Gramma Sitting

Just before going on vacation Jim and I made the decision to switch Charlotte's daycare provider.  A combination of reasons and we feel like we found a better fit for what Charlotte needs right now.  Our last day at our old provider was the day before we left for Rhode Island.

The only downfall to the timing of our switch was that she couldn't start at the new provider until this week.  That meant we had a few days without coverage and we need to get back to work.

Thankfully, my Mom was able to come and hang witht he girl for a few days!  We had a blast having her here and made Jim and I really spoiled.  We got to get up a little later and take our time in the morning because we didn't have to get her ready or drop her off. 

Charlotte and Gramma seemed to have a great time.  They spent all kinds of quality time together and did a variety of things.  My Mom stayed through the weekend and even another day on Monday which was awesome cause I was not ready to see her go, none of us were!

This weekend we went to the Winter Farmer's Market downtown and to the mall when Charlotte got to play.  Amazingly enough this is pretty much the only pictures I got.  I think maybe I was tired of my camera being permanently strapped to me all vacation!

Oh...my Mom also always got her to sit very nicely to have her hair done.

Re-Charge

Unlike Jim, Charlotte and I had another day off to re-charge.  We also switched daycares right before vacation but our new one couldn't start until Tuesday so my Mom was coming in town Thursday and Friday to watch Charlotte.  That meant that Wednesday was a day to relax and get back into the swing of things.

I went grocery shopping and was getting the kitchen re-stocked while Charlotte ate her pudding.  I guess if you call this eating....

Later in the day she was quite a fashion statement.  Seriously....where does she come up with this stuff??  We ended the day with my mom arriving and preparing to actually head back to work!  Yikes!

Last Day of Vacay

I can hardly believe we had been on vacation for so long by this point.  12 days is an amazingly long time, and to be honest, we were ready to head home.

Our last day in NYC started bright and early.  We worked out the details to go see The Early Show.  I know this will sound dorky, but bear with me.  Harry Smith, from The Early Show, graduated from Central College and spoke at my graduation.  It is on most mornings in our house as we get ready and I always joke about my good bud Harry Smith.  So, we figured why not go see it?  You always see people out on the plaza, we would be one of them.

What we didn't know, is that on that particular day, we were the ONLY ones of them.

Nice crowd huh?

It was barely drizzley but apparently that was all people needed to stay away.

For awhile we didn't know what was going to happen so we grabbed some breakfast and played....

and played...

and posed for fun because this is as close as we were getting to being on the show.  HAHA!

They asked us to wait until the were finished filming and then we could meet Harry Smith.  There was nothing else to do at 7:30 in the morning so we waited.

There was a 24 hour Apple Store at the plaza so we played there.

And we watched them come film outside. 

We jaunted across the street and took a gander at Central Park and decided to go back and walk through it after seeing the studio.  The studio was small.  We chatted with good ol' Harry Smith for a few minutes (where I may have told him that I wouldn't choose Central again if I had to do it over...Hey, he asked!?).  Then we went back to Central Park.

The park was so pretty!  Seriously picture perfect.

We were definitely able to enjoy some time playing which the girl especially loved.

After leaving the park we took the Subway down to Macy's because I wanted to go there before leaving NYC.  Here is the street the Thanksgiving Day Parade comes down.  Can't you imagine those big balloons floating between the buildings?

Inside Jim decided to write a letter to Santa for Charlotte this year...

It says "Please get me a bike and an easel.  Let my parents get through next year without going to the hospital.  Love, Charlotte"

She is clearly ammused!

We did a bit more of the bus tour but Charlotte was ABSOLUTELY not handling it.  We had just been cooped up far to much the last couple of days.  It was time for us to start heading back anyways.  Our last vacation picture on the Upper West Side.

We got back to Lacy's and got everything packed and ready to go.  We scheduled a car to take us to the airport and spent some more time visitng before it was time to go.  Before we knew it we were at the airport.

We had quite a late flight in but it was a direct flight which was awesome.  Charlotte pretty much watched take off the zonked out.  We got into Omaha just after 11:00pm and Deb picked us up.  We got to my Dad's and visited for just a few minutes before loading up the dogs and heading back to Des Moines.  Jim had to work the next day!  Yikes!! 

Overall we had a wonderful vacation.  Neither one of us can wait to head back to Rhode Island.  I have been a lot of places in this world, and it is hands down my favorite. 

All Around New York

Jim and I decided that while in NYC we would go ahead and book a hop-on/hop-off bus tour so we could see as much of the city as possible in our short time frame.  We began Monday by making our way to Times Square and boarding the tour bus and setting out to tour downtown Manhatten.

We purchased the tickets that included admittance into either the Empire State Building or The Rock.  We had decided to make our first stop the Empire State Building because it is just so classically New York!  We could see it in the distance!!

We had to pass Macy's to get there....they were beginning to gear up for the Holiday season already.

We had been "warned" by many people of the vast lines and long wait to get up to the top of the ESB but I have to say, we had THE BEST experience there.  Perhaps it was because it was a Monday, perhaps because it was so early in the day, whatever the reason we were up there lickety split.  And having a stroller....holy cow they made every accomodation possible for those of us with strollers.  It was amazing.

You basically go from the lobby to the point where the building starts to narrow.  From there you have one more elevator up the last 6 floors.  Before getting on our last elevator we were greeted by King Kong himself.  He sat on Charlotte lap.  It was so funny.

And the view...

Charlotte LOVED looking out and running around the entire deck.  She totally had a blast.

After heading out from the Empire State Building we hopped back on the bus.  We enjoyed a narrated tour through Manhatten as Charlotte slept on Jim's shoulder. 

Our tour ticket also included a boat tour around the land of Manhatten so after getting off the bus we walked down to the boat area.  It was about 12 blocks and we made easy work of it but everyone kept talking as if it were SO FAR away.  We got in line and boarded the boat in no time.

The boat tour started at 4pm and so we got to see the skyline in both day light and all lit up for evening since it was a 2 hour cruise.  Charlotte and Jim enjoyed looking around.

Part way through we passed the the Statue of Liberty.  This was the closest we got to her this trip.  With a short amount of time in the city you really need to allow quite a bit to take the ferry over, tour, etc.... so we opted to save it for another time.

It was still pretty awesome to see, although much smaller than I had expected.

Charlotte was reaching her breaking point by this time in the trip.  I figured hey...at least we made it until now!  She was a bit embarrassing screaming and wailing on the cruise.  I don't know what she wanted but she was ticked off, and obviously, we didn't exactly have anywhere else to go at the moment. 

So, Jim and I took turns dealing with the poor screaming girl and going to enjoy the views.

This is my favorite:

We still had one more stop on our agenda that day (I know....we are a little crazy!).  Our bus tour also included a night tour of the city and since we were leaving the next evening this was our only night to do it, so we got to where we needed to be and boarded the bus for the night tour!

The woman tour guide taking this picture assured me she couldn't take a bad picture because she had used so many cameras by now blah blah blah....she lied.

At one point we were driving over one of the bridges and we were in the outside lane.  In the front, top of that bus Jim and I both felt like we teetering on the edge ready to topple at any second.  A little creepy I tell ya! 

We drove across to Brookly and got a nice view of the city and wound our way back and ended up again in Times Square.  We were beat.  We hopped the subway back to Queens to settle in for the night. 

Charlotte played for awhile after getting back (and dropped a metal bowl which in turn caused the downstairs neighbors to come visit).  We finally headed to bed knowing an early morning awaited us.

To NYC

And so Sunday begins.  Wakey wakey eggs and bacy.  And before you know it we were off...

Up the toll bridge one last time...

And happily on our way to New York City!!  It was about a 3 hour drive and we had NO problem finding our way to Laguardia where we were dropping off the rental car.  A short cab ride later and we were waiting on Lacy's doorstep ready to begin our adventures!

We stayed with my good friend Lacy from college (thank you so much friend!) and her husband Vinny.  We took some time to relax, Lacy cooked a yummy lunch, and after awhile we decided to hit the town.

After buying some subway passes we began by going to Rockafeller Center, after all, the tree had just gone up the day before.  I have to say, not so glamorous before it's decorated.  A big tree, covered in scaffolding, with half of it's branches cut out to make room for the decorations.  Funny!

From there we began walking...

and decided to head to FAO Schwartz.

We watched a performance on the big piano (can we say BIG anyone?  Great movie!), and cruised around the toy store for awhile.  Fun!

After some debating (and maybe a little pleading to Lacy and Vinny who were getting tired and had to work the next day) we went to TIMES SQUARE!  So fun, so lively, so busy....a blast!  So glad we went!!

Those are most definitely some of my favorite pictures from the trip!  Great day in the Big Apple!