New York - Day 2: Dinner & Broadway

Once we were all dressed and ready we headed down to the lobby to meet everyone for dinner.  We decided to go to an Italian restaurant earlier that day and Wendy made us reservations so we wouldn't have to wait.  We wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to eat and get to the show on time.

The restaurant wasn't very far from the hotel so we walked to it (I tell you it was so nice having our hotel right in Times Square).  On our way we walked passed a cop on a horse.  We of course had to talk to him and pet his horse.  They were both very friendly and was surprised to hear we were from Utah.  He said he doesn't hear of many people coming from Utah.  I guess it is kind of far.
After the cop and horse we were at the restaurant.  We got right in and our table was downstairs.  It was a fun atmosphere where us loud and silly Clark's fit right in.

Our waiter was Italian and I got to use my limited knowledge of Italian with him...he was very impressed...Kevin was not so impressed.
The food was served family style so we ordered four things to share.  I didn't think that the food was all that good.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.  It could be because I am used to more Americanized Italian food, but we had such a good time it didn't really matter how good the food was.

We did order dessert to share and it was super good.  It was called Chocolate Decadence and it was.  We thought it would be funny to take a picture of me holding it like I was going to eat it all...silly Kevin photo bombing me.
After we had eaten all the food Kevin thanked our parents for the dinner and started clapping for them and all the other tables around us joined in.  It was super funny and we loved it.  He said after that he was hoping that would happen and it totally did.

After dinner we were off to our Broadway show, Wicked. It wasn't very far from dinner so we walked there.  We got to walk through the theater district and see a bunch of different shows that are playing.  Well we didn't see the shows, just the buildings they were being shown in.
We got to our building and quickly used the restroom before finding our seats.  My parents did a great job booking our seats because they were super good.  We were in the balcony, but we were on the side that come down several rows towards the stage.  We had a great view of the stage.
The show was super awesome.  I love the music of Wicked and have the CD, but I have never seen the show.  I was glad to understand the songs better and the story line.  With the good night sleep we all got the night before none of us fell asleep on this show.
After the show was over we started our journey back to our hotel.  Once again it wasn't very far away.  The night life in New York is crazy.  So many people are out and about at super late hours.  The lights on the huge electric billboards really light up the block and their are people just everywhere.
Their were people dressed up in costumes, like Minnie Mouse, Elmo, Olaf, etc and they want you to take a picture with them and then they expect you to tip them.  Julie didn't realize this and wanted a picture with Olaf.  Two Elmo's jumped in the picture and a Minnie took the picture for them and then they all expected a tip.  She was kind of mad, but had a good attitude about it.  She said it was her first New York swindling.

It was so fun to be out there with my family seeing all these sites that we have seen in so many movies and shows.  Kevin and I saw some of these earlier in the day, but it was that much more fun to be there at night.  We all definitely had a wonderful time. After this we went back to the hotel for our final night's sleep before heading back home and a good nights sleep was definitely had...by me at least.

New York - Day 2: Site Seeing Madness

After a totally needed good nights sleep we all headed out to do some shopping and site seeing.  My dad was still feeling a little sore from the day before, so he stayed back at the hotel to rest up for the show that night.
First stop for us ladies, and Kevin, was Macy's department store.  Literally just down a few blocks from our hotel.  It had been snowing and raining this morning, but had stopped by the time we got out of the hotel (thankfully).
We all looked at stuff in the store for about 10 minutes before Kevin and I decided we had enough shopping and wanted to go site seeing.  So we ditch the girls and started our own adventure.  We started off my going up all the escalators to the top of the Macy's building.  Once you get up a few floors you start to get wooden escalators.  We thought they were pretty cool.

After we went all the way up and down we decided to head towards Rockefeller Center.  We stopped at a little gift shop place and picked up some souvenirs for the family back home.  After that Kevin was ready to try food from a food truck.  He got a Euro and it was super yummy, I had a bite.  I am not going to lie we felt super cool at the food truck.

We dropped off our bags at our hotel room and then headed back out.  By this time I was feeling hungry and we found another food truck for me.  I wanted a Philly Cheese Steak.  The guy was super nice and the sandwich was so good.  Kevin asked the guy how much a bottle of water was and he told him that for Kevin it would be one dollar, but for me it was free...because I'm so pretty.  I added the I'm so pretty part, but I am pretty sure that is what he was thinking.  It pretty much made my day.  It is pretty sad how special it made me feel that I got a free water.

Then it was off to Rockefeller Plaza to see the ice skating rink surrounded by all the flags that I have seen a million times on TV.  While we were looking for it we found a group of cops and half of them had big long guns and vests on.  They looked pretty cool so of course I had to see if I could get my picture taken with them.  They told me I just couldn't stand by the guys with the big guns (I was perfectly okay with that).  I thanked them for all they do and we went on our way.

After taking some pictures of Rockefeller Plaza we went and looked in the Lego store for a few.  Kevin bought a little Lego Darth Vader.  We were thinking of funny ways to greet people using Lego metaphors.  We really are two clever people.

Close by is the NBC studios where many shows are taped.  Shows like Jimmy Fallon, The Voice, and the Today Show.  We went into a gift shop in the NBC building and they had a mock set with the anchor desk and cups for the Today show and even a chair replica for the Voice.  The sign even lite up when you pushed the button.  It's a good thing Kevin and I are so much a like so we didn't embarrass one another.
We decided to find a bathroom in the nice NBC building and quickly found out it is huge.  They have a million different stores in there and you have to go pretty far before you find a bathroom.  We found our selves in the basement down by the ice skating rink.  So we got to see the rink from all sides and angles.
We finally got back to the road and decided to walk around Times Square.  We got to see all the electronic signs and the buildings that we have seen on TV.  We got to see a lot of the theater houses and where different shows are playing.  There is construction everywhere it seems like.  They had a lot of scaffolding covering the sidewalks all over the place.  It didn't seem like they were working on the roads much, just mainly different buildings.  We didn't mind the extra coverings while we were walking in the cold.
We decided to start walking back toward our hotel.  We decided to go visit the M&M store and, lucky for us, the Hershey store right next door.  The M&M store was like 3 stories tall and had lots of fun things in it.  But the Hersey store gave you a free kiss when you walked in AND it smelled like chocolate.  I liked that store.  I got some free hats for the kids there.  I did not buy the huge kiss that I found there, just thought it was cool.

After that we walked in Bryant Park that was by our hotel and walked by St. Patrick's cathedral.  It was very pretty, and pointy.  By this time we were ready for little break and went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for dinner and the show.  I had so much fun hanging out with Kevin and I am so glad we ditched the shoppers and went out on our own.

New York - Day 1: The Opera!!!

After we all got dressed we met down in the lobby of the hotel before heading out.  The gal at the front desk gave me a map and told me exactly how to take the subway to get to the MET.

So we went across the street from the hotel and paid for metro passes to take the subway.  We got on the correct subway and it took us exactly where she said it would.  So then she said we could walk through Central Park about 15 minutes, or take a taxi to the MET.  We decided we'd all just take a taxi since it was so cold.  We even took a selfie in the back of the taxi...we are so awesome.
Turns out the lady sent us to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not the opera.  So we walked in and the guards told us we were in the wrong place.  I felt super dumb because I was the one who talked to the front desk.  So we had to get back into a taxi and go to the Lincoln Center where they perform the opera.
We were really worried about being late and so we rushed as quick as we could to get there.  Once there we found out that my mom thought it started at 7:00 pm but really didn't start until 7:30 pm.  So we had some time to try and find something to eat.

We walked around outside the building for street vendors, but didn't find any.  Then we found out they sold sandwiches and stuff in the opera house.  They wanted $15 for a sandwich and $6 for a glass of soda, not even a whole can.  So Wendy and Julie got opera food and Kevin and I said we'd wait until after the show for some food.  Way too rich for our blood.

We found our seats on the very front row of the top balcony.  It was high up, but it was nice being in the front row.  We took some pictures while waiting for the show to start.  We were all pretty excited to see Rachel sing such a big roll at such a big opera house.  How many people can say that they saw their cousin sing a title roll at the MET?  Not many.
The opera was the Marriage of Figaro...or something like that.  It was all in Italian and the words were translated in the seats/railing in front of us.  It is a pretty funny opera with lots of silly love triangles.  For the most part I really enjoyed it.  We were all super tired from our lack of sleep and I am pretty sure all of us fell asleep at one point or another, but for the most part we were awake and had a good time.

Rachel did such a good job.  She totally stood out from the others in her singing (we could be a little partial to her).  But even the people around us said that they thought she was magnificent.  We found her picture on the wall of MET opera singers.  She will now always be on their wall, pretty cool stuff.

After the show we got to go back to Rachel's dressing room and see her.  We had our names on a list to get back there.  We had to tell two different sets of people our names to get it.  We felt super special to "have our names on the list."  Rachel was a delight as always.  Super funny with her stories about her crazy opera life with a husband and 3 small children.  It was nice to chat with her and then she directed us to the subway to get home.  Turns out that their is a subway stop right at the opera house...I still felt bad.  Live and learn.  We sure enjoyed having the experience of the opera in New York City!

New York - Day 1: Selfies, Shopping, & Site Seeing

After we got out of the hotel to walk to the place where we were to meet the on/off tour bus we realize very quickly that it was cold.  A very bitter wind was blowing and we were freezing.  We passed a stand where they sell candy, drinks. magazines, etc...and they also sold hats, ear muffs, and gloves.  My dad so kindly got us all the things that we needed to be warm and then we were on our way.

We of course had to stop multiple times for selfies because we were just so excited to actually by in New York city with all (except Sherri) of our siblings.  We were all so silly with each other and were just having so much fun being our crazy selves in the big apple.

We only got off the on/off bus for one stop and that was at ground zero where the two towers were located before the planes took them down.  It was a really beautiful site where something so terrible happened.

They had two large pools of water that went down into a hole and all around the surroundings were printed the names of all the people who died in the attack.  There was a little church right in front of where I was standing for the picture that wasn't affected at all from the towers falling.  Such amazing stories to come out of  9/11.

They also had this really neat white structure that kind of looked like a big bird by that little church.  I am not sure what it was/is for, but was kind of neat looking.  We didn't waist time getting a ground shot in front of it. 

After looking around we decided we were hungry.  We asked some workers and they directed us to the food court across the street from where we were.  So we walked across the street and found what looked like a mall and found us some yummy Mexican food to eat.  It looked like this is where a lot of the people who work in the area come to eat.  Lots of business professionals. 

After eating we needed to get to pier 11 to catch the ferry that goes around the Statue of Liberty.  We were told to go to that pier by a certain time to catch the ferry.  My dad started heading that way but his foot was really hurting him and he just couldn't walk anymore.  So he took a cab to the pier while the rest of us walked.

What seemed like a short walk ended up being more like a couple miles walk to this specific pier.  We passed the place where you go to get the ferry that goes to Liberty Island (Julie and I took a picture by the sign) and then kept walking to get to our pier.  Once we all rushed to get there we found out that we got wrong information and the ferry didn't leave for another 40 minutes and that would mean that we didn't have enough time to do the ferry ride before we'd have to get ready for the opera.
We were all pretty bummed, but decided to pick up the on/off bus and go back to the hotel to get ready.  While waiting for the right bus (which seemed like it took a good 45 minutes) Julie and I bought us a cute knock off purse.  They wanted $45 but I talked them down to $30 each.  My mom got her and Teagan bags too, so it wasn't a total waist of time waiting for the bus.
Once the bus came we quickly found our cold seats on the top back of the bus and enjoyed our guided tour back to the hotel.  It took a lot longer then we thought it would (and the tour guide was super rude to a family with a noisy kid - we were not happy about that) so because of that we were then pressed for time to get ready for the opera.  But we did get to see some things on the tour that we wouldn't have otherwise, like Central Park.
We finally got to our stop and then walked back to the hotel to officially check into our rooms and get all dressed up for the opera.

New York - Day 1 - Airports & Bus Tours

It all started at about 9:00 pm on Wednesday night when Julie came to my house to pick me up for the airport.  Julie was hungry so we stopped at In & Out for a quick bite.
Then it was time to go to the airport.  We parked at the Park & Jet and then got a shuttle to the airport terminal.  My dad was already there and then my mom, Teagan, and Kevin quickly followed.  We checked in our bags and then went through security before finding our terminal.
Our flight was delayed by over a half an hour so Kevin, Julie, and I did a lot of walking around the airport.  It started out by us looking for Kevin something to eat and we ended up walking all over for something that was still open.  Not much was open and we ended up at McDonald's.  After getting a bite to eat we headed back to our terminal and got ready to board the plane.

Since we were on the red-eye Jet Blue provided eye masks and ear plugs.  It was very nice.  Kevin, Teagan, and I all sat by each other on the plane.  The seats were nice and roomy and we were even able to get a couple of hours of sleep (since it was the middle of the night).   
Once we got to JFK we got our luggage and called for our shuttle.  Julie and I did a little Electric Slide while waiting for the shuttle.  It was very impressive.  We had many excited lookers.

The shuttle driver was a crazy driver.  Apparently you have to be crazy to drive in New York.  Everyone drives super crazy and they honk at each other all the time.  If you don't push your way over you don't get over.  But he managed to get us to the hotel safely in the morning rush hour traffic.
Wendy beat us to the hotel because our flight was delayed and her airport was closer.  So she talked to the hotel about us eating breakfast there after we dropped off our luggage.  Breakfast was super yummy and gave us our second wind to start our bus tour!
My parents got us all a pass for a tour bus company that allows you to hop on and off the bus at any stop for 72 hours.  We decided to do the Downtown tour first on the way to the ferry.  We got to see lots of historic sites like the Empire State Building, the Stock Exchange, Macy's, Madison Square Garden, Little Italy, Korea Town, Ground Zero, Central Park, etc.

The weather was really cold this day.  The temperature wasn't the problem, it was the darn wind.  It was so windy cold it chilled us to the bone.  My dad bought us all hats and gloves to help keep us warm.  Unlucky for us we ended up on the top of the bus in the back where their was no covering at all.  So all that cold wind combined with the movement of the bus made us all so darn cold.  But we all still had so much fun going around on the bus listening to the tour guide with our little head phones. 

After our bus tour we headed back to the hotel (Residence Inn) to get ready for the Opera.  We were all so freezing and so happy to get into our rooms to warm up.
Teagan, Kevin, and I shared a room and the rooms were very nice.  We had lots of counter room and a little kitchen.  We had a nice view out of our room.  Our hotel was in the perfect spot.  Like a block away from Broadway and only a few blocks away from Time Square.  A few blocks the other way was the Empire State Building.  We were right by a cute little park called Bryant Park.
We also had a subway stop across the street for one line and two blocks over for another line.  It was just perfectly located.  All the employees were super nice and so was the hotel itself. 

Allie 18 Months

I can not believe my baby is now 18 months old.  One and a half years old...it's nuts man.  She was super chill at her well-child appointment and didn't even say a peep.  Luckily no shots this time, that made me very happy (I am sure Allie too).

Dr. Eyre said that everything is looking really good.  She should probably be saying some more words, so I am going to watch that.  I have noticed that she is babbling more since getting the tubes in so I am hoping more words will come soon.  I am not too worried about it.

Allie can say some different words like: mama (she calls Tony that a lot too), Dada, and grandma.  She says Koda REALLY well and says it often.  She has also said some other words that she hasn't since repeated, like Jesus, Pluto, and even tickle. 

Allie loves to be outside.  Many times a day I find her going out the dog door to play in the back yard.  Luckily it has been nice weather so it's been super nice.  She loves to play in the dirt, play in the clubhouse, and play with the rocks and toys.  

We love our sweet Allie and know that she will do great things!

Weight: 24 lbs 13 oz (77%)

Height: 32.5 inches (72%)

Head: 18.8 inches (87%)

BMI: 73%