Villa Blanca

Alex is getting more of an opinion everyday. He fights me every time I try to put him in a shopping cart unless it's the part where I put the groceries.  He will touch, step on, and sit on everything.  Sometimes he gets mad when I put things in the cart like it's his space.  Last week I walked by the pillow pets at Target so I threw one in the cart and he was laying down in the cart eating the snacks I hadn't bought yet.  What a life.

He loves to Skype with Grandma Ranes.  He still shows her the owie on his leg.

There is a little playground in the community we live in, but he was playing in the dirt and bushes last time we went there.  Such a boy. 

Filthy and it was only 10am.

A couple weeks ago my friends Megan and Shantel stayed with us for the weekend.  We went to the fabric district to look at new fabrics for my dining room chairs.

I made them share a bacon wrapped hot dog with me.  It's a must if you're in the Fashion District.

We stopped by the house from Father of the Bride.

That night we went to dinner at Villa Blanca.

If you watch Housewives of Beverly Hills you know that Lisa Vanderpump owns it. Haydee you will appreciate this story :) Our waitress turned out to be her daughter Pandora.  When she came over to get our drink orders I told Megan and Shantel that's Lisa's daughter or she has a twin.  I asked the bus boy just to make sure and sure enough it was her...lol    At the end of dinner I asked if we could take a picture with her.  Turns out her husband works there too, so Pandora asked him to be in our picture.  

After our yummy dinner we went to the new Sprinkles Ice Cream store.  I needed Al there to share a cupcake ice cream sandwich with me.

Alex has been so funny in Sacrament.  Last week he started folding his arms every time we prayed and he was singing a little too.  

We went to a friends house that had a dog, bunny, and chickens.  Alex loved it.  Maybe we can get a dog someday :) 

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.