Girls Trip to NYC

Last week, eight girls got in a car and headed up to New York City for some holiday fun before Christmas!  We got into NYC just after lunch time on Wednesday and stayed through the afternoon on Friday - just in time to get one full day of prep work before Christmas Eve - so it was a busy time to head out of town, but I’m so very glad we did!  

 

After checking into our hotel in Manhattan, we set out walking to check out the surrounding area.  We stayed in a convenient location that was within a relatively short walk to Bryant Park, Time Square, Rockafeller Center, and Broadway (most of the places we planned on being).  So, we first started out checking out the area in the Garment District and Bryant Park.  The girls liked the ice skating rink in Bryant Park, so we planned to head back there the next morning.

 

  

After exploring a bit, we headed back to the hotel to get freshened up.  The big event on Wednesday were tickets to see the Lion King on Broadway, so after getting ready we set out for an early dinner reservation at Daniela which was just down the block from our show.

We finished dinner with a little bit of time to spare before the show started, so we walked through Time Square to check out all the holiday activity.

  

The doors for the show opened at 6:30, so we got there in plenty of time to get settled in and even snap a few pictures before going into the auditorium.

 

Photos were strictly prohibited during the show, but I was tempted to snap a few.  This was at our seats during intermission.  The Lion King was amazing!  We were blown away by the creativity, the costumes, the music, etc.  It was an awesome experience and memory for all of us!

Day two started out with breakfast then ice skating at Bryant Park.  Once you rent your skates, you can skate for as long as you’d like, and I think the girls all got their money’s worth of ice skating!  They skated for quite awhile and had a great time!

 

  

  

We refuled with lunch after ice skating then made our way towards Macy’s to check out many of the decorated windows that the stores had displayed, we did some shopping, and then made our way back to the hotel to regroup before heading back out for the evening.

  

Dinner was at a cozy Italian restaurant with FANTASTIC pizza...

…then we walked towards Rockefeller Center to check out the sights there.  On our way, we stopped off at this cute location for a few pics.

 

We got to Rockefeller Center and saw the tree, saw someone get proposed to on the ice rink there, then walked over to Saks 5th Avenue to see more window displays and the light show on the building.  We made it back to the hotel quite exhausted, but day two was another success!

 

 

We were a little unsure how we were going to use our time on Day 3 because we knew we needed to be making our way out of the city before Friday rush hour traffic got fully underway, and we also knew we were contending with holiday traffic, but we wanted to head up to Central Park before we left.  We decided the most efficient way to get there would be the subway, and after a little snafu of getting started off on the wrong train, we made it up to Central Park to shop at some of the vendors there and have a little play time in the park before heading back.

  

 The trip home felt like forever, but thankfully we all made it back without losing anyone or any other major mishaps, and we brought home with us memories of a great time together and a wonderful start to the Christmas break!

 

 

First Snow Day

Last weekend we had our first snow day of the winter.  It was a really nice snow day actually.  It was fluffly and rather light - fun to play in but it didn’t create issues on the roads or cause us to cancel any plans we had.  Lyla had an indoor soccer game in the morning, then we got back to the house and the girls had a fun time playing out in the back yard, making little snowmen and getting snow showers from the big trees behind us.

 

Giving little sister a snow shower...

Cayene definitely didn’t look too impressed at first, but she actually had a lot of fun playing outside with the girls.  For being a dog with short hair, she doesn’t mind being out in the snow.  Don’t tell any of her hunting dog friends, but she actually got a little jacket for this winter!  

  

Later that evening, Mark and I went out for a holiday party for his work.  Many thanks to Mouse and Pops who took one for the team and watched all five grandaughters and so we and the Williams could make it to our parties! :)  

Celebrating 50 Years

The Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend was the 50th wedding anniversary of my Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Mike.  To commemorate the occasion, they had a renewal of vows ceremony complete with dinner, dancing, and re-exchanging of vows. 

  

  My mom was a “bridesmaid” and Pops was in charge of a door!  :)  They’re certainly a good looking set of parents!

We had almost the whole fam. together (the Williams crew were still in Hartfield).

These little girls are awful lucky to have such good men in their lives.  My mom snapped these two pics for me.

  

  

We all had a really nice evening celebrating Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Mike.  It is so rare anymore to hear of marriages lasting the duration, so it’s quite an accomplishment to make it to 50 years married.  Mark and I are coming up on 16 years next month - that sounds like a long time to me, but hopefully we’ll get to celebrate our 50th anniversary one day too!