New York

Derek and I just returned from our trip to Manhattan. It was an awesome trip. Here is how our past week has gone.

On the 4th of July we went to Houston and had dinner with my mom and Kurt, Suzy, Shaelyn and Jackson. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory and celebrated my moms birthday. B and Shaelyn had a blast playing together. When we were leaving I asked if he had fun playing with his cousin Shaelyn. He replied" She's not my cousin, she's my girl!" How cute!

On Thursday, we went to Derek's parent's house to drop of the kids. We hung out with the girls and grandparents and Rich before we headed to the airport. We left a little late, but made it up in the air. We got to NYC in the evening and went to the apartment where we were staying. A friend of my dad's has a place in Manhattan and he let us use it. It was a spacious apartment in Trump Place on the Upper West Side. We had a great view of the Hudson River, Central Park and Lower Manhattan. It was great!

On Friday, we headed to Central Park. We took the subway there. We started by Strawberry Fields. We saw the apartment John Lennon lived in and where he was shot. We strolled the the park and hit the high points. It was cool to see places that we have seen in movies. There were lots of people reading, laying out and picnicking in the park.

After going to Central Park, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was awesome. We saw paintings from s many famous people including Monet, Matisse, Picasso, Degas, Manet and many more. We also saw a clothing exhibit featuring women's clothes from the 1920's. It was such a neat museum. For dinner we went to eat at Hell's Kitchen in Hell's Kitchen. The food was so good! Our friend Freyja recommended it and it did not disappoint. After our yummy dinner, we went to see Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre. The play was so good. It was entertaining and the actors were so talented. It was a great story. I highly recommend seeing it if you have the chance, though be prepared for some flying monkeys!On Saturday, we went to the West Village and had brunch at the Cornelia Street Cafe. We went to Washington Square Park and walked around West Village and Greenwich Village. We went shopping in So Ho. It was fun to look at all the boutiques, but it was really expensive in most stores. I did find a few things though! We also went to Little Italy. All these areas were neat and diverse. It is cool to get a feel for all the parts on Manhattan. After that, we went to the apartment to change for the game. We headed for Yankee Stadium. We got to see Roger Clemens pitch. It was cool to be in the same place where Babe Ruth played and lots of other famous people. Derek was so excited! We had hot dogs and cracker jacks during the game. The game was a long one and we ended up leaving in the 12th inning. After the game, we went to Dylan's Candy Bar and got a shake and frozen hot chocolate. So good! We also made a pit stop at H & M, my favorite store!!!

On Sunday, we rode the Subway to Grand Central Terminal. It is such a beautiful building. We also went to Times Square and it was amazing to look at all the signs and activity. It is so busy there and so much is going on!Derek went up the Empire State building. He loved it. He got the audio tour(highly recommended) and saw Manhattan form the top. He also went to the 1o0th floor and saw the city from even higher. He spent lots of time there and it was one of his favorite things on our trip. While he was on the Empire State building, I went shopping. There are so many fun shops to go in. And I love shopping! We met up around lunch time at Steve and Barry's and checked out the new SJP clothing line.

We went to Wall Street and then to Ground Zero. Such an emotional experience and took us both back to that horrible day! It was good for us to go there. Then we went to Chinatown. I love going in a ll the junk shops. Derek loves giving me a hard time that I love souvenir shops and all these shops on Canal Street filled with cheap, well, junk! But it is fun to look at and deal with the people in the stores. Every store had a secret door and there was the Coach, Chanel, Prada and Gucci knockoffs. it was so funny as they tried to be all secretive. We even climbed several flights of stairs to this little room filled with all these purses. Derek was thoroughly amused by all of this. It was so fun.

For dinner we went to San Luigi's in the Upper West Side. The food was delicious! Derek said it was the best meatballs he's ever had. It was so nice to relax and talk and not be in any rush. What a wonderful time!

On Monday, we went on 5th Avenue and looked at all the fancy stores. We went in a few. So expensive!!! But fun to look at and dream... Anyways, after that we went on a boat cruise around Manhattan. We saw the Statue of Liberty, Chrysler building, Brooklyn and Queens and lots more. It was nice to sit and be together. We ate lunch in the West Village at a pizza place and then went to Magnolia Bakery and had their famous cupcakes(we actually ate the cupcake first, but oh, well!). So good!!!

We went to dinner at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant. It was so good! The bread pudding and prickly pear margarita were especailly good. Derek said his steak was the best he's ever had. Of course, we didn't see Bobby Flay, but it was great anyways!

On Tuesday we heaed back to Houston. My mom picked us up and we were so excited to see Barrett and Brooklyn. I think they were happy to see us too. After a dinner at P.F. Changs we went back to Austin and both kids slept the whole way.

We had a wonderful time on our trip . It is so good for us to get away and just be together. We had no worries and no schedule(well, a little one if you know me, but I was fairly flexible). We just talked and got out of our usual routine. A huge thanks to GrandBob and Grandmomfor keeping the kids so we could go on our trip. We appreciate it so much. An thanks to thegirls(B & B's cousins), Rich and Leigh for helping take care of the kids and keeping them entertained. Our kids are so lucky.We are back home now, enjoying being together and Derek is on his sabbatical this month. So more fun times ahead!