Gram & Trev Visit

My mom and Trevor came out to visit for a long weekend.  It was a lot of fun to have them out here.  Plus Chase enjoyed meeting his Uncle Trevor for the first time.  It was a packed weekend, with a ton of walking around New York, but definitely a blast.

Chase and I made a sign since we weren't at the airport when Trevor got home from his mission.

Napping after a Red-Eye

Chase would walk up to Trev and say, "Shhhh!  Sleeping."

Trevor later gave Chase a guitar lesson.

And they watched Frozen together.  

Well, Trevor sang, and Chase intently watched.

That night, Trev, Gram, and I went to see Aladdin.  I thought it was super fun.  Great dancing and singing.  So much genie personality.  A fun show for sure!  (I'd say Marcus missed out, but he'd actually already seen it.  He went a few months back with a friend who's a theater critic.)  

Hanging out in Trevor's favorite place in NYC -- Times Square

The next morning, we all went into the city. 

Chase is obviously a train pro.

We went to the 9/11 Memorial and spent a lot of time at the new museum.

Chase was really impressed by the big firetruck.

Looking at the truck.  "Truck, Momma, truck!"

The museum was incredible.  Such a beautiful memory to a horrible event.

This will has watercolors artists painted remembering how bright the sky was on September 11th.

These exact stairs helped many escape after the plane crashed.

This is no replica!  Amazing to see in person.

This tree survived.

You really need to see this all in person.  I've actually recently heard a story from a friend who saw the entire thing first hand.  I remember everything about where I was this morning in 2001, but that made it so much more real.  I am so glad they did a wonderful job with the museum and memorial.  It honors so many heroes and spotlights a united country.

Chase was a trooper, until lunchtime.  Then, not so much...

We walked to a nearby Shake Shack for some delicious burgers and shakes.

Chase was thrilled to have fries.

And of course ketchup.

Then we walked to Soho's temporary pop-up shop: Central Perk!!!

I was so sad the line was INSANELY long.  There was no way we'd get in before I needed to go teach.  But we did get to see it.  Ahh, now I want to go watch Friends.  20th Anniversary, everyone-- go watch an episode in honor.  :)

This was lots and lots of walking.  We went to Macys on the way to Turtle Bay for my teaching, and after, we went to Olive Garden for dinner.

See, tired.

Chase was actually pretty good -- photo evidence.

And then we walked some more.  :)  We stopped in a few shops in Times Square, including The Disney Store.  Chase found a friend.

Chase and his buddy "Mee Mouse"

We took Saturday a little slower and headed into the city later in the evening.  While Marcus was on a plane back from Florida, we went to check out the Manhattan Temple.

I love how it's seriously in the middle of the city.  Right there when you jump out of the train-- Bam!  An Angel Moroni.

From there we walked east over to some pizza for dinner.

(Marcus, check out what we passed.  Yes, please???)

Either Chase was really tired and hungry, or he and Trev become good buds quickly.

Cutting pizza bites.

We then walked some more.  We through the corner of Central Park over to 5th Ave and FAO Schwarz.  

Of course Chase found some more stuffed animals he loved, and he convinced Gram he needed one.

He ended up with a sloth :)  "Itza sloth!"

In honor of Chase's current love of the "octoPUS"

Chase loves paper bags, so he was in charge of carrying home his sloth in the bag.
He held on tightly the entire way.

Chilling on the bus.
Since Marcus wasn't with us, we took the bus home -- much simpler than transferring on the train with a stroller.

Playing iPhone games to pass the time.

A tired boy and his Gram.

We had a super lazy Sunday and then headed out Monday for Brooklyn.  Trevor wanted to see the Statue of Liberty.  We decided to check it out on the Brooklyn side and then walk across the bridge.

Chase was ready for another adventure.

He got comfy for the commute.

And then he enjoyed the view.

The Brooklyn Bridge

Having a snack by the water.

We grabbed some lunch and then crossed the bridge back to Manhattan.  

On the Bridge

And then we walked some more... over to Wall Street and the bull. 

By this point, it was getting cold and Chase was about done, but he did enjoy a fountain for a bit.

And then it was time to head home so Trevor and Gram could get back to the airport.  It went by quickly, but we enjoyed time together all over the city.  Can't wait to see you again in December!

ANA Annual 2014

I recently had a fun opportunity with work - helping with production of the ANA's 2014 Annual Conference. Erica and I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about the experience.

I was put in charge of the scripts for the conference, and spent a good deal of time before writing the comments for the main "MC," the head of the ANA, and a few other individuals. On-site, I worked with the teleprompter operator (she more put up with me and taught me), to keep us on track.

I got to the hotel (after my first work-related airplane ride) and received an upgrade to a suite. I wound up calling back downstairs to make sure it was indeed a free upgrade (they were trying to fill the hotel completely). This is a panorama of the room - pretty huge!

The thing was I didn't get to spend much time there - we were on shift for 16-17 hours each day. Tiresome work, but the show went really well and I wound up meeting most of the speakers as I collected interesting facts about them to be shared on Twitter.

This is a view going into the conference area.

I forgot to get a picture of what the stage looked like but this is a rendering - I sat back behind the main screen.

 Which looked like this from behind.

 This was the view from my room - didn't get to really see it until the day we left though because I was never there during daylight!

 Cheezy...

 A few cool shots of the hotel...

It was a really great experience - and if it works out, maybe I'll go again next year!

Chase & Mom's Day Out

Since Marcus has been out of town at a client conference, Chase and I had a fun day out.  We, well I, decided to go to one of our favorite places: Gantry Park.  It is supposed to rain a lot this week, so we had one last day of fun in the sun before fall hits.  It did sprinkle for a few minutes, but we ignored it and kept playing.

Then Chase had his picnic lunch on a bench.  You can see why it's one of my favorite places if you look in the background :)

Guess it was a good sandwich :)

 And of course some more stomping around.

The moody clouds kept rolling in, so we decided to go home... via the Italian Ice shop.  The owner was super nice and let Chase play with a plate of sprinkles while she got his Oreo flavored Italian Ice.

yum yum yum

We had a great day out -- but we do miss Marcus :)

Chase was obviously super tired after our fun day out because then he went right down for bed.  He was just in a diaper because his clothes were a little damp from the rain.  

A few minutes later, I went in to check on him...

This is MY blackmail picture.  :)
You can smile or laugh, but no stealing this!

It's been a great and MEMORABLE day.  Haha.

Two Year Old Pictures

I swear, one of these years, we're going to catch his adorable toothy grin, but apparently this is not the year.  The pictures are still pretty cute.  The photographers at JCPenneys really do a great job.  We actually had the same photographer as last year, and I think is fantastic at capturing Chase's personality.  So impressive given he's a crazy two year old :)

Yay, I'm 2!

Playing with the balloon helped his tears go away

Chase and Peanut :)
BFFs for life!

The best smile we got...
He's watching Puss in Boots on the phone :)

I seriously can't believe he's two!  Love that little munchkin face.

❤