Saturday, December 29, 2007

Christmas shows, New York, and the Big Guy



Wow...what a crazy busy few weeks it has been for us. Thanks to the efforts of quite a few friends, I was once again able to join Shawn for his Christmas party in New Castle. We then spent the weekend in Pittsburgh - the South Side has changed tremendously - enoying the city, each other, and a Steelers game to boot! It was the Jacksonville game and we all know how that turned out, but it was a fun day all the same. (Big thanks to Scott and Amy!)

Our flight returned to NH Monday afternoon with just enough time for us to pack and repack and we were off to New York that Friday. To say that the boys enjoyed The Grinch would be an understatement. Immediately following the closing of the curtain, Grady shouted that he wanted to see "that Grinch show" again. Well, maybe next year, Grady. It really was great...very entertaining for the whole family.

Here are the boys on their first subway ride. Conner is fascinated by public transportation.

We stayed at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. This photo doesn't do the view justice, but the restaurant at the hotel is directly over all of the TS action. This was very helpful as we were steps away from Toys R Us - a must see for the kiddos. We attempted to shop after the Grinch ended but the lines were unreal. 8 a.m. the following morning found us shopping with no crowds. Thank goodness for the human alarm clocks!

Ahhh...Santa at Macy's! That place has it down to a science but the line was still 40 minutes long. I waited with the boys while Shawn finished up his shopping in neighboring stores. Well, wouldn't you know it, Mr. Grady started to do "the dance" when we were about 100 feet from rounding the bend to Santa Land. This very nice lady from Trinidad was behind us in line suggested I leave Conner with her while I run Grady to the bathroom. I appreciated the offer but I did take her up on her second...saving our spot. (Um, hello?? Leave my child in Macy's?????) Shawn was making his way up to the 8th floor but we could wait no longer. I jumped out of line, ran down the escalator, and located the men's room (it was at the bottom of the UP escalator.) The bathroom was pretty small and the door was wide open because the line was rather long. So...I look down at Grady who is almost ready to cry because he needs to pee and I tell him to run in, go, and run back out. Some smarty in line tells me I can take him into the women's room...right...I'll lose my spot in the Santa line that I've already waited 40 minutes in and Grady will have an accident because the women's room in on the opposite end of the store. Thank goodness it was Grady and not Conner - he ran right in, did his business, and we were back in line in less than 5 minutes. (Conner would never have run to the front of the line.) Crisis averted, Santa heard their requests, and Shawn made it just in time to meet us.

Conner and Grady have been asking to see the Statue of Liberty for about a year. We finally made the long trip to Liberty Island this trip to New York. (Even with minimal wait times, it still took 5 hours of our day.) We climbed to the base of the Statue, took lots of pictures, and played hide and go seek at the bottom. It was nice to finally see it up close and the boys enjoyed it as well. Conner and Grady setting out the cookies for Santa.

Grady in his costume for his Christmas show...he was a wiseman.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Quick Christmas pics




These are for my mom. She requested a few shots of the tree.