Carolina trip

This past Saturday, Papa and I flew down to Raleigh (and Jasmine and Michael went too but Jay couldn't join us b/c he has work and Grandma very generously agreed to watch the boys) to visit with Erika, Richie and the twins before heading to Charlotte for the Jets vs. Panthers game.   

I was so happy to be traveling with Papa and not by myself because when we left home, it was snowing and I was very worried that our flight was going to get delayed or cancelled.   We had a nice breakfast in the airport and after only a slight delay, we boarded our plane.  

Not long after boarding, it was announced that we had too much fuel on our plane so we would need to have some fuel emptied and while that was being done, the plane was icing over and we would need to wait in line for the de-icing.

If I was not with Papa, I would have cried - I was positive that they were going to cancel our flight.  After an hour, we were finally on our way and we hoped that Michael and Jasmine would be able to get out later that day!   When we landed, we found out that their flight was cancelled but they got a new one thankfully.  Meanwhile, Grandma and the boys were having fun back in NY. 

After we arrived in Raleigh, we went to a bbq place for lunch and then went back to Erika and Richie's house to play with the kids and wait for Michael and Jasmine.   

We picked up Michael and Jasmine at the airport and we went to dinner at the Nantucket Grill - it was funny for all of us to see first hand what it is like going out with the twins ("Oh, there are two of them?" "Are they twins?" "Who is older?" "Can I touch them?")  We took turns holding them during dinner and I think we all couldn't wait to steal the babies from whoever had them.

Erika and Richie even got to enjoy their meal enough that Erika had her first drink in more than a year!

The next morning, Papa, Richie, Michael and I headed to Charlotte for the game while Jasmine stayed in Raleigh to help Erika with the kids.   Back in New York, I don't think the boys really were missing me very much. 

After about a 3 hour drive, we arrived in Charlotte and started checking out the area.   We knew of a Jets tailgate but walked around for a while checking out some bars etc. before we went to Carolina Ale House for lunch. 

After lunch, Michael met a Jets fan who told us to join his tailgate - they were so nice, didn't charge us to attend and had plenty to eat and drink ("you guys want some crab legs?  I got a gallon of Hennessy, vodka, beer...")  One of the guys there even let me sit in his cool 3 wheeled car!  We stayed for about 30 minutes before heading in to the stadium.

The stadium was really nice, we had great seats and had a fun time at the game even though the Jets lost.   

Sadly, Monday marked the last day of the trip for Papa and I (we flew back Monday night).  

After breakfast, we headed to the mall so we could join the girls on their first trip to see Santa!   

I am not sure what the girls asked for, but they seemed to like Santa right from the start!!  

I am always so so sad to leave NC and now that the girls are here, it is even harder.   At least this time, I have something to look forward too - Erika and Richie will be coming to NY with Ava in Ella in a few days and will spend a week here!!! I can't wait for them to come and I am so so excited for the boys to meet their cousins for the first time!!

note: while on the trip, I realized my pictures were significantly worse than everyone else's (some of the pictures on here are taken from others) and I was finally prompted to upgrade my phone to the iPhone 5S when I got back - I LOVE IT!! so much better

Jets vs Raiders

For sure, yesterday was my favorite Jets game I have gone to this year - Ryan came with me and we had a great time!  

It was the coldest game so far this year but that didn't stop us - we each put on our long johns, pajama bottoms and pants (Ryan even wore snow pants) and I think we each had 6 top layers on top which Ryan though was hilarious.  

We took the bus to the game and after we arrived at the stadium, we started to walk through the parking lot and we passed The Aviators (the drummers for the Jets).  After watching them perform for a while, one of them was nice enough to let Ryan join in!

While we were on the bus to the stadium, Ryan said he was not sure going to the game was a good idea - he was worried about Dylan and Jay having more fun at home even though he was excited to go to the game.   That all changed though as soon as we got to the kids zone!   

The kids zone is open until a half hour before kick off and I had never been there before - I didn't even tell Ryan about it in advance just in case we got there too late.   As soon as he saw the bounce castles, he turned around, hugged me and said "Mommy, it was an AWESOME idea to come here today!" and I was so happy. There were two different bouncy castles but instead of being typical castles, they were set like football drills with tackling dummies, ladder climbs etc.   I think Ryan probably did each one at least 25 times and I have no idea how he was able to go so fast with all of his layers on!

He loved racing the other kids and was so excited when he beat this boy, who wasn't even paying attention which Ryan thought was so funny  ("Did you see I beat him by a lot?  He didn't even know when to start?")

We were even able to get some face painting - we both got a Jets Santa and Ryan got a Jets symbol on his other cheek. That didn't stop him from putting on eye black stickers later.

As the Kids Fest was closing down, we got ready to head in to the stadium but made one final stop to write a message on the Jets board. 

Ryan was very excited to hang out with Papa and Uncle Michael and did pretty good paying attention until about the 3rd quarter.   

For most of the 3rd quarter, he fooled around, ate and played the iPhone, but then it started to snow a bit and he got really excited, claiming "It is about to get ridiculous here!"

I think he thought that is was going to snow as much as it did at the Philadelphia/Detroit game that day

While it didn't snow that much, it was enough to cover the ground which made Ryan happy.  Ryan was definitely good luck because the Jets won 37-27.  On the way out, Ryan wanted his picture taken near the Jets helmet ice sculpture we saw being carved in the parking lot earlier, and was thrilled when we won some bobbleheads at a giveaway while exiting the stadium.  

He was so excited about the bobbleheads that he insisted we go in the snow right after the game to claim them from PC Richards and he gave all the guys in the family a bobblehead for Christmas.

I had such a great day hanging out with Ryan and I hope we will get to go to a lot more games together!! Next time, everyone will have to go!!

Instagram in the City - November

November

Spent the day hanging out with Papa

Took our first family hike on Anthony's Nose (overlooking the Bear Mountain Bridge)

Spent a fun day with Mom and Jasmine (we missed you Erika)

Made a "Give Thanks" tree to learn about Thanksgiving although one of the days, Dylan was thankful for soup so I am not quite sure the lesson sunk in.

Said goodbye to some of our best friends, the Wyatt Family, before they left on their new adventure, their move to Tennesse.  (Jack was Ryan's first school friend)

And in my mind, the end of November marks the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year - Christmas Season!

HIking Anthony's Nose

We took our first family hike on Saturday and had an amazing time.   While it was a little on the cool side, Jay and I decided that we wanted to get in one more fall activity before it got too cold so we decided to take in some foliage by going on a hike.  The kids were SO SO excited about it but I realized that they really didn't understand what "hike" meant and I was sure that 100 yards in, they would want to go home. 

We took the kids to Anthony's Nose (a place we went on field trips in elementary school) near Bear Mountain.  The mountain is about a 3 mile hike up and back and at the peak, it is about 900 ft. above sea level (800 ft up from where we parked the car).   When we got out of the car, we walked along the highway until we saw the trail marker and off we went.

The first part of the hike is a very narrow trail and is very steep - most of the first .5 miles is climbing up  rocks that are kind of like a winding staircase.   It didn't take long before I was getting winded (clearly, I am seriously out of shape).   The boys on the other hand were well ahead of me and having a blast!! They did not complain at all and excitedly looked for walking sticks, interesting rocks and leaves as we climbed and had fun talking to the people that we meet along the way.

We stopped a few times along the way for water breaks and in less than an hour, we were at the top.  Our hard work was so worth it because we had a great time along the way and the view at the top was beautiful!

When we got to the top, we sat down and had a picnic and just enjoyed the view.  The boys loved it up there and Dylan cried when we told him it was time to leave.

It was really a wonderful family adventure and we had perfect timing - 2 days after the hike, a cold wave came in and it was about 40 degrees out.   We are already looking forward to our next hike in the spring.