New York- Part 1

We wanted to do something big for our 10th anniversary.  I wanted Europe.  Steve, not so much.  We decided on New York.  Neither one of us has been there before and it is a place I wouldn't feel bad about not taking the kids.  We sometimes do long weekends by ourselves, but we have only taken a few big vacations without kids.  We went to Mexico for a week with the McGuires when Hannah was a year old, then we went to Maine with the Baileys when Olive was a year old.  So this trip was actually the first time Steve and I have spent a week together (just the two of us) SINCE WE'VE HAD KIDS.  Wow.

Our vacation started with a 3:45 am wake up to catch the 5:40 flight out of KC.  We changed planes in Chicago and got some great views of the city.

When we got to NYC we rolled our luggage to several subway stations looking for a machine that would issue us a week-long subway card.  It took a long time to find one.  We didn't mind because we kept seeing famous buildings and sights.  That's how we ended up in Times Square...with our luggage.  Steve couldn't believe "that little ball" was the one people watched on TV. Be prepared for lots of cheesy pictures like this:

We finally made it to our hotel that afternoon.  We were super lucky to have a subway station right next to it AND it had an express train too.

Our hotel was on the Upper West Side between Riverside Park and Central Park.  We immediately rented bikes and biked both parks.  Central Park has to be the most beautiful park on the planet.  It is absolutely amazing.  I know the girls would have loved exploring all the playgrounds, big rocks, and trails.  Steve and I both ranked it as one of the highlights of the trip and went back a few times on different days.  I would go back to NY just to see Central Park in autumn.This is Hippo Playground in Central Park.

random Alpaca sculptures because why not? 

Day 2 exploring

New York Stock Exchange

Fun fact about the Statue of Liberty: It is only two pennies thick.  Steve wanted me to include that.

We did the audio tours of both Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Interesting information, but not a lot of artifacts to see.

9/11 Memorial.  The size of it blew us away.  It is a completely different thinking about the attacks standing right next to skyscrapers in NYC vs from home in KC.

One World Trade Center: tallest building in the Western Hemisphere (not finished yet)

Flatiron Building

Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Plaza)

We were both more excited to see Rockefeller Center than the Statue of Liberty.  We're big fans of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock.

They were installing a sculpture while we were there

On day 2 we had tickets to Late Night with Seth Meyers!!  We had to check in and then wait for an hour before the show.  While we were walking around Rockefeller Center two awesome things happened.

1. I saw Aidy Bryant (from SNL) get out of a car and walk into 30 Rock.  I started screaming "HI AIDY BRYANT!!"  She said, "Um, hi."  She had no make up on and two people were bringing her in the building to get ready to be a guest on Late Night.  Later on the show she revealed that this was her first talk show appearance.  I thought she might bring up the one super fan that was outside the building (me), but sadly she did not.
2. We literally came face to face with friends from home!  We went to their wedding last summer.  Another runner couple was also in NY at the same time, but we didn't run into them.

We had a great time at our first talk show.  The studio was much smaller than I imagined.  We also got to peek at studio 8H next door (where SNL is taped).  I rarely laugh out loud when watching the show from home, but everything seemed really funny in the studio.  My face hurt from laughing and smiling so much.

That night we wanted to eat at the famous Grimaldi's Pizza in Brooklyn.  It had a huge line so we settled for the pizza place next door.  Then we read on the menu that it was actually owned by the same guy who started the first pizza place (Patsy Grimaldi).  He sold his restaurant and name so he couldn't legally start another Grimaldi's Pizza.  So this one was called Juliana's after his mother.  It was absolutely delicious and I got a picture with Patsy himself.

Then we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge at night which was breathtaking.  Although it is hard to choose, Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge were probably our favorite things of the whole trip.

tiny Statue of Liberty

Paradise Park

Hannah has been begging to go to Paradise Park thanks to ads that come on after Peg + Cat.  Thanks KCPT.  So I finally agreed since our last trip was for Olive's first birthday.  We had a much better time this time....but I still think it is over-priced.

My favorite picture.  I love it that Olive is a climber now!

Sprayground

First sprayground of the summer.  It is weird that Olive is now older than Hannah was when we first discovered the sprayground. In the past, she didn't really like getting wet.  This was the first time she really loved it!  

Swing

Another backyard update: the swing.  Hannah is IN LOVE.

10

Once upon a time a boy and a girl went to the same high school, but never talked to each other.  Then on the first day of their senior year...they did.  A bit.  Sporadically.  Then for some strange reason (since they only talked sporadically) the boy asked for the girl's email address right before they went to different colleges.  Then they started emailing.  Not sporadically, but regularly and soon every day.  I think the girl might have been a little lonely for home.  And it is easier for her to write things than to talk to people in person.  So they ended up talking (writing) about everything under the sun...how they felt about a variety of topics, what they wanted their lives to be like, the number of kids they wanted (not together of course).  They were just friends.  Sort of.  If emailing a person counts as friends.  They both dated other people and before long the year was over and they were both in the same town again.  The girl said it would be fun to do something together.  Maybe a movie?  The boy took this idea and ran with it (as he usually does)...and planned a trip to Columbia to see a drive-in movie (and go to the mall and park and everything else).  Spending a whole day with someone you have never spent much time at all with could be very awkward.  But it wasn't.  It felt completely normal.  Like they had known each other forever.  The girl thought to herself, "Oh THIS is what it is supposed to feel like."  She had never had so much fun with a guy before.  They could talk forever to each other.  They thought the same things were funny.  The both liked doing silly things like playing on playgrounds (which is lucky because they do a lot of that now).  Somewhere in that year of emailing they had become best friends.  He understood her more than anyone else.  They just clicked.   They made sense.  About a month later they started dating.  Four years later they got married.  Two kids and ten years later, here we are.

And there still isn't anyone else I'd rather spend the day with.

our first picture together

Random Hannah Pictures

planting flowers

at Kemper Museum for "Tots on Tuesday" storytime

Her summer obsession: water.  She could play for hours in the sprinkler and she asks me daily to go swimming.

dancing at the Funky Mama concert

Mile

This year Steve was traveling for work during KC Corporate Challenge track week.  He only participated in the 400 and mile.  We watched the mile and it was an awesome race!  He was in 4th place the first lap, then 3rd, then 2nd, and he took over with a BIG lead in the last lap!  The last time he won his age division was 2007.  

Hannah was so excited to watch her Dada take the lead!

 We knew lots of other people running, both in Steve's company and other runner friends.  We ended up staying at the track until dark.  It was a hot, muggy day and it really felt like the first night of summer.  The girls had a blast running and playing on the field.

Rose and Conrad were also there to cheer on Alicia in the women's race.

Olive usually does not get along with Conrad (or any kid near her age- she only likes babies or Hannah's age), but that night she was in a good mood.  They wanted me to take pictures of them with sunglasses on.  Then they would look at the pictures and laugh and say, "Again!"  Note: Olive insists on wearing sunglasses upside down.

They even put their arms around each other!

And she shared her "squeakers" (shoes that squeak when you walk).  They each took a shoe and walked up to strangers and stomped for them.

 Pround Hannah with Steve's gold medal.