Xavi is 11 months now

Xavi is still adorable as he closes in on the big One. He can now stand unaided although he doesn't like it and is not far off walking. He can also clap his hands. he loves spending time outside, especially practicing walking with his little Chicco cart. Can't have his bath in the kitchen anymore - kept standing up to look in the cupboards and splashing soapy water into dinner on the stove. Looks like he'll be a motor mechanic! His NYC friends include Calven, Kevin and Zabi, but he is really looking forward to seeing Maxi again soon.

Xavi tinkering with Calven's car

Xavi & Zabi. Not sure what they were looking at.

To Frankie Rose!

Pop Pop Paul & Monnie toasting grand child #2 & Katie with a glass of Moet (any excuse!). 24C and hazy in NYC at 8pm.

Frances Rose Hack: update

Born 7.30 pm. Only little. 2.66 kg, 49 cm long. Mother and baby doing well!

Frances Rose Hack

Born this evening (Sydney time). No stats yet, just "beautiful"

More scenes from the Five Boros Ride

the start, Battery Park

Freedom Tower (WTC) now the tallest building in Manhattan

Held up in Harlem (one of many hold ups, NYPD just couldn't control so many bikers)

Sunday morning entertainment in Harlem

On the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway)

The trip home on the Staten Island Ferry

What's our "nabe" coming to?

An apparent domestic dispute inside an Upper East Side apartment ended in a police-involved shooting this afternoon, police said. The shooting erupted after a NYPD officer arrived on the scene on East 65th Street, near 1st Avenue, just before 3 p.m. A young man was holding his mother at knifepoint, which prompted his sister to call police. Police said they tried to subdue the man with a Taser, but shot him after authorities said he wouldn’t drop the knife. Police hit the man three times and the mother was accidentally hit in the buttocks by at least one bullet while trying to get away from her son. The man was taken to the hospital, reportedly in stable condition. Both are expected to survive and charges are pending.

Five Boros Bike Ride

Today was the 35th Five Boros Bike Ride. It is very popular and has a lottery to enter and Paul scored a spot this year. The course is 40 miles and basically the Marathon in reverse, plus a bit more. About 12 deg C and overcast when ehr departed from Battery Park near Ground Zero at 9.15 am. Then heads north through Central Park into Harlem, over into the Bronx then back down the east River, and past our front door before heading over the Queensboro Bridge into ... yes, Queens... then over the Pulaski Bridge into Brooklyn then all the way down to South Brooklyn and over the Verrazano Bridge to Staten Island. Very places because of so many bikes in the Sunday traffic. It was sunny and 20 deg by the finish at 3 pm. Then a long wait for the ferry as 30,000 cyclists had to be transported back to Manhattan. A long, fun day but definitely something to cross off the bucket list.

Only In America!

This was the picture on the front page of the NY Times today. A fun change from Romney/Obama or dead bodies in Afghanistan/Syria. Seems the family that runs the Trinity Broadcasting Network TV ministry are having domestic problems. One of the spin offs of TBN is the Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando Florida. if you did want to read the article, this is the link. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/05/us/tbn-fight-offers-glimpse-inside-lavish-tv-ministry.html?_r=1&hp if you want to see more of the attractions at the theme park, this is the website: www.holylandexperience.com