New York in winter

We had a gymnastics meet in Rahway, NJ, this weekend. The girls and I went up early on Friday, and hopped aboard the train to go into NYC.Rowan saw a rat the size of our house cat in the subway, but we think the NY subways have "personality" so I guess that just adds to it.We got off at Columbus Circle and headed into Central Park, which was freezing cold but still so neat. Of course our purpose was to see NYC #1 attraction: the statue of Balto, hero of the 192? serum run in Alaska.

We also walked around and rode the carousel, climbed on rocks, all the typical Central Park stuff. But it was cold, cold, COLD!

After the park and some 5th Ave exploring, we ate dinner at a cute little diner and warmed up with hot chocolate. We sat by the window and people watched, great fun in a city like New York!


We took the train back to Rahway and did some swimming with the girls' teammates, and got up early the next morning for the meet.

Rowan did *fabulous*. New York has the most rhythmic gymnasts of any area in the US, so the competition at this meet is the stiffest all season. And she did wonderfully! It was really fun to watch. I know its not all about "winning", but sometimes, it sure is cool to see your kid come in at the top!

Above, warm ups (Rowan is in orange) and below, the hoop awards- Rowan got 2nd! (Out of 16, pretty cool!)

We are really going to miss NYC and this fun meet. It was sad for the girls to say goodbye to Balto, knowing they wouldn't be back for some time. I am glad they have the opportunity to visit all these neat places, though. The trade-offs of military life, I suppose!

We're off to Ohio (not such a glamorous location!) for a meet next weekend, Gryphon's *first*. Stay tuned for more pictures, and possibly video. I had more technical difficulty at this meet with video- namely, Gryphon did the taping and she taped other people, not her sister. Which is cool, now we can watch them. But we can't watch Rowan!?! Oh well, I tried all year last year and only successfully taped 2 routines at the last meet, so I can't really hold it against her! But hopefully, there will be video of next weekends meet for both girls!