Life as a Lewis

Day 3 started off with a bagel; we paid $6 for The Unicorn at Boxkite Coffee , and it was worth every penny. (In fact, we drank coffee at least twice a day, and no Starbucks for us! Super awesome for me since I gave up coffee 6 weeks ago. It's definitely back in my life after NY.) One of the first things to happen on day 3 was my metro card stopped working. You know, the one we paid for that should have been good for 7 days. Metro workers were not particularly helpful, but we managed to get where we needed to go. It just wasn't quite as convenient. We walked in hushed silence through the 9/11 Memorial and cried many tears. Really, it was incredible. We were there with hundreds (maybe thousands) of other tourists, and everyone was  quiet, respectful, emotional. Much-needed tissues were available in many of the viewing rooms. One piece of hand-painted paper - one for every victim - reflecting the color of the sky on 9/11. To give an idea of size, these

(I am so far behind posting these that it's a miracle I remember any details.) On Day 2 we started ditching everything non-essential and went down to wallets and phones. And the selfie stick. I ditched the camera after day 1, which is probably good since we had rain off and on. Day 2 was supposed to be a little less strenuous than day 1, although that did not really happen because we just had too much we wanted to see and do. We had a lot of laughs about how "easy" day 2 and day 3 were going to be. 23,000+ steps did not feel easy, however. We ate breakfast at Urban Space market , realized it was National Donut Day and ate donuts from Dough . Yes, two breakfasts. Fueling up for the steps. We visited Grand Central Terminal. The market (and coffee shops) were amazing. We had coffee twice in the space of about 2 hours. We spent 4+ hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then took a timeout at the Temple of Dinder, laughed hysterically and tried

1. We instituted a summer schedule this week. I'm giving the kids some guidelines on screen time, but also more freedom in terms of how much media time they're allowed for the summer. To counterbalance, there's a big chore chart and the media freedom is directly determined by their attitude and personal responsibility to complete those chores. Because Camden is nothing if not my own child, he thanked me for the organized schedule because, "I do love being organized." Because independence is Rory's number one goal in life, she approaches the chores with much enthusiasm and commitment to excellence. 2. We (as in Camden and I along with group texts with Becky and Liz) have been watching the NBA playoffs/finals now for the last 6ish weeks. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the extra 12 hours a week that basketball has been occupying. Oh, and we're Cavs fans so we think the comeback story currently happening is pretty fun. Also, Bleacher Report app

Our trip to NYC passed by in a blur of subway rides, laughter, and 70,496 steps. In less than 3 days (let that sink in). It was everything I dreamed that it would be from the shared laughs and time with mom, Becky, and Liz to the overwhelming bigness and busyness of the city. We didn't see crazy in NYC, but we did see  beautiful diversity, buildings, and sites. Here are just a few snippets and pictures (mostly from my iPhone because the big girl camera did not agree with the crowds/heat/70,496 steps) in 3 parts because . . . 3 days. We left before daylight (4:30ish) Thursday morning. Our first selfie and we were photobombed (this guy was great). Just after arriving and headed out for the first time. Notice our cute make-up and how smooth our hair was. There is significant deterioration in our looks as the days went on. Whyyyyyyy were we in sweaters? Wall Street We laughed and laughed later on about splitting a vegan cookie from this spot. Be