Christmas And Its Eve

On Christmas Eve we headed into NYC one last time and made our way to Cent.ral Park:

We were aiming for the castle in the middle of the park:

Santa was holding one final 'seating' inside the castle.  Brayton was NOT excited to get one last chance to ask for presents:

McColley, however, was ecstatic to do a double-check with Santa on the present-drop location:

Our visit with Santa done, we headed up to the very top of the castle for a family picture:

Grandma and Grandpa also got a picture under the castle's rooftop pagoda:

We then decided to walk along The Ra.mble... there were more steps than we realized:

Eventually we found our way to the 'Nig.ht At The M.useum' museum:

Christmas morning dawned early (but not too early) and Santa had found us:

Of course, the morning was perfect as soon as the toys were out of their boxes:

It was a very Merry Christmas and we hope it will be a Happy (and productive) New Year!

Taking A Big Bite Out Of The Big Apple

On Wednesday we decided to ride the train down to the southern end of Manhattan.

We got off at the Wo.rld Trade Center stop - which is right in the middle of all the reconstruction:

We then walked down the Ba.ttery Park Promenade so that we could catch a ferry...

to Liberty Island (where Brayton insisted that he - and only he - could push the stroller):

Eventually we made our way around to the front of Lady Liberty:

Then it was back onto the ferry and over to Ellis Island where Grandma, Grandpa and McColley listened to the audio tour:

When we went back outside to wait for the ferry again, I took the obligatory pictures with the Statue of Liberty as our background...

and then the front of Ellis Island as well:

We had dinner in the Financial District at a restaurant that has only been open a week.  On our way back to the train station we found The Bull:

Thursday we decided to hit Midtown again, but this time we headed to Rockefeller Center and the giant tree:

Grandma and Grandpa were celebrating their 32nd anniversary (but, no, they did not skate):

We had lunch and then battled our way into the Le.go Store so the boys could pick out their Christmas presents:

Then it was time to go around the block to Rad.io City Music Hall:

Where we got to go inside and view all the beautiful decorations...

because we had orchestra seats to watch the R.ockettes Christmas Spectacular!

Weren't We Supposed To Be In London?

So... on Monday we were supposed to fly to Newark, meet up with Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins and then all fly together to London.

Yeah.  That totally didn't happen.

London was mostly shut down and (ironically) the only flight that did manage to get from Newark to London on Monday carried our cats but not us.

So, instead of London we're in Newark for a few days.  Luckily Newark is right next to New York City!

Yesterday we hopped the train and arrived in the City in time for lunch.

After lunch McColley got the thrill of his life:

Yep, he was invited by an NYPD officer to hop in a squad car and push some buttons:

He got to make the siren go and turn on the lights:

Pretty much everything else was a bit of a downer but we did our best to keep things entertaining.

We headed to Macy's next because we were all cold and each of us was missing a piece of warmth gear.  We walked out much warmer:

Our next stop was the top of the Empire State Building... it was a bit windy:

The inside was much calmer and also beautifully decorated:

Then we hailed a cab and headed thirty blocks north to Serendi.pity 3.  We all had to try some Frr.rozen Hot Chocolate:

After a really good (and filling) meal, McColley was the only one with room left to eat some ice cream:

Then it was back in a cab, back to the train station and back to the hotel!

Turning Two

Somehow two years have flown by and my baby is no longer a baby... he is a toddler AND he is now officially two!

Unfortunately the demands of moving overseas put a constraint on how elaborately we could celebrate Brayton's birthday this year.  Fortunately we were able to carve out time to go to one of his favorite places - Lon.gwood Gar.dens.

It was all decorated for Christmas and the lights were amazing.  Brayton particularly liked this tree because of all the colors (he asked to have his picture taken and then moved as I was pushing the button):

The best thing was that Daddy got to join us and the boys got to point out all their favorite decorations:

And the grand finale was a trip out to the trains.  Four different holiday trains were running, Brayton's favorite was the one carrying Santa Claus (or HoHoHo as Brayton says):

Moving Day - similar to Boxing Day

What happens when you take movers, children, and two cats with completely different personalities, and mix them all together?

A driveway full of boxes (much less than the move TO Dover - yay!):

A saran-wrapped couch in the frontyard:

Two fascinated children (the TRUCK! was a big hit):

A cat desperate to meet all the new people and experience the pleasure of the new petting attachments (hands):

And a cat so desperate to hide, that she'll semi-flatten herself to make it under the magazine rack:

Or hiding behind the shower curtain in the bathtub, even after everyone has left the house:

In fact, Kiera was still so freaked out, she refused to leave the bathroom even for her treats. The treats that she is so desperate to receive everynight that she starts whining for them at 5 p.m., and doesn't stop until she gets them around 8...just think what a trans-Atlantic flight will do to her.

Pictures With Santa... On A C-17

Last Sunday the boys got to go and visit Santa.  However, Santa was apparently just in town for a layover because he was meeting the kids in the cockpit of a C-17 (which is a really big cargo plane).

Brayton wasn't too excited.  OK, he was petrified:

Eventually he did calm down and give Santa a bit of consideration:

But McColley was able to tell Santa what he most wanted, so the mission was a success:

Double The Decorations

Today we decided to check out how two of our favorite places have decorated for Chr.istmas.

Our first stop was Wint.erthur.  The boys and I decided to not go on the tour so we missed most of the decorations.

However, a security guard was super nice and let us play in the kid's area (even though it was supposed to be closed). The boys took full advantage and threw a tea party:

When McColley left the party, Brayton practiced his tea serving technique:

With tea time out of our way, it was time to skip on over to L.ongwood G.ardens.  We spent some time outside but then our noses got very, very cold so we headed into the Conservatory through the first door we could find.

It turns out we walked straight into the rainforest garden... it was steamy:

We then went on a hunt for chr.istmas trees.  We found a green one:

A gold and blue one:

And a red one: