And my final NYC picture post... (I think... unless I find more...)

Here is our Hotel, pictures of Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village across from our hotel, and a bit more.

VERY INTERESTING HISTORY:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Square_Park

*OUR* HOTEL
http://www.washingtonsquarehotel.com/

It rained off and on the whole time we were there, but I think I lucked out on the photos.

Please click on the thumbnails. I think you will find some fun stuff... :^)

	This is where we stayed this trip. It's the Washington Park Hotel in Greenwich Village near New York University. I have a picture I took of the information about it's history. It's very old but has been recently remodeled and is just great! The room was not huge but it was really nice and beautifully decorated... and very CLEAN. (for those who knew I was worried about you know what?)
	This is a long shot from the restaurant associated with the hotel down to the entrance. The hotel is full of wonderful artwork, photographs of old movie stars, and so on. The restaurant had GREAT food. Our breakfast was part of the price. Everyone was super friendly, and especially the doorman who was sooooo helpful to us.
	Here is a view of the etched window of the restaurant. It had roses and vines... very pretty!
	Here you can read about The Washington Square Hotel. Lots of famous people have stayed there... besides us... *cough* I do recommend the place! It's not as expensive as many others... but it's really, really nice.
	These may still be partly private residences... but a lot of these lovely Brownstones are now offices of various kinds, including ones for NYU. I really love the look of them.
	This is the centerpiece of Washington Park which is located right across the street from the hotel. This arch was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the presidency of George Washington. The park is VERY old and has some interesting history to it.
	Just a closer view of the various George statues. In the background is a building made of Core 10 steel. That's the same material used to make the Picasso Sculpture in Chicago and is manufactured at US Steel in Gary.
	Here is one of the walkways through the park. It has a dog park, children's playground, a beautiful fountain, and more. Two parts are under renovation right now.
	Here is a big planting in the park. Anyone know the names of those plants?
	I loved the area where the chess players were *hard at play*!
	Here is the back of that big archway and some of the benches around the huge fountain.
	Along the way we also found this interesting gentleman hand-feeding the squirrels and birds. He was calling them all by name! Do you see that the pigeons are sitting on his shoulders and arm?
	Hello there Kind Sir!
	He has no shortage of friends!
	Happy friends!
	And a little way down from the first *Birdman* was another friend of the wildlife. He was feeding them bread. The first man had bread and peanuts too.
	His coat is stained from what is probably his daily routine.
	See all of the *Washington Park Birdman's* friends? When Robert went walking by himself the pigeons approached him with hope... but without luck.
	Here are some more of the pretty plantings in the park. The fountain is at the end of that flowerbed but unfortunately by the time I came to take pictures the fountain was turned off!!! It was pretty when it was on...
	These people are sitting around the fountain area. It's all so *New York* there. That Core 10 building is very obvious in this photo.
	Lots of people were out walking their dogs. I was amused by this man in his cute yellow slicker walking his little dog. The church in the background was rather cool too.
	Here is one of the streets that radiate out from the park. I think you will all know that is the Empire State Building up the street? Just a tad busy...
	Also visible from the park is one of MANY roof gardens.
	Monday evening after we arrived in NYC we were lucky enough to get to go out to eat with our family! This is at Carmine's Italian Restaurant. It's very famous and has WONDERFUL FOOD... but way too much of it! Sean was working on the Seafood Pasta - red.
	Here they all are, slightly annoyed by me taking the picture. I wish I had some of that food right now! It was the second time at the restaurant for all of us but Sean. It was his first experience at the place. I'm not sure what christinA and Sean did with the leftovers, but hopefully they gave it to some homeless person.

On our way out from the wedding I made sure that we walked to this site. It's right on the edge of the park, right near where John Lennon and Yoko (I think?) lived. (Does she still live there?) I'm betting that all of my journal friends know what it is.

When I took this I was particularly thinking of Devonne! Hopefully she knows what it is!

Robert took one of lovely me. See why I never wear dresses? I put my flowers on *Imagine* too.

This is really close to *Imagine*... right next to Central Park. It's where John Lennon lived... and unfortunately this is where he was shot.

Just another shot of the place... cheap real estate I'm sure. (not!)

I'm betting he lived on the top floor area... or more...

Just the very important street sign.

I have a lot of pictures that I've been working on from NYC, but I think I will post a bit about Mara and James's wedding first because, of course, that was the reason we went!

First of all... here is a site with the information about Bethesda Terrace where the wedding ended up taking place in Central Park and the wonderful fountain located there...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethesda_Terrace

The fountain is called the Angel of the Waters Fountain and the area is Bethesda Terrace. The fountain sculpture is the only one that was in the original design for Central Park and the artist was a WOMAN named Emma Stebbins who finished it in 1868! (Read about her! She started it at the beginning of the Civil War.) The Angel is a symbol of pure water... and was specifically placed there after a terrible epidemic of the 1800's. It was meant to reassure the people about a new aquaduct that had been built. I think that the unclean water of the past had caused the epidemic. (?) There are also four cherubs that symbolize Temperance, Purity, Health, and Peace.

The wedding was originally meant to take place in the Cherry Hill area but the renovation work there was not finished. (They had a bad storm last year!) We saw that area and have to say that it was a VERY LUCKY move for the kids to go to Bethesda Terrace! First of all it's prettier, and secondly they were fortunate to be allowed to get married there... it's normally not used for weddings. If you read about it you will see that it has been used for many things though. It also had an area where they could have gone if the rain had started falling again. It was lovely!

Please click on them to enlarge the photos.

	This is not my photo. It's from online. I just didn't have an overview photo of the whole fountain area. We all stood around the circle you see at the bottom of the photo... with the couple sort of in the middle.
	The gentleman in the blue shirt was the wedding official. (not a minister... it was a civil ceremony) Everyone else in the photo are tourists or native New Yorkers.
	This is where the wedding could have been held in case of rain. It's under the terrace bridge. This is Robert of course. We all had summer flowers to hold.
	It was quite pretty under the terrace bridge. It kind of reminded me of Spain!
	The ceiling was quite lovely!
	And speaking of lovely... one of Mara's very best friends (and perhaps best!). I am sure you recognize her... and Sean who had the job of handing out flowers to the official guests.
	And here we have the waiting groom... James along with family, friends, and the official. The lady in turquoise is one of Mara's college (Butler U) friends. The woman in violet is Jame's mother, and the man with the white hair is his father. The camera girl is another friend of James.
	The wedding music was provided by these friends of James. They were very good.
	Waiting excitedly for the bride to appear!
	And here we have a very interested As you will see in further photos... some of the tourists basically joined the wedding!
	COME ON MARA!!! The man in the white jacket is engaged to one of Jame's sisters. He has done some video photography for National Geographic and various other enterprises. He was the official photographer... or one of them!
	More family and friends, still waiting!
	FINALLY here comes the bride! Her brother Seth and her mom are helping her down the steps. Her dad is waiting at the bottom. He has MS and needs the little cart.
	First Mara's mom and Seth head towards us.
	And here they are! Her mom looked so happy, it was lovely!
	And here is the beautiful bride and her dad!
	And the ceremony begins. Lots of interested tourists, and in dark blue is Jame's grandmother as well as mom in violet and several friends.
	James is laughing at the musicians I think... and Mara is nervous I think...
	The man in the background was from India with his family. He was not a guest but was so interested that he videotaped the whole ceremony! The woman in the magenta scarf is one of Jame's sisters with her husband behind her I think.
	The official got his part in first. Jame's dad looks serious!
	Mara's mom and dad looked so sweet! Seth was more dressed up than I have ever seen him. ;^) christinA and I, and lots of other people got a bit choked up.
	Mara is saying her part she wrote for the wedding. She did beautifully.
	James is saying his part... he got sentimental and choked up a couple of times, but still did really well. Sean the photographer was close by taking closer photos... along with lots of tourists! The angel seems to be watching over.
	Here is Jame's grandmother and I think a very happy friend of Mara holding her bouquet. I THINK the red-head was a tourist who joined in!
	I believe Mara is getting her ring here.
	The official looks amused!
	I love this photo because it is a typical Mara expression! One of the former students from my school did Mara's hair! He has a studio in NYC but he came to them. It was beautiful. He also did christinA's hair. (Eric Carter)
	Awwwwww!
	After they were pronounced man and wife they danced. NYC has some kind of strange rule that you can't dance in restaurants! So, they danced by the fountain instead. Notice that the Indian tourist is still videotaping? We think it will end up on uTube!
	More dancing!
	Awwwww! Jame's mom grabs a photo too.
	DIP!!! James looks scared that he will drop her. :^)
	Very sweet!
	And then lots of official photos were taken! (Does he have cartoons on his belt?)
	One just for me? That's some smile you have there James!
	I didn't take any pictures at the wedding dinner except this one with my phone. That's one of Jame's sisters who was VERY nice, and her fiancee (the photographer). She is a nurse. The food WAS DELICIOUS!

I have more ... also FUN ... NYC photos which I will also post in a bit. It has taken me all day to get them ready.

Robert and I are at Riverhome until tomorrow. My internet is being bad. On a positive note, the hummingbirds are back! Robert put a swing together to put down on the seawall. I'm tired. We'll go back to Valparaiso tomorrow evening. Later!!!

Here is the family out target shooting last Sunday afternoon. :^)))

Here we are... I hope!

I'm starting to work my way back through hundreds of posts.

This may take quite a while.........

But I would not want to miss them!

Is everyday life really important? *Oh yes... put the laundry in the dryer now!*

Paula and I (and more) have special icons on Facebook for this event...


http://vocalista001.livejournal.com/492615.html?view=3657543#t3657543


ps.

On a local note... the Weather Channel said it was raining here a while ago. It was bright and sunny and still is...
Maybe they forgot to have someone look outside?

To A Birthday Girl A special little castle, just for her!

I don't know if you will see this... but have a happy day Dave!

midget_x_bones

Golden Girl Costume - age six, I think...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SON-IN-LAW!!! I hope you have a great day Sean!

TO NEVER NOT REGISTER AGAIN!!! (and also because Cyn posted it and it's really very cool)

WATCH THIS EMILY SOMERS... OR ELSE!!!



ps. I wish I had been able to post this sooner Cyn!!!

For all you Summer Olympics (and cat) fans! I saw this and just could not resist posting it!

The first few photos were taken today. The others are from a couple of weeks ago.

Click several times on the pictures to see closer if you want to.

	Hardy Hibiscus The flowers are coming out quickly.
	Brown Eyed Susans It's starting to have a fall-like appearance.
	More of the huge Dahlias are coming out.
	The Lilies in the garden are huge this year. It's so dry though. Robert has been watering like crazy. All the rain seems to go around us.
	The phlox are starting to bloom. Eventually there will be white ones too.
	This was a few weeks ago. I never got it posted. Those are Milkweed flowers. The butterflies and bees love them.
	A closer view of the Milkweed flowers They have now gone to seed.
	The daisies are mostly gone today. They were beautiful for quite a while.
	Our Trumpet Vine finally bloomed this year. We were jealous of all the beautiful ones around Michigan State.

Something is trying to destroy our patio a few things at a time.

It was out there night before last and knocked over my Bougainvillea plant (breaking the homemade trellis) and did some other random damage.

Last night it was out there and got into the pond (we THINK that the fish are okay), knocked over and broke pond plants as well as ones in big pots around the pond. Last night it made the biggest mess.

Robert's conclusions:

It was not Rudi.
It was most likely a raccoon.
Critters always show up more when it is hot and dry. (It's very hot and dry here lately.)
He plans to stay up nights with his pellet gun in hand. (He is joking........... I hope)

Just a few photos of the summer blooms.

	Our pond had two water lilies blooming not long ago.
	The lilies in the garden are blooming profusely.
	Everything is growing nicely Oxalis and dahlias
	This is a HUGE dahlia bloom.
	It's as big as a dessert plate. Now another one is starting to bloom too.
	This bed is a bit like a jungle. But it's really pretty.
	More of the jungle. The ferns are brown on the ends thanks to Japanese beetles. The beetles suck the moisture right out of the poor plants.

It FLIES like a Hummingbird... but it's MUCH tinier than a normal Hummingbird...





It's NOT a Hummingbird. It's a HUMMINGBIRD MOTH and there is at least one that flies around our flowerbeds and garden. It's one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

After seeing the Historical Museum we went back to Cherry Lane and loaded up the car with a homemade Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake that Donna had made to take along to see Jean. jeanerk1 Then Donna and Manolo drove us to Jean's home which is out in the country near Grand Rapids. It was a nice drive and Jean's home is wonderful. We even saw a few deer along the way.

When we got to Jeans she suggested that we take in a few historical covered bridges before going to a special restaurant for dinner. She even packed us up a snack of crackers, cheese, and Spanish wine to sample along the way!

Behind the cut are the thumbnail photos of that trip.

( Covered bridges, a picnic, and dinner out with Jean:Collapse )

After dinner we went back to Jean's house and had the wonderful cheesecake for dessert while having more interesting conversation. Before we left to head back to East Lansing we even got to hear the song of Jeans resident Whippoorwill!

After the great meal at Clara's we were driven back to Michigan State and given a tour of a wonderful Botanical Garden there. It's beautiful, large, and fun with every kind of flower imaginable. It was kind of sad though that it was the time that the mosquitoes came out and were attacking Manolo and I, and I was starting to wear out. BUT... I did like the place a lot and I know that Robert loved it. I wish that I had better feet, mosquitoes hated me, and I liked heat more than I do.

The gardens had so many areas that were fun. I especially liked the children's area with the bells you could dance on, and the spiderwebs woven on the sides of a raised platform, and the cute sculptures....the frogs, and well... just LOTS of cool stuff.

	After dinner at Clara's Donna and Manolo took us to some beautiful botanical gardens at Michigan State. I feel awful that I have forgotten the name.... Here we have some happy people!
	I think that maybe my favorite things there were the wonderful hanging baskets... but... well maybe not because it was all wonderful.
	I saw these coleus leaves and loved them. It's great to have everything labeled like they do there.
	Here was another coleus that I loved.
	Help Donna... I forget the name of these! Pretty?
	And here is our CUTE tour guide. That fountain was great. I was disappointed that the one with the granite ball was not working.
	The gardens wind around for a long way and are all beautiful. The only part that made me sad was that the roses were being eaten up by Japanese Beetles.
	Here are those flowers that I don't know the name...
	I spotted these little flowers and thought that they were really pretty. I don't know the name of course...
	This is a giant peacock named Wilbur made of flowers and his buddy the butterfly sculpture. I'm afraid that I did not take nearly enough pictures here. I honestly was wearing out, my feet hurt, the mosquitoes were out, and very hot and sweaty by then. I loved the place though!!! I want to go back.

Tomorrow I will try to post our Friday and Saturday adventures. I will stop now though because in a little while we are going to go and see the new Batman with christinA and Sean.

We suddenly seem to have people pressuring us to get some things done about the new purchase so that will take precedence over other things for a while.

Here are some of the pictures taken on Thursday after we got to Michigan State to visit with pondhopper and her hubby Manolo. I'm going to have to show this trip in segments because we did SO MUCH... and it was all wonderful.

	Right after we arrived at East Lansing on Thursday Donna took us on a tour of the campus. Here we have Donna and Robert in front of THE REAL SPARTY sculpture which is inside of the new part of the football stadium. He is made of Terracotta and had to be fixed up a bit after being outside for years. There is a COPY outside now... made of bronze. (the FAKE Sparty)
	This is looking up at the front entrance of the new part of the football stadium. I seem to have cut off part of the name.... oops...
	As we were going across the street we found that it had SNOWED in July! Kids were making snowballs, so we had to do that also.
	Robert was having fun with his snowballs.
	Here Robert decided that he would use both hands!
	The truth is... that is Zamboni *poop* from the hockey stadium. The machines that smooth the ice come outside and drop their scrapings to melt into the sewer. Michigan State had the national championship hockey team last year! (Isn't that bloodhound cute? He liked the *snow* too.)
	Here are Donna and Robert in front of the entrance to the hockey stadium.
	The students were actually playing a game (practice? Intramural?) when we went inside.
	Here is a full view of the front of the football stadium and also an outdoor swimming pool. It was pretty hot and humid on Thursday. The pool looked good!
	Here is a not so good shot of the Bell Tower that is located on the oldest part of the campus. Donna and Manolo have a great friend who has played the Carillon there! They have concerts at lunchtime once a week.
	I'm not sure how I got this shot so dark... but this is looking up where the Carillon is located.
	Here is the lower part of the bell tower.
	This is the park area on the campus that is where all of the OLD buildings were located. There are some very old, HUGE trees there.
	Here is one of the wonderful old oak trees. This part of the campus reminds me of Penn State University.
	Donna had never, in 22 years, been inside of this non-denominational campus chapel. We just HAPPENED to be there when it was open for cleaning! The man said that we could look around. The coolest surprise of all... I found out, when we stopped at Pretty Lake on the way home, that MY UNCLE BILL HAD MARRIED A COUPLE IN THAT CHAPEL.
	The chapel has, embedded in it's walls, pieces of churches, cathedrals, and religious places from all over the world! There was everything from a stone from the Joseph and Mary Cave in Bethlehem (in a showcase) to a piece of the White House. (religious?) Many of the items were from Germany (very many), England, France, and so on.
	Here is Donna posing for a Wanted Poster! (Actually she was reading about all of those embedded items.)
	The chapel had wonderful, and rather unusual stained glass windows that had been made in Philadelphia, Pa. Of course I loved the one for Creativity!
	And I loved the one for Beauty that has famous artworks shown!
	We also got a view of the Red Cedar River that runs through the campus.
	Here is another view of the football stadium... this time from the other side. The black car is the one Donna and Manolo are using this summer.
	This is in Donna and Manolos' apartment. Donna is checking LJ of course! Robert is talking to Manolo and having a soda. We were waiting to go out to eat in a historical train station. In the background is one of their MUVs. (That one is the Manolo Utility Vehicle)

Our meal at the historic train station restaurant was DELICIOUS though a little warm. Two of their air-conditioners had broken down. I had my first Oberon beer while we waited in the bar for seating. It was very good! It was really nice to sit and talk a while.

After that we went to visit the botanical garden... (more pictures to follow)

		I will marry Robert Nickel.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in Kauai in our fabulous House.
		We will have 1 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a Two Tone Blue Sebring Convertible.
		I will spend my days as a Retired Art Teacher, and live happily ever after.

		I will marry Robert Nickel.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in Hawaii in our fabulous House.
		We will have 1 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a teal Mini Cooper.
		I will spend my days as a retired art teacher, and live happily ever after.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON THE 25TH TO TOM! I hope you and Cathi have a great Harley Riding Day! (I'm sorry your image is blurry. I had to enlarge your icon and I couldn't quite clear it all up then.)