NYC Madness

The last day we were in NY we went to the 911 Memorial.  

It's pretty surreal to stand there and think that the twin towers were standing there 10 years ago.  

Alex was already having a rough day.....4 days of no sleep had caught up to him.

Ross, Lacie, Alex, Me, and Al

This is the Survivor Tree that was one of the only living things that made it out of the rubble.  

Alex having a melt down and Ross catching us in the moment.

Big Al's Pizza.  We should have had a slice.

We decided to go on boat rides that afternoon in Central Park. On our way we walked by where John Lennon was killed.

How great is this view?  I was so excited to finally go on a boat ride in Central Park, but was quickly let down when we saw the long line.  

Al told me I could drive the little boats, but that's totally not the same.

Instead of boat rides we went to Laduree Bakery and had some macaroons.  

They aren't chocolatey enough for Al, so Alex and I shared one.

That night we went to a Yankees game.  The last 2 times we have been to NY they had away games, so it was fun to finally go and see the new stadium.  Plus it was Al's parents 30th Wedding Anniversary, so it was extra special.

I don't think I ever want to go to another Dodgers game.  We had padded seats and a waitress that came around to see if we wanted food or drinks

Alex used some chopsticks to eat french fries.  He learned how to dip chips and salsa a few weeks ago at a Mexican restaurant so naturally he loves to dip fries in ketchup.

On our way back to the hotel Alex plugged his ears on the Subway and fell asleep, lol.  

The next day we went to watch Good Morning America before we went to the airport.   Misty May and Dana Vollmer were there showing off their gold medals.

They handed out goofy sunglasses for everyone to wear during Misty Mays interview.

They were going to film Alex during one of the breaks, but he started crying so they moved the camera, but we still made it on tv.

Alex was so happy to get in the cab and go to sleep in his car seat.  

One last slice of pizza before we went home.  I think I'm good on pizza for awhile :)

The Aftermath

As I predicted Al wasn't up for much the day after his Ironman.  He looked like he had the flu so Shelly and I went to lunch and took Alex to FAO Schwartz and the park.

We had lunch at Shake Shack.  I've still only ate at the one in Times Square and need to venture out because I hear the food is way better at the other locations.

Alex had a grilled cheese and I had the Portobello burger, thanks for the recommendation Mel.   My fries weren't very fresh which is always a bummer.  I think that happened the first time I ate here too.  

Alex didn't seem to mind that they were cold.

The soldier in front of FAO Schwartz

We watched Alex run around like a crazy person.   He played trains

and got to run on the big piano, so funny.

They had these cool crayons called Alex that you could stack.  He's all about stacking everything these days.

Best little stacker I know.

We made a mistake and went in the Apple store.  I've never seen so many people, craziness.

Afterwards we walked around a corner of Central Park.

Alex climbed on the rocks.

That afternoon Christy and I went to Mary Poppins

Al found us amazing seats.  I think we were on the 9th row.

I can't decide if I like Wicked or Mary Poppins better.  It's that amazing.

We got to meet up with Al's uncle Richard for a little bit.  

We found the infamous LOVE sign.

We had dinner at the Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien Hotel.  It's this tiny little hole in the wall burger joint that is hidden in the hotel and they have amazing burgers.  

I even had a Sharpie so we could write on the tables and walls.

Al promised me a night time family picture in Times Square, so on our way back we walked through the chaos.  It looks like Al lost 10lbs from his Ironman in this picture.  Too bad I can't give him some of my extra weight.  

LAX to JFK

We flew with Alex on a red eye from Hawaii when he was 9 months old and it wasn't bad.  Our flight to NYC left from LAX at 1am.  I put Alex to bed and let him sleep until 10:30pm which is when we left for the airport.  He ran around the airport until we boarded the plane so I was convinced he would fall asleep right away.

We were those people with the crying baby.  Everyone around us was trying to sleep and here we are walking him up and down the aisle, letting him watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and anything else to get him to sleep.  It took him a least 2 hours into the flight to fall asleep and when he did he was out.  Luckily the seat next to us was empty so he could sleep there.  Being pregnant on a red eye was the worst.    There was no comfortable way to sleep.

We landed safely in NYC at 9am.  Can you tell we are all running on 2 hours of sleep.

Alex enjoying his first cab ride into the city.  We got in trouble for him putting his foot on the TV screen by his feet.  Our cab driver wasn't very kid friendly.

We stayed at the Hilton Times Square.  The first room they tried to put us in smelled like an ash tray so they moved us to one of the top floors with a great view.

Alex and I were on our own once we got to NY since Al had so much race stuff going on.  We enjoyed our first slice of many pieces of pizza.

I tried to get Alex to take a nap with me for over an hour in the hotel, but it was hopeless.  We went to meet my friend Melanie in Central Park.  I don't know if it was the heat while waiting for the Subway, but he passed out in my arms.  When we found Mel he wasn't moving an inch.

Melanie's little girl Alexis is 1 month younger than Alex, so it was perfect.  They were the cutest.

I haven't seen Mel since I lived in Utah, so it was great to catch up.  We went to Zara Kids and scored some cute clothes on sale, we got some amazing cookies at Levain Bakery, and then we got sushi.

Alex and Alexis were hilarious at dinner.  They were playing in their waters and eating each others rice.

We had a great time Mel.  It was almost as fun as when we worked for the Jazz together :)

That night I walked Alex around Time Square.  We went to the Disney Store and he was mesmerized by all the Mickey's.  It was a pretty eventful first day.

When we first got to NY we found out that 3.4 million gallons of raw sewage had been dumped into the Hudson the Ironman swim might be cancelled.  Al had said something to the hotel manager that put us into a different room.  That night we had this card and lots of extra soaps and shampoos :)