Luke's visit

 Uncle Luke came to visit! He wins the award for easiest house-guest. Seriously, he was a joy to have around! Axel LOVED playing with him, which left me alone to relax, or make dinner without distraction, etc.

Luke had never been to NYC before, so we played tourist for a few days.

At the Bronx zoo.

Luke helped Jeff fix his bike.

We went to Pepe's. Best pizza ever!

Riding the train.

 Snuggling on the subway.

 We went to Battery Park so that Luke could glimpse the Statue of Liberty.

Then we went to the Top of the Rock (the Rockefeller Center has a viewing area like the Empire State Building, but not quite as high). Axel obviously found the waiting area exciting.

 Cute guy borrowed my sunglasses.

 Looking at Central Park through the magnifying glass.

St. Patrick's Cathedral currently has NO scaffolding, so we had to take the opportunity to pop in.

 Then we did a quick tour of the Central Park Zoo. This was the best picture I took there, sorry.

 On Luke's last day, we went to the USS Intrepid. Axel was most looking forward to the submarine, the USS Growler, but he was too short (height limit of 40 inches)... Luckily the employee said that if he could scramble through a porthole by himself, then he could go in. Thank goodness because he was pretty sad when I first told him he couldn't go in.

Here is Axel and Daddy standing on top of the submarine.

 Look at that excited face!

 Axel playing with the guns of the Intrepid.

 The guys with a cool stealth plane. Bill Nye the Science Guy is slightly out of frame here. I didn't want to be a creeper. Luke got a good picture of him though.

 Right before getting in trouble for having Axel on Daddy's shoulders (that always happens when we are on private property).

 The Enterprise Space Shuttle

He is such a big boy climbing up the ladders by himself.

 Steering the ship.

 "R.F. Marr" served on the Intrepid. Distant cousin, perhaps?

R.F. Marr

 Axel and Luke sitting in a helicopter cockpit.

 Axel trying out the beds.

 They had a landing capsule for kids to play in. Axel was entertained for a good 15 minutes.

Then all too soon it was time to take Luke to the airport! Luke took a ton of pictures, so I'll probably add more when he sends them to us. He was like our own personal paparazzo.

(Also, I think Luke is our good-luck charm for seeing famous people. We saw Hoda Kotb outside the Rockefeller Center (which makes sense because the Today Show films across the street), and Bill Nye the Science Guy on the Intrepid filming something)