Sanity Tour 2013

The airfare for NYC went on sale and we just COULDN'T turn down another trip together.  We managed to squeeze it into all of our busy summers and I'm SO glad we did (if husbands don't surprise us with it for Mother's Day, we'll just plan it ourselves).  I just LOVE the city.

Back in June, we flew into New York and took a cab into the city.

Talk about having a SCARY experience.  We were driving fine on the freeway, when randomly our cabbie exits and turns into what looked like a JUNK YARD.  We INSTANTLY panicked thinking we were about to part of a drug exchange, hostage situation...WHO KNOWS WHAT!  We were in Jamaican Queens and I have heard NOTHING good about that place.  When we questioned our driver, in his broken English we realized he had a flat.  After thinking we were about to die, and still a little nervous being in Jamaican Queens, we thankful surprised and VERY scary encounter and eventually made it to the city safely!

When we arrived at the hotel, we quickly changed to get ready for dinner and our show for the night.  We ordered tickets to see Matilda and were supposed to pick them up at the bar at Tony's.  We were a tad nervous about this and questioned the sketchiness but surprisingly, it was a cute Italian restaurant that we even decided to try for dinner.  It was DELICIOUS!  I'm all about a good Italian meal!

We rushed over to our show in the rain after dinner and I must say I was a little bit nervous to see how this play would be.  I can tell you that I LOVED it.  The set, the affects, the play write, the characters, the music...everything was SUPERB!  The theatre was right next door to the famous JUNIOR'S so we had to stop for dessert.  I'm not a cheesecake fan so I settled for some chocolate cake which did NOT disappoint.  This is the second time I've tried this place and it has left me wanting to go back for more every time! 

We did a brief walk through Times Square which is always interesting and BUSY anytime of the day to head back to the hotel for the night.

For some CRAZY reason, we decided to WALK back to our hotel which at the time seemed like BLOCKS and BLOCKS away.  Poor Ashley's feet were KILLING her SO bad that at one point to told me she was thinking of taking off her shoes to walk.  Next thing I knew, she stopped to take those shoes off.  So there is Ash, walking BAREFOOT on the NYC sidewalks and streets!  So gross but I guess when you are in pain, you just don't care!  She even had a local New Yorker tell her in all seriousness that she was probably going to catch a disease.  Priceless.

The next day we headed to Brooklyn.  Our hotel was right next to Grand Central Station so we went there to catch our subway.  It was BEAUTIFUL inside....JUST like the movies.

Then we took our first subway ride of the trip.  I always forget how stinky and nasty those subways are.

We decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and it was SO much better doing it this time around versus when I was pregnant.

I don't know if you're supposed to sign the bridge but we decided to leave our mark!

We made it in perfect time to stand in line at the famous Grimaldi's.  We are lucky to have this place in Houston and it is a family fav.  I was happy to eat at the original Grimaldi's since last time I came, it was closed! 

We tried out some delicious Brooklyn root beer

And I convinced the girls that we needed TWO large pizzas.  They didn't think we could eat it all....

But we did!  After FOUR pieces, I was full to the brim and COMPLETELY satisfied.  I love that pizza.

We walked around Brooklyn park after lunch to burn off some of those calories....

And saw some VERY interesting things....

And we saw Lady Liberty from a distance.

We were told to also hit up Brooklyn Ice Cream and that milkshake was TASTY!

Then we hit up our first cab back to the city for some shopping in CHINA TOWN and SOHO (no celebs spotted).

For dinner we headed back to the city for Max Brenner's.  We all wanted to hit this restaurant again!

This B.A.L.T. is my favorite and I crave it on a regular basis.

For breakfast the next morning, we tried Norma's.  Oh. my. gosh.  I about died.

We headed over to the temple where they have a church house inside for a little spiritual uplift.

Then we changed and headed over to Central Park.  I've only done a few quick walk through of the park but never really explored much.  So, we decided to bike it. 

It got pretty hot but seriously it was a BLAST!  Have you ever attempted taking pictures and riding a bike at the same time...not to easy.  I got better as we went.

And no, we didn't realize we matched until someone took this picture for us and brought it up.

We headed over to Serendipity for lunch/dinner and had a little wait so we decided to shop a little in Bloomingdale's while we waited.  When we walked in we saw Magnolia Bakery and decided to have a little dessert before we ate.  Can't say I loved it but apparently the banana pudding is the thing to get.  I don't eat banana pudding...

But that's okay because after our food at Serendipity (it was okay...thinking about their supposed rat infestation didn't help my appetite), we made up for it with the FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE!  Seriously amazing.

The next morning we headed down to Gramercy so I could fulfill my Friend of a Farmer breakfast.  This southwest breakfast burrito tasted just as good as I remembered. 

After a little more shopping the in rain, we found the Waffles and Dinges truck people rave about.  It lived up to the hype.

I saved my appetite for some Shake Shack before we hit the road to the airport.  That's a good burger...and fries....and milkshake (I swear we did more then eat the whole trip).

Just as we were heading back to grab our stuff to get to the airport, I spotted my first Jew of the trip.  I can't believe I didn't see one until the last day!  These people fascinate me.  After this first spotting, I kept seeing them....

And kept snapping pictures....

Surprisingly after all the shopping, Sarah's bag made 50 lbs on the mark (yes, she did buy a 2nd suitcase to bring back her purchases). 

I will say, I FINALLY spotted my FIRST celeb at the airport in NYC.  We were standing in line for security and all the sudden I did a TRIPLE take and as L.A. Reid walked by...he was too quick for a pic BUT he was spotted.  So after the Jews spotting...that was the icing on the cake!

Our Sanity Tour trip was SUCCESSFUL!

 I love that city.

Big Boy Bed

We FINALLY moved Hudson to a big boy bed in May. I had been WAITING to find just the right bunk bed for the boys and hadn't had tons of luck. Finally, I decided we would pull out Boston's trundle bed and let Hudson sleep there until Costco brought out their furniture in June. To say Hudson LOVED moving out of his crib into a big boy bed is an understatement. He was on CLOUD 9! I was hesitant because I remember when we switched with Boston, we had quite the issues at bedtime. Hudson is my crazier child so I was prepped for the worst! BUT to my surprise, the kid had been a GEM (knock on wood). He goes right to sleep at nap time and bedtime (unless Boston and him decide to goof off) and he doesn't even come out of his room when he wakes up. He just YELLS for someone to come open the door. Night and day difference between Boston's transfer to Hudson's (maybe its because Hudson was older?).

Costco put out their furniture in June and we were LUCKY that they put out JUST what we wanted. We scored a great deal on the bunk bed and the boys fell in LOVE. I was hesitant about having bunk beds with Hudson being so young but we made the rule that he couldn't get up on the top bunk EVER....until Kent got lenient on that rule! One day I walked into the room to find Hudson on the top bunk just enjoying life while Kent was laying on the bottom. We got in a huge debate and Kent said as long as an adult was in the room, Hudson could climb up and check it out. I said NEGATIVE to that because NO two year old will understand that quite yet and we are BOUND for disaster. Kent assured me he had a bunk bed his WHOLE life and NEVER fell off....I on the other hand had one for a few years of my life and FELL OFF NOT even acting CRAZY! Well, a few days after that I found Hudson on the top bunk with NO ADULT in the room (duh). I pulled him down and took away that ladder. Minutes later I heard a loud bang and Boston yelled "HUDSON FELL OFF THE BUNK BED!" Sure enough that boy managed to climb up with NO ladder and then fell off! Boston said he fell onto the full bottom bunk first then onto the floor. I'm pretty sure that's what saved that kid from REALLY getting hurt. Just what I was worried about and we've only had the bunk beds just over a month! Pretty sure it freaked Hudson out enough though that he won't be getting on top anytime soon....UNTIL HE IS SIX!!!! Let's pray we never have to rush to the ER because of this thing!

Now on to redecorating....

Camping Adventures

In June, Kent and I both got to go with some of the youth in our ward on camping trips. 

Kent was asked to go with some of the Young Men on their prep hike for Philmont.  He was totally bummed he didn't get to be apart of the Philmont trip.  He's always wanted to hike Philmont but hasn't had a chance yet (I've hiked it and he hasn't).  Instead, he took in this little hike they got to do.  It was a small group that ended up going but he really enjoyed the boys ALOT!

 When Kent got back, I was headed off to Girl's Camp.  This is my FIRST time to go as a leader.  It was also the FIRST year our stake has gone with NO A.C.  Don't you LOVE our beautiful tents?!  The first night we had some MAJOR breakdowns from the spider infestations we had in them.  I didn't know if we would make it past day 1 but I'm proud of the girls for making it through (let's hope they will forget that and come back next year).

Our first night there, we were supposed to start our OWN fire and make tin foil dinners.  It is NOT easy to make a fire.  I guess I should pay more attention to Kent when we got camping.  This took FOREVER!!!  We may or may NOT have made a run to Taco Bell for dinner....

 The rest of the week was filled with classes, crafting, swimming, water games, food, snacks, games and PLENTY of camp songs (alot of them have even CHANGED from when I went to camp.  Does this mean I'm getting old??).

 We had so much fun at night playing GAMES and just bonding as a ward.  We really do have some great girls!

 The girls spent the week with fans in their faces trying to stay cool.  I actually don't feel like the heat was TOO terrible.  There were so many trees around the camp, we were shaded most of the time.

 The last night there we wore our camp shirts, the hats we made and the cute socks we gave everyone.

 It was Bishop's night so Bishop Brown came up and was initiated to camp by some Minute to Win it games.