a few days in the big apple.

two weeks ago, we ventured south. not so far south, just a few hours, to the totally fantastic new york city. in doing so, i discovered (and not for the first time) that it’s just too close to go as infrequently as we do. add to that, the city is equal parts exhilarating, and exhausting, (oh, and expensive) and always has more to discover than you’re able to do in one (or one hundred) visits. and so, i want to go again, and again. and again. please brace yourself for tons of pictures. there’s something about finding yourself dropped in such a different environment than your normal that makes you see everything with a certain curiosity. plus, new york city is just classic. i grew up not too far from it, and visited from time to time as a young girl, but it holds a special magic now being there with my family (and also having extra appreciation for the places where scenes from some of our favorite movies go down; always a nerd, forever wowed by the celebrity that is nyc (and some of its inhabitants).  so, when we saw terry bradshaw within the first 15 mins in the city, i knew we were off to a good start. (he’s one of steve’s favorites.) also, note that parker is flexing in all pictures of 2018 and probably 2019 too. running around central park as one does in the city. we stayed right in times square… overwhelming. always a fun place to walk through… once. we had points at the marriott there though so, you do what you gotta do. there are worse things. having grown men dressed up in superhero costumes slowly but determinedly march towards you and your children night after night is an experience. and so are all those lights! it makes an hour in central park even more welcome, though. our walk through central park brought us to the american museum of natural history… one of the highlights of the trip! we were pretty psyched to see the dinosaur bones, the life size blue whale, the indians exhibit, the africa exhibit, and more. that museum is just incredible. the boys and i watched night at the museum a few weeks ago to just get some (not quite real life but still fun) context.i love the way parker is leaning on william here. speaking of william, it was a treat to get to steal him away from college for a weekend. oh, and all of us… one hotel room. we’re used to traveling together in tight quarters (read: being cheap and not paying for 2 hotel rooms!). going with parker was the best. i made sure he packed his camera, and he was all about it. taking pictures, listening to everything i read off the plaques in front of each exhibit, totally mystified by the fact that these were real dinosaur bones. it was really cool. this dinosaur was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. it spanned the entire length of a VERY long room, and then some.this guy figures into the movie… “dum dum, give me some gum gum.” the boys had been using that line for the past week or so before going, so it was fun to see him. real story: it’s an easter island head!  really liked this sweet message as i was walking along outside the museum. that’s anders chasing birds, with a shake shack burger in one hand. also, that shake shack is so appropriately placed, just behind the museum for all the hungry museum-goers funneling out onto the streets after their tour. you could spend days inside that enormous museum and still not see everything.   walking through the upper west side, seeing all the halloween decorations in front of the beautiful brownstones! and when william heard me mention that levain was supposed to have good cookies as we were passing one, he was all in. question–why does one levain in the UWS have no line, and another just around the corner have a line going out the door? are they different? it felt like the one with the line must have some sort of secret magic.look at that melty chocolate. as we neared lincoln center, slowly making our way back to midtown area to meet a friend of steve’s for dinner, anders was starting to expire. so we played a little game of push the stroller and that changed things immediately. also, what i wouldn’t give to see a jazz show at lincoln center, or a balllet! ohhhh one day! while there i also got to have brunch at sarabeth’s with two of my cousins and one of my best friends from high school. that was just the best. love connecting with people i don’t see very often but have known forever. kept trying to get one picture with steve and i alone, and lindsey kept jumping into the frame and making us laugh.bonus–we got to see our dear friend sylvia from italy who was in nyc visiting her daughter! when we met up with her just outside the lego store at 30 rock, we exclaimed how fun it was to see her in yet another place. we just love her. next day, strolling along the highline in search of breakfast with some hangry children. (i won’t tell you which one was the hangriest.) beautiful corner stores. inside chelsea market. what a cool building. reminds me a bit of a fancier reading terminal (any philadelphians out there?!). we headed straight for some bagels. fun fact: chelsea market is in the old nabisco building which is where the oreo cookie was invented! are you kidding me? also, pretty sure we’re in the west village now. oh! also where we saw john oliver walking with his kid in a stroller. i didn’t say anything, but i always want to (but never will). steve loves him.dragging children along city streets is my specialty. this was a long day, ending with evening top of the rock tickets. we felt like william and lindsey just had to see it at least once even though it’s silly expensive. seeing the city from that vantage point gives so much perspective that you just can’t fathom when you’re at ground level. side note: all the people working at top of the rock are really, really nice.next morning, funny story. we grabbed an uber from our hotel to cookshop. really just a few blocks, but it was check out day so we were running short on time to make our reservations. so we’re in the uber, and suddenly we’re in the lincoln tunnel. mind you, from our hotel to cookshop is just a few blocks south. and sure enough i’m watching us on the uber map snaking across the hudson river. hmm.. then, we’re out of the tunnel and in new jersey. there was a language barrier between us and the driver so i just said again, “cookshop?” i couldn’t understand his response, but he ended up turning around and going back through the lincoln tunnel into the city and then turning south a few blocks to cookshop about half hour later. he was so apologetic, reimbursed me for the ride, and cookshop still had a spot for us. as we pulled up to the restaurant though, steve whispers, “quick, get out of the car before we end up in dc.” it ended up being so funny in the end, and i still gave him 5 stars because everyone makes mistakes. i think what happened is he found himself in the far right lane and couldn’t get off the last exit before being in the tunnel. being an uber driver would be stressful, man. but back to cookshop–delicious. great coffee, ambience, and somehow the most amazing gluten-free, almond pancakes. i do not get how they were so delicious, but they were.more flexing! but also a fitting picture to end with, because this kid was like the greatest traveler. walked miles (and we somehow forgot the wheels to the glider board in the car… so what we walked, he walked.), waited, at times, too long to eat food, walked some more miles, and seriously never even hinted at a complaint. it was so impressive. i had such a good time with everyone and wish we could take a little getaway together more often. reconnecting and laughing and hanging out in a hotel room together and having (most of!) us under one roof makes me happy.

next time, nyc!

outfit: off white sweater: old FP but similar; sweater-coat: madewell; boots: frye; jeans: madewell