Category: Products & Places

Chuck and I went to NYC for an anniversary trip. We haven’t been on a big anniversary trip in years (if ever). Especially not since the girls were around. We debated a lot about where to go and had a long list of places/things we wanted to see. It was such a fun trip and so nice to get away for a little while. I was about 30 weeks pregnant at the time of our trip, so we weren’t sure how much I would be up for. You’ll be impressed with all we did. I’ll try to remember everything.

*FRIDAY*

We left in the evening on Friday and arrived pretty late in NYC. We took a terrifying taxi ride to the hotel and checked in. We decided to stay right in Times Square at the Hilton. You could see the New Years Eve ball from our window (but we couldn’t get a good picture from the window). It was late (about midnight), but I couldn’t miss out on walking around Times Square on a Friday night. It was quite the sight to see. The people and the lights and just everything is so much to take in. After a quick trip down there, we headed to bed to rest up for our first day of sight seeing.

*SATURDAY*

We woke up bright and early (about 7) and got ready to begin our day. We walked the length of the High Line. What a neat thing to see in the middle of the busy city! Then we took the subway to Central Park. Seriously, Central Park has to be my most favorite place. It’s a really fabulous park inside the hustle and bustle of the city. It’s so gorgeous, and huge and quiet! I could have spent all day there! While we were at the park, we went to the Central Park Zoo. It’s hard for me to visit somewhere and not visit the zoo!

After the zoo, we walked around the park a little more and went to the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum. I had to take a picture on the steps for a friend of mine because we both watched “Gossip Girl” and they spent a lot of time on those stairs in the show. In front of the Met and about a mile down that block, there was a race going on. So we watched the runners for a little while.

We headed back to the hotel for a little rest (for me) and then headed to the Intrepid Museum. It was a little rainy, but we walked the few blocks over there and back. It was a really neat museum. We toured a submarine and an aircraft carrier. It was also the only museum we actually went into on our trip. Neither of us really had much interest in visiting the other museums, although I know they are probably wonderful.

We walked around Grand Central Station and called the girls to chat on FaceTime. They were having a great time with grandma! Then we walked down 5th Avenue for a while, but since we had no interest in buying anything, it wasn’t all that interesting. We stopped in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was gorgeous, then took the subway to the 9/11 Memorial to see in the dark. It was still a bit wet outside, but it was so cool to see the memorial all lit up at night.

We took the subway back to Times Square and had a late dinner. Then we walked around/sat in Times Square again to people watch. I was running out of steam, so we called it a night (after wandering through a few stores) and went to rest up for our next big day.

We totaled 16 miles of walking today.

*SUNDAY*

We were up about 7 again and off to the subway to visit Battery Park on our way to catch the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Wow is all I can say about seeing them in person and being there. Just amazing all around. If you ever have the chance to visit them, it will be worth it and an experience you won’t forget.

After spending the morning there, we walked on Wall Street and saw the NY Stock Exchange (it wasn’t all that exciting on a Sunday morning). Then we headed over to the 9/11 Memorial again to see it during the day. It was just as stunning and mesmerizing during the day as it was at night.

We found a little pizza place to have lunch (which was so delicious) and ate our pizza in Zuccotti Park. Next we made our way over to Rockefeller Center and went to visit “Top of the Rock” which is an observation deck to see the city. What a stunning view. We had a really clear day so we had a great view of everything. People like visiting this observation deck over the Empire State Building because you can see Central Park. When Chuck told me that, I was sold and wanted to go to that one. And since I was so excited, we got the passes to visit it again at night.

After “Top of the Rock” we headed back to the hotel to rest for a little while and get ready to go to our Broadway show. We chose “The Lion King” and I am so glad that we did. It was such a great show and there’s something about the song “The Circle of Life” that makes me cry and so, of course, the crazy pregnant lady was sobbing during the first 2 minutes of the show.

After the show we headed to “Top of the Rock” again for the night viewing. Just gorgeous! We didn’t stay too long since we had already been there during the day and I was really tired. So on the way back to the hotel, I got brave and bought some food truck food. I was a little worried about it, but it was so delicious and I am so glad I got something!

After eating my yummy food, I promptly fell asleep and got ready for day 3.

We totaled 12 miles of walking today.

*MONDAY*

Sadly, day 3 was also our last day. Of course, we were up by about 7 again and got our stuff packed and checked out of our room. They had a nice little holding room for your luggage, so we took advantage of that before heading out.

We hopped on the subway and headed over to Chinatown/Little Italy. They were quite interesting. It’s strange, you really feel like you are walking into a different city. Then you cross the street and you’re in yet another city. Just bizarre. While there, we walked around and visited a few parks. Mostly to take some walking breaks since I was running out of steam on my pregnant little feet!

We took the subway back to Central Park. We had seen everything (and more) from our initial list, so I wanted to spend some more time in Central Park since I loved it so much. On the the way, we stopped by the Apple Store. What a strange little cube sticking out of the ground. You have to take stairs or a glass elevator down to the store which is underground.

We walked through Central Park and visited the reservoir. We ate lunch at The Boathouse that a friend recommended. We just ate at the café there and not the fancy (yet beautiful) restaurant. Next we visited the Belvedere Castle. The views of Central park from the castle were so pretty. I just stood there taking it all in for a while!

Then we headed back to Times Square and picked up some gifts for the girls at the M&M store (which is HUGE by the way….3 levels of chocolate!). Then we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. We decided to skip the taxi ride and took a bit of an adventure to the airport. We took the subway to Queens/Astoria then got on a bus to the airport. Then I collapsed in a chair and waited to get on the plane to head home.

Then, after an uneventful flight, we found the car and headed home. It was so nice to take a trip, but there’s nothing like coming home after being away!

We totaled 10 miles of walking today.

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Some other little tidbits about the trip:

• I did get to see some subway entertainment and I loved it. I thought it was hilarious and Chuck told me to stop paying attention to them because they would come over and try to get money. I still looked.
• Street entertainers crack me up. From the nutjobs in Time’s Square to the cool dancers all over town. I couldn’t stop watching them and being captivated by all of them. I sure the fascination wears off, but it sure didn’t after 3 days for me!
• The stores in Times Square are so cool. They are huge and bright and just such a sight to see. Many stores are multi-level (even the McDonald’s) and above them are these HUGE screens with ads on them. It’s so much to take in!

• Taking the subway was an interesting thing. I think I just get weirded out by the fact that they are underground. I about lost my mind when I realized some go under the water. That just doesn’t seem right. And that there are multiple layers of them underground…it’s just not right. But once I got over that initial shock, I sat back and enjoyed the weirdos. Also, many (or most? or all? of them) have some artwork on them. We took pictures of a couple of my favorites.

• People watching is amazing there. It doesn’t matter where you are, there’s someone fascinating to look at. I wanted to take WAY more pictures of people, but I felt awkward doing so. Although, the people doing the crazy things would have loved it!

• It’s amazing to see all the tall buildings and to think about how much they fit into that tiny space. There’s so much to do and see there. It’s remarkable how much fits into the space they have and how different one area can be from the next.
• We took an astounding number of modes of transportation to, from and during this trip: car, taxi, bus, subway, lightrail, airplane, ferry/boat, escalators, elevators, feet, stairs……geesh, are there even any others?
• We walked over 40 miles during the entire trip! Phew! That’s something I need to jot down in this baby’s baby book!

Overall, it was an amazing and exhausting trip. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. We had a great time hanging out together and doing things on our schedule and not that of the kids. And I can’t believe it was already almost 7 weeks ago since we went.

And here’s a link to all the pictures we took on our trip if you want to see the others.

I decided to register for another year of MOPS. I debated because I am trying not to over-schedule myself or become overwhelmed by feeling I HAVE to do so many things. But since I quit MOMS Club, I took the plunge and joined.

I am so glad that I did. I have a wonderful table at MOPS this year and I know the women are going to be great friends and assets to me as a mom.

The theme this year is Be You, Bravely. Below is a little about the theme.

Theme Verse: 

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.  Isaiah 43:18-19   (NIV)

At any given moment in our lives each of us has…

• Conversations we’ve been putting off.
• Reasonable risks we’ve been avoiding.
• Goals we want to achieve.

Yet often times the more significant an action feels the easier it is to put it off.  We get distracted from the big decisions by the immediate needs of the day. What all of us seem to have in common is that we need a nudge, a nudge to help us get out of our ruts and routines so that we can begin risking bravely.

At MOPS we believe that you were meant to live deeply and so we have created this year’s theme to inspire you to choose the extraordinary.

Be you, Bravely is designed to help us focus on making the choices that could create the most good in our lives, help us to step into healthy risk and to do it in the context of community where we can cheer one another on.

Sometimes, good people wait patiently for God to intervene when what he is wanting is for us to act bravely and do something. Being a follower of Jesus calls for courage. The journey feels unexpected and unconventional. It requires bravely playing hide and seek in the dark, confronting the fears that scare us and holding the hand of a redeemer-guide who calls us to courageous acts of risk and trust. It means coloring outside of the lines. Dreaming bigger than we ever have before and getting swept up into the plans of a God who leaves us breathless with wonder.

It takes courage to ask brave questions and even more courage to search for the answers. We are so excited to journey alongside you this year as we ask one another what it means to  “Be you, Bravely”.

So far (after two meetings and a mom’s night out), I am so happy I joined. I like that it’s every other week because I feel like it means I am not over-scheduled, make the most of the meetings we do have and appreciate the time there much more than if we had it all the time. The meetings have been so much fun and it is so nice to have a couple hours to eat brunch, and have the kids taken care of. This morning in particular, the message really hit me and having the wonderful ladies ask me how we are doing with Chuck’s recent layoff, just proved I was in the right place and made the right choice. It was exactly what I needed today and I look forward to other upcoming meetings!

If you haven’t checked out MOPS before, it may or may not be the right fit for you, but for those that I have spoken with that have done it, they love it. If you’re looking for something new, maybe there’s one in your area that would work for you.