Parents in town

My parents came to visit us in early November- it was a gift from my dad to my Mom for her birthday- how awesome is that?!?  We had a lot of fun and spent most of our time outside because the weather and the Fall foliage was amazing here.  They flew in Wednesday night and we stayed up chatting for a while about the recent election results.  Then, we put them up in our very fancy bunk beds (Kate and Taylor kindly vacated their bedroom for grandma and grandpa)- I'll bet they haven't slept in bunk beds since they were little kids! Mom and Dad went for walks in Central Park every day that they were here and we tried to join them as much as possible.  Its proving to be harder than I want to juggle our own family schedules on top of hosting guests and wanting to spend every single moment with them.  

Its currently freezing (snow on the ground included!) in NYC, so I'm looking at these pictures from November with a little bit of jacketless envy. :)  

We had to show my parents the view from our rooftop, which we love...we even enjoyed some banana pudding up here on my mom's birthday, which is becoming a tradition in our family!

We didn't get a picture (mostly because our resident photographer, Brian, had to work and couldn't come) of most of what we did. But, we did a lot!  I love how active and ambitious travelers my parents are!  We wanted to get cronuts at Dominique Ansel, but we thought it best to eat a proper meal first, so we found a highly-rated deli nearby and devoured our HUGE sandwiches outside on a bench in a little charming park in West Village.  Then we walked to the bakery and ate some of the yummiest things of my life.  The cronut was amazing and the chocolate cookie was probably one of the best I've ever had.  After grabbing my kids at school, we all headed downtown to Times Square to try and get discount tickets to a show. We decided on Matilda because I knew they'd love it and it was on offer that night. We bought tickets and then walked to a restaurant for dinner, where we ran into the Sedgwicks!  It was a surprise for my Mom's birthday- we were all in on it, but she was floored when she saw them nonchalantly walking around right by where we were planning on eating. It was so fun!

We ate a yummy Italian dinner and then I raced home to get their baby Jane and my kids settled and then raced back to meet my parents, Dave and Jess and Hannah for our show.  We all loved the show, even though there was a last-act replacement of Matilda herself due to the main character falling ill.  Afterwards, we crossed the street and got some famous cheesecake at Junior's.  The Sedgwicks went back to their hotel and we all went back to our apartment.

I'm so glad the Sedgwicks were in town because we had some important doctor appointments and other things going on that we couldn't miss, so they took over hosting duties and showed my mom around the city on her birthday and made her feel extra special, I'm sure.  We met up later and took the Staten Island Ferry so we could get a great view of the Statue of Liberty- and it was amazing!  We passed Lady Liberty right at sunset and then looked behind us to the lit skyline of Lower Manhattan.  Gorgeous.  Afterwards, I had to race back for church but they all went to the Sea Glass Carousel and then dinner at Chelsea Market.  The Sedgwicks headed home to Maryland that night.

The next day we went to Bryant Park to walk through the Christmas markets there.  We grabbed some lunch and then walked through the gorgeous New York Public Library, where there was a great exhibition on Alexander Hamilton that we all enjoyed.  Later that evening, we even made it to the temple down the street for a beautiful session altogether.  The Manhattan temple is really gorgeous and its even better when you're there with family.

I just think the inside of the library is so stunning.  I love the white marble and the grand architecture.

We rode the subway a lot too- I really feel like the best way to get to know a city is to use their public transportation and its so true here in NYC.

On Sunday we had our ward's primary program, which was so fantastic.  All of the kids were included and had something to speak or sing about.  I loved the message and watching my own sweet kiddos sing their beautiful music. And, I love that my parents got to see it! It was also Kate's first program that she got to watch from the pews, as she turned 12 in June.  

That night, we hosted a dinner group from our ward here in our apartment.  We had 17 people over and it was definitely a tight fit- but nothing that the native New Yorkers present weren't used to!  I'm sure we were more flustered about everyone having a seat than they were.  We had such a good time getting to know the two families better and eating a yummy dinner together.  My dad had to leave mid-meal to rush off to the airport to catch his flight.  My mom stayed for one more day and we squeezed in a really touching visit to the 9/11 Memorial Museum.  I really, really loved it and could have spent many more hours there than what we had.  We met Brian for a quick lunch (he works close to the museum) and then we headed home and got my mom ready to go for her flight later that day.  

I loved having my parents here and celebrating my mom's birthday with her!  

Election Night

This was the coolest night!  We didn't have much invested in the election as far as who won- mostly because we got disconnected from American politics while we lived in London.  But, we decided last-minute (as in 10:30 PM) to head down to Times Square on November 9 to soak in all of the energy from that lively place.  When we got to Times Square, the mood was lively and upbeat as it appeared that Clinton had a lead and would maintain it.  We watched the ABC news anchors reporting through the glass walls and the running poll results being posted all over the surrounding buildings.  The energy really was electric.  We wandered through all of the major broadcasting stations that night and NBC at Rockefeller Center was next.  While there were a lot of people around, you couldn't see much there, but the building itself was very patriotically lit for the occasion.  I love how close everything is to Times Square- we didn't spend much time walking, but were able to see a TON of the action that night.

From NBC, we walked over to Fox News, where the mood and people were entirely different.  I loved watching the famous broadcasters through the glass here on this historic night and trying to see what stations were calling what and seeing the different people all over the city.  It was crazy cool!

We walked to the Hilton, where Trump had set up camp and by now it was clear that he had won the race.  We wanted to be there when he declared the results, so we hung out for a long time right in front of the hotel.  We were told to leave around 12:30 AM, so we went back to Times Square and ABC news, where the mood was decidedly different than it had been earlier that night.  There was a somber acceptance of what was pretty clear by now.  It was eerily quiet. By 1 AM, when we were told that Clinton had gone to bed (or whatever- I can't remember why there was such a huge delay in conceding), we decided to head home ourselves.  We were so tired, but also so grateful that we decided to go out and witness this night.  

Lots of interesting signs and people all over the city that night.

Central Park in the Fall

I don't think I ever remember a Fall being so beautiful.  The colors on the trees in Central Park were really something else- every bright red, bright orange and bright yellow (my favorite!) shade were everywhere.  I loved my morning runs when everything was blanketed in a layer of fog and you could just make out the buildings amongst the colorful trees.  Gorgeous.  Brian took the girls to Central Park one Saturday morning while I was busy.  They had the best time playing soccer, running around and building fairy homes.

The bridges here are my favorite.  I love how they bow up and are so ornate.  Plus, the trees on either side! 

The girls made these cute fairy salads...tomatoes and lettuce in an acorn bowl!

We love living so close to Central Park and just heading over when we need some fresh air and space to run around. It seriously is so stunning in the Fall- you could spend all day walking around and taking it all in.  I love to go to the reservoir for the awesome view of downtown.

There is a market on 65th and Columbus (by our church) every weekend.  They sell all kinds of baked goods, farm fresh produce and our favorite apple cider donuts.  So yummy! We love where we live- so close to everything we need like school, the grocery store, and our church.  We hardly ever have to use the subways because most things are really convenient to get to (or can be had with the click of a button online!).  But, we love getting out and exploring new parts and seeing things in our neighborhood that we haven't discovered yet.  There's always something new to find in New York City and Fall is our favorite season so far!

Halloween in NYC!

Our first Halloween in NYC was pretty awesome.  We had some really cold weather for a day or two and then it warmed up again right around the 31st.  It was perfect to walk around outside in.  69th Street is kind of famous for its Halloween decorations, so we walked up and down, weaving in and out of huge crowds and seeing tons of people from church.  It made our side of town feel like a really small neighborhood- I loved it.  The brownstones were unbelievably decorated- so much so, that they take donations to help offset the cost of it!

My two littler super heroes...love them so much.

Halloween is sort of becoming a week-long holiday with parties to go to well in advance of the actual day.  With my affinity for chocolate, I am not complaining.  Tessa had the cutest Halloween party at our church with her little friends where they played games and ate lots of yummy food.  Then, we had our ward's trunk or treat in our building a couple of nights later.  Seeing as almost no one in our ward actually owns cars, we used the different rooms in the building as our "homes".  Brian and I signed up to man one of the doors and we pulled together some last-minute decorations. It ended up looking really cute (and spooky!).  I wish we would've snapped a pic.  I think the kids went around at least 6 times each and then gave up because we had tons of candy left over.  Again, not complaining. ;) 

Below are the pictures from 69th street, which had been blocked off for the night.  It was so fun to people/costume watch!

After exploring 69th, we went to a friend's building with a few families and went trick-or-treating inside.  This was a new experience for us because it was all indoors.  Families who would like to have trick-or-treaters sign up ahead of time and post a note on their door so you know exactly who has candy and who doesn't.  It makes it pretty easy and definitely safer!  The kids had a ton of fun running around with their friends up and down floors collecting candy.  What a fun first NYC Halloween!