We had a great time the past few days in NYC! Will was so great – he is such a city slicker I think it is in his bones. We had a fabulous time mostly eating good food with great friends. Here is our trip in pictures.

Will looking out the airplane window. He did great on his first flight.

Will checked out the “Sky” magazine while en route from Minnesota to NYC. The whole magazine was devoted to New York so Will knew all the hot spots to check out once he got there.

Man, flying is exhausting.

On Saturday night we at at John’s of 12th Street in the East Village. We enjoyed dinner with Jay, Desiree and James Sholes and Pete Little, all of our gracious hosts. Will and James enjoyed catching up with each other over dinner.

Will loved riding on the subway. He especially liked entertaining everyone on the train.

On Sunday we were able to worship at Apostles Church then ate a delicious Thai lunch with our sweet friends Kristian and Katy. It was great to introduce them to Will and catch up a little. Thank you Rose’s for fitting us into your schedule. After lunch we took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. You can’t tell from the picture but it was very crowded.

Bill and Will on the Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan skyline behind them.

Will and James had a great time playing with each other. Thank you James for sharing all your cool toys with Will!

On Monday we headed to the Central Park Zoo with Desiree and James. Above Will is trying to spot the elusive Snow Leopard. I don’t think it makes much since to have an elusive animal on display but we did see one that was hiding in the corner.

Will at the Polar Bear exhibit.

Will watching the seals play in the water.

Bill and Will checking out the penguins.

James getting a good look at a penguin. Or is it a penguin getting a good look at James?

Fun day at the Central Park Zoo.

Of course, we had to visit Columbia and our old stomping grounds. And we couldn’t leave without a new t-shirt for Amber and Will

We took Will to Toys R Us in Times Square. He wanted everything in the store! Just kidding, but he did like looking at the toys.

Bill and Will in the middle of Times Square. We went down because we wanted to see the new “pedestrian mall” we heard about on the news. That was a little disappointing – it was just a bunch of plastic lawn chairs in one block of road that cars don’t drive on.

This is why I call Will a “city slicker” because he was so good! We went almost all day everyday and Will was happy in the stroller and just went to sleep when he got tired. Thank you Javen for letting us borrow your stroller – it was a lifesaver! It is so light that even Amber could carry Will and stroller down the subway steps.

On Monday night we met Ramona to catch up for a few minutes. Will loved her and really wants her to come and visit him. Actually, he would love for all of his NYC friends to come and visit him!

On Tuesday we headed to Books of Wonder the great children’s bookstore on W. 18th. They have lots of book signings there by famous children’s authors. Will got a signed book about penguins since he saw the penguins at the zoo.

For lunch on Tuesday we ate sushi. Yummy! Don’t worry this was just a cucumber roll – no raw fish.

Then, a quick goodbye to Desiree and James. We had a great time!

We love this city!

This year for vacation we stayed a couple of days at the camper in Gatlinburg. I tried to get Bill to buy us matching airbrush t-shirts that said “Dixon Family Vacation 2008″ but he said no. Can you believe?!?!

We had a great time. We spent our days mostly at the river where PepperAnn thoroughly enjoyed herself. At one point the water got a little deep and the current pretty swift and it carried her a bit down river! She was so funny – dog paddling as fast as she could upstream but getting no where! We also spent some time at the pool, the outlet mall and eating out.

And as Bill informed everyone after my last post – he did find my camera! But, I still can’t upload pictures of our house or vacation because Bill has messed up my computer. I could almost swear that every time Bill touches my laptop it becomes “sick” (as Bill says). So, until I have my personal computer (and not Bill’s work one) I can’t upload any pics.

This week I have taken a few days of staycation. It has been really nice and relaxing. This weekend my Dad played softball in the Senior Olympics – it was fun to watch even though they didn’t win a gold medal. After the tournament, my Mom stayed over for a few days.

Monday I worked 1/2 a day then we went browsing in Green Hills. Tuesday we went swimming at the Williamson County Parks and Recreation pool. Today I am just watching TV and maybe putting together a hutch for our desk.

In the past month we have bought an insane amount of things for our house. It has been a lot of fun! In the office/guest room we now have a daybed with a trundle and a desk for Bill to work at. It took over 2 hours for us to put the desk together! But, it looks really nice. Now we just have to put together the hutch. The bed is ready for 1 guest because we have to find a mattress to fit the trundle.

In the living room, we have a new addition – a piano. Thank you to Pam for giving us her piano! It looks so great in our living room. And thanks to my parents who brought the piano over Monteagle. Now our living room is about complete.

We also got some dining room chairs – but no table yet. The table we want is from West Elm and it is on back order.

We have also gotten rid of a few pieces this weekend. Since we’re getting a new table we donated our old one to Goodwill. It was a little sad because that table was the first thing we ever bought together and it has been a lot of places with us. We also sold our green loveseat that we bought in NYC. We really liked it but it just didn’t fit with the rest of the things in our house. The only room it matched was the master bedroom and it didn’t fit in the space.

Over the long weekend Bill and I went to Washington, D.C. The reason we went is because my internship had a National Advisory Panel meeting there on Saturday morning. So, we decided to make a weekend of it. We took the AmTrak train there – which was a fun experience. It gets you there about an hour faster than driving. It was fun to see all the places in between. Friday night we stayed at this really luxe hotel (thanks to my internship). After the meeting on Saturday morning, we changed hotels and started our “vacation.”

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Capitol – it was nice, except for the fact that we didn’t have any hot water! But, they sent some “engineers” to fix the problem. It was great because we could walk EVERYWHERE! One of the best things we did was eat a Big & Tasty burger at McDonald’s! There are no Big & Tasty’s at NYC McD’s because we are the “testing ground” for their Angus burgers (which I refuse to taste because they take the place of the Big & Tasty!)

On Saturday afternoon we walked the National Mall and saw the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Then we walked around the White House. We didn’t get to go on a tour of the White House because the 12:30 tour was booked.

The strangest thing that we did in D.C. Maybe the strangest thing I’ve ever done – is go to a “hotel sale.” The Washington Hotel was having a renovation sale and everything was on sale – kitchen stuff, booths, beds, mirrors, chandeliers, TV’s armoires – everything! You just went into each room and decided what you wanted. It was strange.

On Sunday we saw the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution at the The National Archives, I pretended I was ALIAS at the Spy Museum, saw Ford Theater and the house President Lincoln died in. Then we took a bus to see the Capitol, Library of Congress and Supreme Court.

Sunday night we at Old Ebbitts Grill right across from the White House. It was a nice place and our waiter was great. The food was delicious. Our waiter thought I was funny because I ordered a mug of hot water. My hands were so freezing that I couldn’t feel them. I wanted something to warm them up! I guess that is a pretty strange request – but it worked. We also had a delicious dessert! Peanut Butter Pie roasted peanut and chocolate chip crust filled with peanut butter mousse! It was so scrumtious.

Our last day was Monday. We went to the Smithsonian – Air and Space Museum. There we saw the Wright’s airplane and they also had an American History exhibit. I was excited to see Dorothy’s Ruby Red Slippers but they weren’t out! They were away “for filming” whatever that means. But, I did get to see the scarecrows costume and the puffy shirt from Seinfeild. We also went to the Holocaust Museum. We didn’t get to spend as much time there as I would have liked because we couldn’t access the exhibit until 2:15 and we had to be at the train station by 4:30. It was very moving – I would have loved to read everything there and watched all the videos but there was just enough time to read the big plaques and look at the pictures as we walked by. It is the one place I would like to go again.

We had a great weekend. But, we’ve decided if we ever go on “vacation” again in January – it will definitely be somewhere warm! I’m thinking Orlando or the Bahamas!!