Happy Holidays from NYC!

The holidays are here in the Big Apple! On Sunday we woke up to the first snow fall of the season - it was so pretty. Then we took a walk to Rockefeller Center (not to be confused with Rockefeller the pup) to see the Christmas tree and the Ice Skating Rink. The really go all out here decorating the city - it's great. Happy Holidays from NYC!!

NYC Marathon, Pizza, Parking Tickets, and ROCK (of course!)

As the title suggests - there are lots of things included in this Blog. We decided to take Deena's advice and get some more pictures posted. We'll start with the overview of the NYC Marathon which occurred on Saturday, November 3rd. Perfect day, perfect crowd, perfect 26.2 miles (to watch!!)
Paula, Paula, Paula!!! Winner of the women's marathon - Paula Radcliff. Amazingly, this is only the 7th marathon that she has ever completed and the sixth that she's won. The only one she didn't win was the Olympics in 2004. Even more amazingly, she just had a baby 9 months ago! She finished in 2 hours, 22 minutes - coming pretty close to matching the all time course record of 2 hours, 20 minutes.
And in a very close second place - Wami! She went step for step with Paula for the whole race up to the last 400 yards. She came in about 10 seconds behind but won the overall "Multiple Marathon" competition, based on total combined times for 3 separate marathons, and walked away with $500,000! Talk about an incentive to run faster.....

Next big finnish - the neck and neck battle for the title in the men's race. We didn't catch the names but these guys are darn quick. The winner averaged a mile split time just under 5 minutes per mile - Wow.
There was a very big crowd for the marathon - and the great weather didn't hurt the turnout one bit. We were lucky enough (and got there early enough) to get spots right on the rail so even with the crowds we had a full view of the race - right at the final 400 yard mark!
As mentioned - the weather was great that day. The sun shining, bright blue sky, leaves turning to orange and red...a perfect day for a marathon ending in Central Park!
On the way back from the marathon we realized just how tough of a city NYC is...even the police get parking tickets!! This was pretty classic, we just had to get a picutre. Honestly - rough group those NYC meter maids!

After being inspiried by the marathon we decided to make something nice and healthy for dinner...Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza! Okay - so it's not the healthiest but it was a very fun cooking project. We recently visited Chicago and became inspired by this oh-so-delicious dish so we bought our own deep dish pan and pizza "how to" book. We made the dough ourselves - true homemade pizza. It turned out perfect....Until....

Opps - we dropped it! All that hard work and most of it ended up on the floor. We were able to save some of the pizza but it lost a lot of the original visual appeal...still, it tasted amazing!
And being that most hit the ground, even Rock got some pizza. It was a win-win. He got to try the pizza and we got help cleaning up the mess!
Now on to the ROCK portion of the Blog - You know we can't help ourselves from putting up tons of pictures of the cuttest pup in NYC!

Here's Rock practicing to be the IAMS puppy model. He really captures the essence of puppy biskets and garbage cans don't you think!!

BIG DAY - one of his first trips outside! He is so great on the leash and very interested in exploring his new city.

Here we are practicing for when Rock & mom will go running together. We're not at the "morning run" point yet but give him a month or two and we'll be hitting the road every morning!
Here we are, checking out the Hudson River waterfront. This is where we will come running when he's big enough to do a few miles. It's a great running path and he loves being down near the water. Across the river behind us you can see New Jersey, home of Bon Jovi.

Bath Time!! He is starting to really like the water. We got him his own rubber duck to play with and it was quite a hit. He doesbn't mind getting wet and soapy - which is good because he's consistantly in need of a bath! Here we are getting all dried off after another successfull bath. After a bath Rock gets so excited and races around the living room, through the kitchen, into the bedroom, and back to the living room to do the loop again. It's so funny how fluffy and hyper he is after a bath! And the yellow towel is offically for his use only - so any future guests...don't worry!

Awww - snuggle/nap time! He is growing so much that he actually sleeps a ton! Which is a nice break after the psycho puppy play time! He's quite the momma's boy when it comes to sunggling.

And when we can't hang out durning nap time his couch is a great alternative!
Every once in a while when he's been really good he gets to hang out on the bed. Big Day!
Here he is helping fold laundry. Such the helper!!! It's a wonder we have any socks left.

This picture really shows how fast he is growning. We took this picture about 2 weeks ago and he was small enouth to fit under the coffee table very comfortably. He actually really liked to hang out under there a lot. Now...he can't fit. If he tries to get under there his back touches the underneith of the table. He could still lay down under there but he can't fit to get in. In the last three weeks he doubled in size - going from 8 to 16 pounds. We haven't weighed him in a few days...bet he's up to almost 20 lbs by now!

Another under the table shot - he's just so cute!
Think this is on College Football Saturday - bonding time for the guys.
Again - this picture really shows how big he's getting. Before he was a little dot on the couch. Now he's big enough to take up a good portion of each cushion. Crazy to think that our little guy will soon be pushing 50 pounds!
Last one - but not for long. Keep checking because as fast as he's grownig we'll have to be updating with new pics every few days. Till then...we'll be practicing our shoe chewing abilities.

Rockefeller Strikes Again!!

This Blog is dedicated solely to ROCK!! We have been taking lots of pictures to document everything about this guy. He is so great - absolutely the smartest dog. He has been home for just 4 days and is already housebroken, seriously! Scroll down to check out the big and exciting home adventures of The Rock. We've let him do the narration - told you he was smart!
Hi Guys - it's me...Rock! Here I am - snuggling up with Dad. We have lots of fun playing and romping together but every once in awhile we have to take a break.I can't leave all the snuggling for Dad. Mom needs attention too. If she had it her way we'd snuggle all the time!

This is more like it - Play Time!! Look at my acrobatic abilities.
Oops! Look like I confused my leg with my rope chew toy. Hey - it happens, I'm still just a pup!
Here I am - looking for the next thing to chew. So many things to get into...so little time!
Ahhh - my couch! Mom and Dad did great when they brought this home. It doubles as a place to crash and an over sized chew toy! Hope everyone noticed my awesome Huskies ball - definitely one of my favorite toys.

Gurrrrr!!! I have to let Dad think he has a chance to get this from me. We all know who's the toughest pup here!!

All that playing is exhausting! Time for some snoozing. Looks like Dad was ready for a nap too!

ZzzzZZZZzZ..................ZZZZzzzZZZzzzzzzZZZZ................ZZZZzzZZZZzzzZZ...........zzzzZZZzzZ

Meet "The Rock"

Say hello to my little friend. .. ..Rock. His full name is Rockefeller. He's definitely smart dog, and seems to be a city-dog, he chose his own name. Right now, he's about the size of Franklin (shout out to Nicole.) Probably weighs about 10 pounds and has two of the cutest floppy ears you'll ever see. The vet thinks he's about 9 weeks old.

We found him at the North Shore Adoption House. It's on Long Island, past Queens. He's a German Shepard with a bit of black lab. We were leaning toward a husky, for obvious reasons, but we figured any dawg was better than no dawg. Woof!

He'll be Ellen's new running security guard. He also seems to enjoy college football, the highlight of Rock's day was watching WSU lose to Arizona State.

More pictures will be posted soon. So many cute pictures, so little time.

Touchdown Washington! . . . . .Hellloooo Dawg Fans!

It's the start of college football season and what better way to kick off it off but with a road trip dedicated to going to see both Washington Football teams play the opening games! That's right, the two New York transplants took a road trip to watch the Huskies play the Syracuse Orange (GO DAWGS!!!) and the the WSU Cougars play the Wisconsin Badgers. We drove almost 2000 miles in four days and while we have no desire to sit in a car again we can definitely say it was one of the best road trips in history. Now here's the play by play of the Simmers tackling the open road, venturing into enemy territory, and declaring victory!! Did we mention - GO DAWGS!!! (it's a long one this time folks....what did you expect, we drove 2000 miles!!)

So here we are - sporting our Purple and Gold - feeling like the best Huskies Fans ever! And then we hear people in the Huskies section start cheering. We thought that the Dawgs were running out on the field early but then we turned around and guess who we see just two rows behind us...DON JAMES!!! Now that's a Huskies Fan!! It was great - because we were basically sitting next to a celebrity, ESPN was constantly shooting in our direction. According to people watching the game we were on TV about 5 times! We've yet to see the photographic evidence but we're betting that we looked fabulous!TOUCHDOWN HUSKIES!!!! We don't think that this picture needs any additional commentary but we'll add that we were RIGHT there - corner of the endzone...Jake Locker running for the score!!!! The energy in the Huskies section was incredible! GO DAWGS!!! At this point, score was 14 to 3 - Huskies (of course!)After a few more points scored by the Huskies (and by a few - we mean a ton) the Orange Fans were feeling dejected and decided to head out. Check out the EMPTY stands of the student section! By the middle of the 4th Quarter the Huskies Fans completely outnumbered all the Orange left in the stadium. It was great. WHOSE HOUSE???....DAWGS HOUSE!!!!!
When the dust had finally settled the final score listed the Orange at 14 and the Dawgs at 42! It was a Blowout! Jake Locker's debut was amazing - showing that he can run, throw, make the plays when needed. And the rest of the Dawg House didn't look too shabby either...especially when it came to their singing abilities. After the game all fans were treated to a serenade to the tune of the Huskies Fight Song - courtesy of the team, singin' in the endzone! Talk about a fabulous finale to a great season starter!!
After watching the Huskies it was time to hit the road - literally we had to really get moving! The UW game got over at 11:30pm on Friday night. The Cougar game (in Wisconsin) started at 12:30 the next day. And did we mention that it is a 12 hour drive from Syracuse to Madison?? That's right - we had just enough time to make it if we drove all night. We took turns driving in 2 hour shifts, one driving, one sleeping in the back of the Oh-So-Cool powder blue PT Cruiser (thanks Enterprise Rentals!) and ate very healthy snacks like McDonald's Big Macs and drank more then our share of Red Bulls (sugar free of course). Just when we didn't think we were going to ever make it in time...there it was...Camp Randall.

We sat in the student section - courtesy of Josh (thanks Josh!) who attends grad school with the Badgers for genetics. The Student Section was incredible. We've never seen an entire student section that can sing ever word of Cecilia while also heckling EACH OTHER (under vs. upper class men!) Wow!! That's the definition of school spirit!
After the game (sadly, the WSU Cougars couldn't duplicate the success of their Washington counterparts and ended up on the losing end) we headed back to Josh's house for some rest and relaxation (and pizza) before heading out to paint the town. As the picture clearly shows...someone was pretty pooped from all the excitement and had to take a nap...awww....
Sunday morning it was time to head out for the next leg of the sports road trip. In order not to discriminate against sports other then college football we decided to swing by a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game. While the stadium is nice - we both agree...the Mariners have it better!
One thing that really stood out about the stadium....the BRATS! Can we say - very tasty!

After getting some much needed protein in the form of Brewers Brats we decided to try out for the major leagues. Wonder when they'll bring back the Girls Professional League....someone's ready!!
So with the Brewers behind us it was time to exit Wisconsin. But not before driving by the most amazing place ever. Still not sure if we were dreaming or if this place really exists.
We ended up driving through 5 states on our road trip. Being that no one would probably believe us that we really made the trip without taking at least one leg by plane we snapped this pic as proof.
And then, as we were heading back home to NYC we were reminded of another home...one also not unfamiliar with fireworks, Ellen, Craig, and the (every-so-often) spontaneous road trip.
GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!