Father's Day Weekend / Ten's Birthday

This post is a little overdue, but my Internet is not cooperating...so I bring you this blog from my TV....yes, I am typing it via my TV which is the most uncomfortable way to blog...I am sure of this.

Anyway, so over the weekend my mom and her husband came to visit with us. We had lofty plans, and we achieved maybe 5% of what we wanted to....so I call that a success.

When they arrived, Mia had just woken up from her nap....and she was having none of the strangers that had entered her home.

I have never seen her this serious before!

We then headed over to Times Square to grab some lunch at Red Lobster. We had gift cards that we could use, so it made it even better. I have never been to a Red Lobster that was this...shall I dare to say....fancy. I mean the staff even had ear pieces to communicate with each other. The decor was nice, and it was very clean.

By this time Mia was actually warming up to her grandparents...though you can't tell here.

We all decided to do the 4 course lunch since it was priced about the same as the other meals and it gave you more bang for your buck. The food was actually really good and we had so much left over that it took care of dinner later that night too. Here is what my mom, Ten, and I ordered....we got the same thing.

New England Clam Chowder 

Garden Salad...Ten had a Caesar Salad but also ate half of mine. 

Baskets of Cheddar Biscuits

Coconut and pineapple shrimp served with rice. We also chose mashed potatoes...though my mom went for the baked potato.

For dessert we had Brownies a la Mode....so good...and no pic unfortunately....I forgot.

After that we headed over to Time Square and looked around a little bit. By that time it was nearly 3 pm, so we went back to the apartment so that Ten could make a phone call.

For the rest of the night we just hung out and also made a quick trip to the park.

The next day we packed a picnic and went to Sheep's Meadow. This is probably one of my most favorite places in Manhattan. It makes you feel like you aren't living in a concrete jungle.

Yumm! Berries!

When we got back home, Mia and I went down for a nap. Ten and Gary went to visit St. John the Divine...and I have no idea what my mom did...haha. We then did some shopping. My mom bought Mia the cutest pop up book based on the story The Very Busy Bee. Loved it.

The next morning we gave Gary and Ten their Father's Day presents. I actually have more pictures on my camera, but didn't want to overload the blog post...so I just chose two. The others will be put in the photo book I hope to make.

It is really too bad we live so far away from both of our families, but at least we have little visits like these.

Our Weekend - The Park and March for Babies

This post really should be divided into two, but I'm going to mash it all together in one. Saturday I decided that Ten should see Sheep's Meadow...well actually...we had no hot water when we woke up...and still an hour later....no hot water. So, we decided that we wouldn't be making it to the cherry blossom festival. Instead, we headed out to the park. It was a beautiful day, and Ten and Mia were making lots of friends.

Hi Mia!

Playing in the Cherry Blossom Tree

Ten introduced Mia to the wonderful world of sticks...and she found that they made a pretty good snack.

After the park, we went to Trader Joe's and bought our groceries for the week. Love this place to death.

Anyway, so Sunday was the March for Babies! We earned a grand total of $367...yay! I would say not too bad considering all things. There were over 7,000 walkers. The goal was to raise 3 million dollars...and I'm not to sure if they reached that goal...I'm sure they will send me an email later this week.

I wish I could have taken a ton of pictures, but it was too crowded. Here is the beginning of the walk though.

We had bagpipers playing at the start line...which was cool...because I love bagpipes. Also, one guy carried a boom box (do we still use that word....or still make these even) for the entire 3.5 miles. Also, people were hitting beach balls back and forth...overall great time.

Here we are at the end of the walk.

It was a great event, and once again....thank you so much to everyone that supported our tiny team!

Staycation...Part 2

Wow, I feel like this post is a bit overdue...but you know how things can get sometimes. Well, here are some of our pictures from last week when Ten was off of work. In a nutshell, we spent our time hanging out at The American Museum of Natural History (and became members), visiting the butterfly conservatory, catching a show at the planetarium, doing some lessons at Gymboree (yep...became members there too), doing lots of swim lessons (had a makeup to do from the snow storm), going to Japanese, and just a lot of hanging out. Perfect with an almost one year old.

So, here are some photos of our week.

Mia checking out the elephants at the AMNH.

Checking out some of the animals...she loved it! We all did.

At the butterfly conservatory...where Mia caught a poor little butterfly. Luckily, it escaped in one piece.

Mr. Roosevelt with Big and Little Ten

A trip to Big Daddy's for some diner fare and baby friendly atmosphere.

Mia loved playing with the straws and butter containers.

Trying to grab all of the cool light fixtures on the ceiling.

Playing at Gymboree

They didn't know I took this pic...haha.

Trying to get all of the pool toys.

Not quite interested in floating yet. :)

We had a really great one week off...but were pretty exhausted by the time it was finished!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Friends, we really did have a great first Thanksgiving here in NYC. I took quite a few pictures, but they really don't even cover the half of it. 

Everyone of course wonders if we went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...and we decided not too. 3 million people up at 6 a.m. to line up to watch the balloons just didn't seem like a good idea this year. So, we decided to do the next best thing. We headed down to the Museum of Natural History on Wed. afternoon to watch all of the balloons being inflated, and it was such a great idea.

Here are the Macy's staff blowing up Santa. I'll admit we didn't watch them do the entire thing because it takes forever!

Mia had just woken up so wasn't really sure what was going on...hahaha

Buzz Lightyear all ready for his big flight!

Mia yawning in front of the Macy's balloon...you could tell she was very impressed.

After walking around and seeing all of the classics like the Pillsbury Dough Boy and Ronald McDonald, we headed back to the apartment, and I started cooking for the next day. In all honesty, I found Thanksgiving cooking actually quite easy. Lots of just throwing things together in a pan and then baking...so no stress at all really. Here are a few photos of our family dinner.

Mia on Thanksgiving Day...supervising all of the last bits of cooking to be done.

Getting ready to eat all of this yummy goodness.

Butchering...I mean carving...the turkey.

You may notice a few things in these pictures. 1) Our table runner was a collection of gym towels and 2) Our serving dishes were all disposable or made of plastic...hahaha...yeah we actually didn't figure in the whole serving of the meal thing...we kind of completely forgot about what we would need to eat it after it was cooked....haha. So, next year we have vowed to do better.

After our Thanksgiving lunch, we lounged around and watched Netflix and waited for meal two! Yes, we actually went to someone's house and ate Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of new (to me) people...which was pretty fun...but didn't want to bust out my camera with a group of strangers and put them on the blog....haha.

Anyway, we had a really relaxing four days...and we even made a Starbucks run and drank a peppermint mocha (well I did at least)..OMG...can't wait to go get another one! Completely random side note...I know...anywho... hope everyone also had a great holiday weekend.

Hannibal Visit

As you may have noticed, I was M.I.A. for almost three weeks on this little blog of mine. Mainly for good reasons (but a little due to laziness...actually very little if I really think about it).

Anyway, last week I visited my hometown for a full five days (not including travel days)...and let me tell you...it was good to be back...but at the same time extremely hectic.

Here is a little breakdown of how things went:

Day 1: My sister and nephew picked me and Mia up from the airport....We stopped for some lunch on the way home and then hurried back onto the highway. As I saw the signs for Kingdom City approaching...I knew something wasn't quite right...hahaha. So, yeah....we took a 50 MILE detour to get to my mom's house. When we finally arrived, I was beyond exhausted! However, we had some good BBQ with my brother and his wife, my mom and her husband, my grandma, and my sister and nephew...no pictures of course because I was too tired.

Day 2: After an extremely hectic morning...which unfortunately...I can't blog about. I went and got my driver's license renewed. Easy. We then went to close my bank account. I walked into the bank and sat down to fill out the forms...the lady says ummm....I can't find your account...it wasn't my bank...yeah...thanks Sarah! Next, we went to the social security office, so I could request a new card. Everything was going smoothly until they asked me the dreaded question: Father's name? I calmly stated...There is no one listed on my birth certificate. After a few minutes, the man said I have one listed here. I gave him two names...and he said yes one of those match. He looked so confused, but he was even more confused when I had to then ask him which one was the correct name...hahaha. 

Day 3: This day was relatively calm...for the most part...I was able to visit my grandma all day and hang out with my cousin and her babies...such a fun time. 

Sorry Brooke...not the best picture

Day 4: Went from blonde to brunette...which turned my very white hair green...and full of streaks...yeah...not good.

Day 5: Went and had the color corrected and now it is an okay shade of mahogany...not thrilled but better than green. Then did lots of shopping, ate at my brother's house, and then packed to leave town at 3 a.m.

Now, here are some random pics:

Grandma, Mom, and Mia

Seth and Mia hanging out.

Sarah Jane and Mia

My brother, his wife, and my grandma at a Chinese restaurant.

Yeah, so I had a really nice time....but I didn't take enough pictures as usual...and there were too many things to get done there...as usual...hopefully, next time I can go to just visit and am not running around like the Headless Horseman.