maya's first trip to new york.

my sister & her husband live in new york. or did at the time these pictures were taken. maya & i flew up there for her baby shower & so i could see that city one more time. i planned to help her pack since she was moving 5 days after i left, but she put the kabosh on that & said she just wanted to spend time with us. not worry about packing.

so we did. it was wonderful.

maya made friends with the guy we shared a row with.

steph's good friends & sister n law, molly threw her an adorable shower.

cat had her invitations & party favors made... so perfectly my sister.

then the boys showed up after a baseball game & we grilled out, drank some beers & thoroughly enjoyed the evening on our friend, frankie's rooftop.

mom, maya & i slept on the air mattress. it was a few rough nights because maya was teething. but during the day she was a sweet pea. 

i got to meetup with our good friend, carson, for a quick lunch.

i took a picture like this of steph & jeff many moons ago, soon after steph moved there. 

so i thought it was fitting to get one at the end of their adventure in ny.

i have a picture of me on a subway, similar to this one, that my friend owen took of me on my very first trip to the city. i was 19 & i drove up there by myself (which was so intimidating) i love that picture so i asked steph to take this one for me of maya's first trip there. she's much cooler than me since was only 9 months old!

we headed into brooklyn to see their botanical gardens. i'd never visited it & it was so beautiful. the cherry blossoms were a little past their prime, but the ground was covered with beautiful pedals & so we did a mini session for my sis. unfortunately, we did most of it on my new fancy medium format camera & i don't quite have the hang of it & nothing came out. bummer. my poor lil camera & i just haven't bonded yet. i need a weekend with no kids to really explore all of her fantastic-ness.

love this one.

look at that belly!

could you think of a more dreamy place?

 rae rae & maya leigh... love this one.

jeff met us on his lunch break for a quick goodbye. 

maya wasn't quite sure what to think of the subway.

man i love that city. i can't wait to take the kids when they are older so they can be in awe of that magical place. thanks jeff & steph for being great hosts' one last time!