I can't get enough of New York! Jeremy has been working there since October. Once a month, his employer will fly me to New York to visit with him. So I am taking full advantage. Since I turned 30 this month, I thought this was a perfect opportunity. I flew up for a long weekend. We went shopping in Soho (and this time I made up for my lack of purchases the last trip) and ate dinner at the oldest drinking establishment in New York - the Bridge Cafe. It is located in the Financial District, right under the Brooklyn Bridge. I would highly recommend the diver scallops with the lobster risotto there - magnificent! We also met our friends, Alex and Scott McConnell, who live in New Jersey (temporarily we hope) for dinner at the Russian Tea Room and then went to see Mamma Mia. The Russian Tea Room was a fun experience, but it was definitely one of those places where you get a little food for a lot of money. We enjoyed Mamma Mia, but it didn't hold a candle to Chicago. We were also able to attend a matinee showing of Lion King - what amazing costumes and set. It was worth every penny. We had brunch prior to the show at Alice's Tea Cup - it is a little tea shop decorated with an Alice and Wonderland theme. It would be a perfect place to take any little girl, as all little girls wear fairy wings while there. The french toast was to die for, as well as the Wedding Chai. It snowed the entire time that we were there and it was BITTERLY cold - I wore 4 layers the entire time. The trip was so memorable and has only fueled my addiction to Broadway. A week later, we attended a showing of Wicked in Louisville - I loved Chicago, and adored the Phantom of the Opera (I saw it 10 years ago - gosh I am old), but Wicked was by far the most amazing musical I have ever seen. We hope to go back to NYC in the Spring to see South Pacific and Jersey Boys if Jeremy is still working there! I think this year is shaping up to be the year of the Big Apple!
Olivia adores Winnie the Pooh. She has a DVD player in the car and she insists on watching the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (the classic movie) as well as the Adventures of Tigger and Pooh (the most recent kid's show) every morning and afternoon to and from daycare. She has several books that Nana and Papaw gave her that we have to read every night. She knows all the characters and points them out. Hearing her say "Eeyore" is hysterical, but her favorite is obviously Pooh, although Rabbit runs a close second. This picture was taken after taking her to her first basketball game - a tournament game between Corbin and Lexington Christian Academy. We took Pooh with us as a security item - she was a little overwhelmed by the spectacle at first, but once we introduced popcorn, she was an instant fan of the event. Afterwards, she was obviously worn out, and for whatever reason, put Pooh on her head, where he road for the entire trip home. She has done this before - when she is worn out, she puts her blanket on her head. I guess she is trying to block out the light. I can't help but laugh at her when she does this - it is so cute.
A quick family picture before going to the children's Mass and Uncle Bob and Aunt Windy's house for a Christmas Eve celebration! Little did we know that Olivia was suffering from strep throat and pneumonia at the time...
Olivia was so proud of her gingerbread house. We spent the better part of a Sunday afternoon putting this together - it wasn't the most stable home but she had a great time decorating it!
Olivia absolutely adores her "Babby" (aka Maggie) and "Geek" (aka Jake). But you can see that the feeling is not always mutual - Maggie looks terrified here. Honestly though, Maggie and Jake do very well with her - they often look to me to make sure that they aren't crossing any lines. They are very good dogs.
Olivia was worn out by the end of the night!
Playing with Grandpa, Mommy and Cooper
I have to say, Cara, that I am impressed. A baby in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. Just the way I like it!
Fascinated with the Christmas tree!
I went to daycare with Olivia to attend her annual Christmas party. The first picture is a picture of her with her teacher, Ms. Deborah. We love Ms. Deborah - she is so sweet! The second is of course our second meeting ever with Santa Claus - Olivia was not quite the fan this year as she was last year. But she was in good company - I think at one point every toddler was screaming and crying in tandem while Santa was in the room!
Tavern on the Green
Taking a carriage ride through Central Park
Times Square
Going to Chicago (loved it!)
Empire State Building
Windows at Macy's Department Store
Rockefeller Plaza
A view from Central Park
Enjoying the culinary delights of NYC...
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wall Street
Ground Zero (which is right outside Jeremy's office in NYC - a sobering reminder)
Grammie found Rudolph at Big Lots and gave it to Olivia for Christmas. She absolutely adored Rudolph - by pushing a button on his ear, his nose lights up and he says cute little Rudolphisms such as "I'm cute!" (just like Rudolph says in the movie but through that stopped up nose voice - if you can recall, Rudolph's dad made him wear dirt on his nose to cover up the red). Very annoying. Even more annoying was the fact that Rudolph only played part of his signature song - which is probably why he was such a cheap buy at Big Lots. I would also speculate that the reason he was so cheap was because whoever designed the toy thought that the sound should be amped up especially loud - as if Rudolph wasn't annoying enough. So needless to say, after several weeks of Olivia insisting that Rudolph take naps with her (and her unable to go to sleep because she kept pressing his ear to hear him sing) and hearing Rudolph over and over again in the car on the way to daycare, I was not the least bit dismayed that Maggie decided that Rudolph would taste pretty good and chewed off his nose. Olivia cried "No, no, Babby" and was distraught. All I can say is "good dog."
Or as Olivia would say, "Mama, hayalp!" I have no idea where she gets her country accent! ;)
