Arriving in New York City

Evelyn and I arrived in New York City (via Megabus) late this morning.  I had packed a lunch, and we luckily happened across Greeley Park, with plenty of tables and chairs.  It wasn't too cold - about 36 degrees - and it was sunny, so we enjoyed our impromptu picnic lunch in the city.

 As we continued our walk to our hotel, I purposely walked past Evelyn's favorite skyscraper, the Empire State Building.  She couldn't believe how tall it was when she was standing at the base of the building.

Evelyn also liked how we caught glimpses of the Empire State Building as we continued our walk to the hotel.

After checking in early to our hotel, we walked four blocks to Grand Central Station.  Evelyn was amazed at the immense size of the main terminal, as well as the beauty of the 100-year-old architectural details.

Jump Rope for Heart

Evelyn's school raised money for heart disease patients, and today was the day for the Jump Rope for Heart event.

 Here's Evelyn, ready for some jumping action!

 Evelyn raised $140 (thank you!), which contributed to the school's overall total of $22,000 - wow!

Winter Swimming Lessons

Today kicked off the six-week winter swimming lesson session for the girls.  Both girls have lessons at the same time, which is how it's been in the past.

 However, Julia has moved up to the preschool class where the kids are on their own, without their parents.  She seemed nervous about that at first, but once in the water with her class, she did just fine.

 Evelyn's class started out practicing kicking techniques on the deck, and the rest of today's class was spent kicking the length of the pool several times.

 The focus for Julia's class was bobbing under water.  That didn't go over too well with Julia.  She did put her face in the water several times (she's wiping her face in the picture below), so we have to give her credit for that.

Library Time

What better way to spend a chilly January afternoon than at the Germantown library?  Julia didn't want to leave out her doll, Rebecca, so she came, too.

Mouse Pillow

Look closely, and you can see what Rosie is using for a pillow.  Clearly she wasn't in a playful mood this afternoon.

Open Gym

The girls haven't had gymnastics classes for two weeks, due to the Christmas break.  But their gym still had open gym this evening, so that's where we went after an early dinner.

Julia had a ton of fun playing, and Evelyn took advantage of the time to practice her skills.

 After an hour on (mostly) the bars and balance beams, we called it a night.

January Railfanning

The girls were getting antsy this afternoon, so we headed over to a nearby MARC train station to do a little railfanning.

 The girls ran off some energy in the parking lot...

...and then they waved at the Amtrak, which gave the girls a special honk.