place where the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal was given. What I liked about it, though, was the podium design. If the speaker is boring or talking too much, BAM, you could flatten them.
