Happy Birthday Avery

From the Little Apple to the Big Apple

Nancy, Debbie, Susan and I spent a couple days of our Spring Break in New York.  (Well, technically Debbie doesn't get a spring break and come to think of it, neither does Nancy)  We went to two Broadway shows - War Horse and Wicked, took a day long tour of Manhattan, visited Ellis Island, went to the observation decks of The Empire State Building and Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center, visited the 9/11 Memorial site, and walked a lot.    The Late Show's studio was just a few steps from our hotel. We stayed on 7th Avenue and 53rd Street, very near Times Square.  We had a great time!

My two favorite ladies. You can click on any photo to see a bigger version.

Inside Saint Patrick's Cathedral

Susan used her Ipad to take photos

Debbie, what do you see? Grant's Tomb

Debbie and Susan outside Grant's Tomb. I wouldn't say Grant's Tomb was high on our list of sights to see, but our bus tour stopped in the area so we went in.

Take from one of our harbor boat rides. This is at the very southern tip of Manhattan looking back to the north.

Brooklyn Bridge, it connects Manhattan and Brooklyn

Nancy and Susan with the Statue of Liberty, taken on our boat ride on of the harbor.

More of the same.

The second tallest building in this photo - with silver 2/3 of the way up and black the rest of the way up (and a crane on top) is the new World Trade Center building 1.

Nancy, Debbie and Susan walking to Rockefeller Center where we went to the 70 floor (known as top of the Rock) to view the city.  The flags in front of the ladies surround the ice skating rink that is often seen on the Today Show or Christmas programs.  It is also where the famous Christmas tree is placed.

Looking up to the top of Rockefeller Center where we viewed the city.

Getting closer to the entrance. Radio City is just to the left across the street.

The viewing area at the Top of the Rock is surrounded by thick glass. Central Park is in the background. Central Park is 843 acres and approximately 2.5 miles long and .5 miles wide.

On our way to another observation deck.

This is not the Top of the Rock, this photo was taken on top of the Empire State Building on the 86th floor. We were looking south towards World Trade Center. In fact, the tall building above Debbie's left shoulder is World Trade Center 1.  Our tour guide told us New Yorkers are not using ground zero as terminology for area, instead they are using World Trade Center or 9/11 Memorial.

Back to Rockefeller Center or Top of the Rock observation deck. Of the two observation decks, I like Empire State Building a little better because you feel the wind and elements. The Top of the Rock is enclosed by glass, so it is almost like being inside a building.  They both have great views.  The Empire State  is a beautiful building and really gives you a feeling of 1930's design.  We went to the Empire State Building at sunset so we were able to see the city change from daylight to night.

I found my soul mate in this woman.

We walked down Wall Street and saw a few Occupy Wall Street protestors. 

We visited the 9/11 Memorial which is still under construction.  The names of those who died on 9/11 (at WTC, pentagon, and in Pennsylvania) as well as those who died in the attack in on the WTC in 1993 are sketched in the metal that surrounds the footprint of where the building stood. There are two of these - one for WTC 1 and one for WTC 2 - with water falling from the top to the bottom.  The silver building in the background is the 9/11 Memorial Museum, it isn't open yet.

Looking up at WTC building 1

Siefers sisters on top of the Empire State Building as the sun sets on New York and the night lights come on.

More of the Empire State Building - The well-lit building between Nancy and Susan is WTC 1.

Times Square

Tired.

On top of the world observation point over Manhattan, Kansas.

Nancy and Lady Liberty

Garrett as the big cousin to Hallie

Hallie wanted someone to read to her so Garrett stepped up and did the job.

Kelly and friends in the St Patty's Day Fun Run

I decided not to crop these photos of Kelly and friends in the two-mile fun run in Manhattan because I wanted you to get the feel of how many people participated.  I think Kelly has found her niche, she looks like a natural and was not even breathing heavy at the end. This photo was taken near the start line just in front of Varney's in Aggieville.  Kelly is in black shorts and a grey shirt next to her friend Meredith.

This series of photos was taken near the finish line.

You can click on the photos to see them in a larger size.

Sweet sweet Avery, she was teasing us on our walk today

Mary Kay's Strengths - what do you think?

Do you see me in these top Strengths?  To take the test, go to www.strengthsfinder.com

1. Empathy -  can sense the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others' lives or others' situations.
2. Adaptability - prefer to 'go with the flow,' they tend to be 'now' people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.
3. Positivity - have an enthusiasm that is contagious, are upbeat, and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
4. Woo - love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over, they derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.
5. Includer - accepting of others, show awareness of those who feel left out,  and make an effort to include them.
6. Connectedness - have faith in the links between all things, believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.
7. Developer - recognize and cultivate the potential in others, spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

When you take the assessment, the results usually consist of your top five strengths. Several of us at the School of Leadership Studies were trained by the Strengths folks so we were able to get the list in order from strongest preference to weakest preference of all 34 strengths. This work evolved from the positive psychology field in the last 30+ years to offset the deficit model of 'what's wrong with me' to a positive model of  'what's right with me.'  No one strength or combinations of strengths is better or worse than any on the list.  By the way, those that made the 30-34 on the list:

30. Strategic - create alternate ways to proceed and quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
31.Discipline - enjoy routine, structure and order
32. Analytical - search for reasons and causes, and have the ability to thank about all factors that might affect a situation
33. Focus - can take direction, follow through, and make corrections necessary to stay on track.
34. Achiever - have a great deal of stamina and hard work, they take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

One of the reasons that Strengths doesn't give out the ranking of all 34 traits is that many of us focus on the bottom ones (deficit model or whats wrong with me) rather than using our strengths to our advantage (positive or whats right with me.)

Birthday martini

Birthday for Nancy

Nancy choose Freddy fries for lunch as we continue the build up to her birthday!

A little of Nancy's birthday and more kids in the hot tub

Sweet Nancy is having a birthday!

 

Kelly and the kids visited us on Saturday. She brought Garrett to Manhattan so that he could go to the K-State men's game with his Grandpa John. While they did that Kelly, her mom Jo, Nancy, Sam, Anna and I ate at Ingredient and then spent time in the hot tub.

Nobody has a smile like Sam

Anna's grandpa John kept her warm after an hour in the hot tub.

As soon as Garrett returned from the basketball game, he went right for the guitar.  By the way, my uncle Milton gave me that guitar 42+ years ago. 

Even though we didn't play baseball in the backyard, we did play 'little' baseball in the house - and didn't break anything!