Date Night in NYC

When I graduated college with an undergraduate degree in journalism, my parents took me on a trip to New York. It was a wonderfully epic trip and we did just about everything a tourist would do in the city. It was all we wanted and we all had a great time. I hadn't been back (well, not to Manhattan) since.

When we planned our Cape May vacation, we immediately thought about leaving the kids with their grandparents and Aunt Mansa for a date night in the city! I'm a city girl through and through. Our suburb is populated, but it's not a big city. I love the energy and nightlife and activity.

We booked the Broadway tickets in advance to see The Book of Mormon. More on that in a moment. We booked the hotel in advance. Baby, we were getting out of town!

I'm just sad it's over now.

We drove up Tuesday morning, early. On the way, we stopped in Atlantic City to check out the hoopla. We'd never been there, but we knew a great deal about the financial strains they've been dealing with. We literally pulled right up to the sand next to the Revel Casino (closed in 2014) and parked. We walked on the boardwalk, saw the Steel Pier and grabbed a few geocaches. It probably helped that it was a Tuesday around 8:00 a.m.

Atlantic City, Revel Casino, Showboat (both closed), Times Square NYC

We pressed on to NYC and about 4 miles before we got to our hotel (still in New Jersey), we stopped off for E to call in to a work meeting. We grabbed some lunch after and headed into the city. We probably paid over $150 in tolls on this trip. Like woah.

Parked, explored, shopped, grabbed a geocache and checked into our hotel. We were 500 feet from Times Square. Awesome. We dressed up for dinner at Toloache and then off to Broadway.

Those cocktails were ridiculous.

We left feeling... disappointed. Kind of disgusted. Wishing we'd chosen another show, honestly. It was just offensive. We know it was meant to push the envelope and what we saw on the Tony Awards was downright hilarious. Half of the show was funny. The other half was just too dirty. There was a reoccurring joke about raping babies. That's not funny. There was a joke about domestic abuse. Not funny. There was a song that literally said, "Eff you God" on repeat. You don't have to be a believer in God to find that offensive. It's just hateful.

We grabbed some cookies at a fun place called Schmakary's. It doesn't get more wholesome and innocent than cookies. The key lime and oatmeal scotchie cookies we ordered were delicious. On our way back, we noticed ABC News was right on the corner of our hotel street.

Caching around NYC and in Central Park + wishing we were at Jimmy Fallon.

GMA peeps.

We set our alarms for early (I know... no kids...why!) and headed out to watch Good Morning America. I don't watch the show, but my major in undergrad was journalism. I still have a love for all things broadcasting and get a little giddy when I get to see it all in action. At one point, that's exactly what I wanted. It's not where I belonged, but I do still find it exciting. On the other hand, MY MOM is literally Good Morning America's BIGGEST FAN. For serious, y'all. She calls me probably once a week to tell me something she "heard on Good Morning America." I knew it's what she would do if she were there, so I figured it would be fun to do it for her. And then call and tell her we might be in the audience!

We were. It was interesting. We've both been in audiences for quite a few shows before having lived so long in LA. This was unique because we were just standing around the entire time, coming and going as we pleased. Anyone could walk up at any time. The guests were Ed Helms and some Bachelorette contestants.

More Good Morning America, Philly Liberty Bell & dinner & mini date night back in Cape May at The Lobster House

Once over, we started our run into Central Park and found three more geocaches. We made our way back to the hotel and then got ready to head out. This time, we took ourselves south via Philadelphia. We had lunch at a really cute sandwich shop. I'd never been to Philly before and there was a work colleague of E's we were able to squeeze in a little visit with. After, we explored Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, found a couple geocaches, had a few beers and a great Thai dinner before eventually ending our super long date driving the 1.5 hours back to Cape May after the kids were happily in bed for the evening.

We continued the trend with mini date nights after the kids were in bed each night. We'd walk the little town, find geocaches in the dark, enjoy a beer... whatever we wanted. It was so luxurious. It's also reason enough to sing the praises of overpriced house rentals over hotels-- kids had their own rooms and spaces which meant we could move about without disturbing them.

Our 7th anniversary was celebrated the day after we arrived in Cape May. My SIL surprised us with the best cake, congratulating us on our 7 years and my awesome husband on his recent appointment to president of his company. What a great trip.

Poconos & Long Island

We set off on yet another adventure at the end of July. And brace yourselves for quite the fall because we'll be jet-setting once again with the little babe in tow. It will include international travel and definitely some posts about air travel with a baby, because holy mackerel is that a totally different ballgame than our previous, never-check-a-bag-no-matter-what lives.

We headed East to introduce B to his great grandparents and great grandma. Believe it or not, B has six living grandmas and three living grandpas. B has a great-great grandmother in California he's never met who is 97, a great grandmother in California who is in her 70's, a grandmother (my mom) in California who would kill me if I mentioned her age, a great grandmother in Maryland who is 90, a great grandmother in Long Island who is 86, and a grandmother (Ray's mom) in Maryland who is young like my mom. And for the grandpas: a great grandpa in Maryland who is 90, a grandpa in California (my dad), and a grandpa in Maryland who turned 60 during our visit! That was also one of the reasons we went. How's that for an introduction!

The week was relaxing and consisted of lots of pool trips, mini golf, a hike, lots of desserts, and some mini road trips in between it all. We flew into Newark plenty of hours late with minimal communication from the airline (insert frustration as we planned to travel during naptime) and then a road trip to the Poconos.

No photos please, mamarazzi. At Chicago-Midway airport.

20 seconds long, but pretty funny. Turn the volume up for this one. Such a boy.

Peaches with Gramie & Great Gramie

Cleaning up with Gramie

Hanging with Great Papa

First indoor pool experience + float

Grandpa, B, Dad, Gramie, Great Gramie, Great Papa

On a hike

Gramie, Dad, B

Mom, Dad, B

Hiking with Grandpa

Playing with Gramie... fun photo sequence

Four Generations of men ages 0, 30, 60, 90

Celebrating Grandpa's 60th with cake!

Mesmerizing apparently.

Second time swinging... with Gramie this time! Put him right to sleep.

More pool time! 

Mini golf. That's what we call it in the west. Put-put for you East coasters. :)

We left the Poconos for a visit with B's great grandma in Long Island. These last few photos are from the last day of our adventures.

B with his Grandpa in Grandpa's childhood home.

Great Grandma holding her only living Great Grandchild.

The cuteness.

As you can tell, I took so. many. photos. on this trip. It's important for us that the time he spends with family be well documented, as we don't live close to any family. It was a wonderful trip. B's 7th and 8th airplane rides will be international next month! We're anxiously awaiting his passport in the mail and will be jet-setting to Germany. Ray may or may not have plans to feed him some German sausage while there. Cannot wait to introduce B to our German friends and load up on some of our favorite German candy bars and teas and whatever else baby I can't find in the States but love.

Random story about baby crap since my last post was all about that: While living in Germany, we were driving through France and searched everywhere for the Sophie Giraffe chew toy. I wasn't pregnant but would be pregnant with Andrew just weeks later and knew I'd need to have that toy for my baby based on our European experiences. It's super trendy in the States now, but it's been popular in France for decades. We searched and searched the stores and found only very large versions and huge sets that I didn't want. And it was the Euro and the exchange rate was terrible at the time. We came back to the States, sans Sophie, and ended up buying one and receiving one as a gift. It was fun reading all the comments about baby crap, including Sophie, from all of you. So glad I'm not the only crazy mind-boggled about this stuff!

And finally. Today is the twenty-first 5th of the month. Andrew has been gone that long. There were plenty of tears and intimate moments, even at nearly two years and with B present, among family during our trip and on our fourth wedding anniversary. My husband gifted me with earrings for our anniversary. They're square-shaped: each side represents a year of marriage and the inner part of the squares have four woven pieces. Each woven piece to resemble the four of us as a family, Andrew included always. Tears. So many tears. I'm wearing them today. Life's just never going to be quite right. We love you, sweet Andrew. So, so much.

Fun & Family in Seven Springs, PA

This past weekend we took a road trip to Seven Springs. Every year Ray's family goes to this ski resort and have been doing so ever since Ray and all of his cousins were little. They rent a big cabin and usually separate boys and girls in rooms with bunkbeds. For some reason, bunkbeds were out this year and separate rooms were in! Since we moved within driving distance (8.5 hours away), we wanted to make the drive. We love road trips, so this was just another chance for us to explore-- and me to add another state, Ohio, to my list!

We arrived--to the surprise of everyone but my sister-in-law Samantha--at about 11p.m. at night as opposed to the next morning like they expected. We made excellent time and managed to arrive before bedtime. After catching up for a bit, it was off to our awesome room (we had our own bathroom!) for the night. In the morning, Ray went for a nice jog/hike with Samantha and I stayed back to catch up with Gramie, Papa, and all the others. Most everyone went for hikes during this morning time. We had an excellent lunch (my mother in law is always so accommodating and manages to find things I love to eat whenever we're around) and then they threw us a co-baby shower. Ray's cousin, Luke, and his wife, Liz, are also pregnant and due within a day of us-- with a boy! It was so nice seeing them and catching up on all things baby while we were there, too. They live in upstate NY, so we rarely see them. Since we're all now within driving distance to Seven Springs with children the same age, all of that just might change.

The shower was put on by these lovely ladies... all of Ray's aunts. They are all so different in their interests but so amazing and incredibly giving. They planned all the fun! Left to right: Aunt Jan, Aunt Ceil, Aunt Helen. Here they are explaining a game where the two dads-to-be had to place a paper plate on their heads and draw the other's baby. Great fun. I plan to use that if I ever plan a baby shower in the future.

Here we have Papa, Liz, and Luke-- and baby, of course.

...and on the other side we sat with Gramie.

This is the incredible table of delicious lemonade and an AWESOME roasted almond cake. It was so good that I had two pieces!

Let the games begin!

Ray & Luke battling it out...

A bit out of order, but Ceil is explaining the plate game process.

More festivities included a baby-themed word scramble and a onesie decoration. We now have 3 personalized onesies from family members. Left: Sam & Uncle Dutch; Right: Kay & Steve

Left: On Ceil's latest vacation to Canada (she travels the world on her summers), she purchased these fun hats for our little ones. Not pictured are the adorable finger puppets she also included in our gifts! Right: This gorgeous cradle was given to us by Ray's parents for Baby W's infancy sleeping in our room. While we won't be co-sleeping, we will be having him in our room/office area (it's enormous) for a few reasons... it's freezing in Chicago in the winter and because it will be easier for us to get used to being parents. Kay & Steve found the cradle at an antique shop a friend of Kay's tipped them off about and another woman from church whom has known Ray his entire life sewed the cradle padding cover. The bear is a gift that Gramie & Papa gave Ray, Luke, and Scott (all cousins born within a couple months of one another) when they were all young. It's nostalgic and now we have it passed on to our son. So many wonderful gifts for our little one. We feel blessed and I know Baby W will feel so loved when we show up next year to introduce the little one everyone was showering!

In an attempt to catch a photo with Liz, my pregnant twin who was also married into the family... we managed to catch a blurry one with us standing next to one another. Bummer. So, we took two more. One of which I am blocked and the other in which she is blocked. Ha. What a balance.

Sorry Liz... I blocked you in this one!

Before leaving, we also managed to get in a few fun games. Ray's Uncle Dutch is always bringing fun games with him. One was an oversized Sequence board. We have the board at our house, but not quite the same size. He also brought ladderball and another game I'd never played (clearly because I'm terrible-- but Ray's mom and Aunt Helen were AWESOME!) called Kan Jam. They were all tons of fun.  

After leaving Seven Springs for our 8.5 hour trek back to Chicago, we stopped off at Aunt Ceil's house in Pittsburgh (what a lovely place!!!) to pick out a piece of her art. Ceil is an art teacher and clay sculptor and all of her pieces have so much meaning and detail. She had been offering us a piece of her artwork since before we married two years ago... and since we had a car this time around, we stopped off to take her up on the offer! It was so thoughtful and we now have a nice piece in our sitting room.

Our drive home was just fine. The road is basically a solid 400 miles from IL > IN > OH > PA. We are already looking forward to next year with our 9-month old! If only that almond cake would reappear... but not to worry-- there are always tons of desserts because Ray's family knows how to eat great food that is never void of sugar or chocolate. That made for one happy pregnant girl. :)