Moving to Cali

Well, it's official--we are moving to California. Walnut Creek, to be exact. Kevin is going to work for his same company out there. I am very excited to be moving--more space, closer to family, cheaper (but not by much) cost of living--it's going to be great. Especially with number 2 on the way. But there are also so many things I am going to miss about New York. We've made some great friends here, and we absolutely love our ward, so I am sad to leave it. Jacob has had a lot of fun at the wide variety of parks within a one mile radius of our apartment. And I love that we walk everywhere. We have been able to do a lot of amazing things while living here, and I will definitely miss a lot of things about New York (it's funny, if you would have asked me if I would miss New York four years ago, I would have said "no way! Good riddance!"). But after having Jacob, I really started liking the city.

Jacob also started attending nursery at church on Sundays, and he absolutely loves it. He doesn't even care when I leave, and when we pick him up he doesn't want to go. This makes me a tiny bit sad, I will admit, but mostly I am happy that he loves it so much. He is such a social butterfly! So I am sad he will be leaving all his friends there.

Anywho, we are leaving on Sept 4 (and making a pit stop in Paris for two weeks!!!) and will be officially living in California on the 18th. We are trying to make the most of our last days here, and here are some pics of what we have been doing lately (most of it is Jacob at the park, because that's really what we spend our day doing--going to various parks).

Jacob will definitely miss spending time at the American Museum of Natural History with his best buddy.

Oh the swings! He cannot get enough of these. I have to really emphasize sharing with other kids to get him off of them. He really loves it when I count to 20, and he loves when he sees a helicopter go by.

This park is a really fun one. It's called River Run, and it has a model of the Hudson River coming from lake Placid down to NYC. It has a big fountain and Jacob loves walking and splashing through the "river".

He likes to think he is one of the big kids, and tries to follow them when they climb up the ladders.

We love this little walkway that you can get to along the pier. I can let Jacob walk freely, and he has fun picking up leaves and chasing bubbles.

This park has become one of our favorites--the Classic Playground. It is a little gem that you get to by walking along the Hudson River, and it's never crowded. It also always shaded, and it has this giant kiddy pool as I like to call it, that is completely full of water by the afternoon. I love walking through it too and cooling off.

Another playground Jacob loves is PS 199. This one is usually crowded, but he loves the water area here and the little "tunnel" on the play structure. It also has a huge fenced in area where he can roam freely. And he recently discovered the hopscotch area, which is labeled with numbers (he is obsessed with numbers lately).

This is something that I am going to miss dearly--Central Park. I love coming here on Saturdays when Kevin doesn't have to work. There are so many things going on, and it's just really pretty.

I am also going to miss all the visitors we get here! We practically run a bed and breakfast here in NYC, and I love it. Jacob really loves having visitors too (and loves to wake them up in the morning by saying "morning!"). Kevin's sister and two nieces recently came to visit and it was a lot of fun.

He knows when he is being funny, and he keeps doing whatever it is that makes people laugh. He is our little comedian.

Hecksher playground is another fun one. It is right in Central Park and has a fun tunnel that Jacob loves, as well as water to play in.

Living right by the water has been so awesome. Jacob and I take walks along the river all the time, and in the summer there are lots of fun things going on. Every Thursday, there is a free children's concert on the pier that's really fun. Jacob walks around and stops every few steps to do his little dance.

The "choo-choo" playground is the closest one to us, so we go there often. This one is also used by the preschools in the area, and Jacob loves when the big kids come. He tries to play with them, and luckily isn't phased when they tell him to go away.

Our little cheeseball!

Jacob is really into snuggling. He comes to us with a blanket or his Mickey and says "nuggle", and it just makes me melt. I love it so much.

Here we are on the paddle boats in Central Park. Last weekend we took Jacob in one for the first time. I think he would have liked it better if he didn't have to wear such a huge life vest, but what can you do. I'll be honest, I was a nervous wreck the whole time, because he kept trying to look over the edge and walk all over the boat.

But I am so happy I got this cute picture! He loves to be helpful.

Sorry about the random post, but I am just reminiscing about the fun things we do here that I will miss. We are excited about California, but will miss you New York!

Here are a couple of Jacob videos:)