OntarioCanada/Niagara Falls Trip!

On Friday, July 27th we got up at 4am and headed out to Ontario, Canada (about 30 minutes over the border) to see our friend Heather! She got married earlier in the summer and since we were sad we missed her wedding, we decided to go to her reception in Ontario. Initially it was supposed to be a surprise, but we had to tell her a month in advance to make sure they would have the time to hang out with us when we were there.

It was a really short trip (we headed home on Sunday evening) and it was about 7 hours one way, so there was a ton of driving. But Auralia was a champ and we were glad we did it. On Sunday, we stopped in Niagara Falls and did all of that- it was amazing! I was surprised at how much I liked it. Tyron was awesome and researched it beforehand, which helped. Viewing it from the Canadian side is the only way to go. The views are much more spectacular. We did the Maid of the Mist boat ride- would definitely recommend that as well! Auralia didn't love the noise of running water- probably reminded her of the bath which she doesn't like. But she snuggled up to Tyron in her little baby rain poncho and sucked on her soother and was fine. Here's some pictures of our trip:

Tyron loves swimming so at 9am he wakes up and decides to take a swim with Auralia in the hotel pool. It was way too cold for me, but Auralia enjoyed it. She doesn't like baths even though there is little water and it's warm and there are toys, but she didn't mind the lifejacket & cold water at the pool- go figure!

We loved seeing Heather & Lyle! We wished we could have had more time to spend with them one-on-one; but life is what it is and so we appreciated the time we did get with them. It made us really miss our old life of having many good friends who we could spend time with- we really are loners in New York.

The beautiful bride & handsome groom

Niagara Falls! I had no idea there were 2 falls there! The famous horseshoe one (Canadian Falls) and a regular one (American Falls). You can see a Maid of the Mist boat going into the mist- it was a really fun ride!!

Auralia all ready for the boat ride in her baby sized poncho- so cute!

The American in front of the Canadian Falls

The Canadian in front of the American Falls :)

Family Visits

We have been so blessed to have some of Tyron's family members here this summer! JaCobi and Nathan visited in July. We sucked at getting pictures with them, but did get a couple. They had a pretty well rounded NYC experience- Harbor Cruise to see the skyline & Statue of Liberty, Lion King Broadway show, Temple night, Top of the Rock Observation Deck, a Yankees baseball game, America's Got Talent results show, and lots of yummy food!

Mom & Dad Jensen were here for almost a week in early August. It was a little rough as dad had some stomach issues the first day and then I got a stomach bug for a day on the weekend and was throwing up. But we enjoyed the visit in between all the stomach issues :)  Again we sucked at getting pictures!

Now we won't have any visitors until next summer (hopefully someone comes!). We are really looking forward to getting away for a few weeks in December for Christmas in Utah :)

4th of July

Trying to catch up here! For the 4th we stayed at home and had our friends Lance & Lejdja along with her mom & sister over for a good ol' fashioned summer BBQ. We played frisbee, ladder golf, and blew some bubbles for Auralia. When it started to get dark we came back to the apartment and watched about 20 firework shows from our windows- definitely a perk to living on the 17th floor! It was a really low key, relaxing, & enjoyable day.

Here's Auralia all dressed up and ready to Par-tay!

Happy 1st Birthday Auralia Jane & Clint's visit

Wow I can't believe it's been so long since I did a blog update! Shame on me.  So Auralia turned 1 on June 21st! Her 12 month stats: 28 inches long; 19 pounds 11 ounces.

My brother was here on her birthday, so we went to Jones Beach on Long Island. It was great- not a Florida beach by any means- but still the beach and much nicer than the ghetto beaches in the Bronx! Auralia seemed to like the water and sand, although a couple of big unexpected waves freaked her out. Here's some pictures of our day at the beach!

First time in sand...

Then her first wave comes!!

 Her "It's COLD" face!

Loving walking in the waves

 

We also had a little birthday for her here at the apartment:

Tyron and I got her these foldable, attachable tubes that you can crawl through. They're pretty awesome!

Here it is in all its glory!

Okay the adults had fun in them too...

It was a lot of fun having my brother here for 2 weeks. He did a LOT of sightseeing in the city with his girlfriend and her parents and it was super hot & humid during most of his visit. But he got a really well rounded NYC experience!