Thursday, January 10, 2019

Basketball Season

Moving on to the next big sport in our house: basketball. Andy's the most excited about this one. Cal realllllly wanted to try tennis, so we made him pick a sport- his swimming has taken off and he's swamped with it all. He said he would take a break from basketball.... fast forward, it's been too wet/cold/wintery to play tennis and he advanced to the next swim group, which practices when tennis would be so he should have just played basketball. Plus both boys could have been on the same team.  So many bummers. Oh well!

You know what's NOT a bummer? Getting on a team with red and green for the colors. GO BULLDOGS (and reindeer, if we wanted to change the mascot.....). What are the chances my Christmas loving kiddo would get this???

 Their first game was last night, and I must say, I love watching him play. There is SUCH JOY as he plays. He does not run down the court. He skips, happily. He is smiling and going for the ball and taking the shot. He even did some passing, which was great. He loves his coaches and his team mates.

Looking forward to watching more basketball from this kid!

 

Monday, January 7, 2019

I HEART NYC

The boys have had a fascination with NYC as long as I can remember. Especially Andy. So this year, when brainstorming ideas about Christmas, I suggested to my parents, maybe a trip to New York, instead of gifts would be awesome. Andy, Mr. Christmas lover himself, in NYC during the holidays... we couldn't think of anything better!

And, oh how amazing it was. We had THE BEST time ever. We woke the boys up early on December 18th- my parents were there for this part too, which was extra cool.... and told them to get dressed, we were headed to New York... pretty sure they were shocked, but it was the cutest thing ever.


When we landed in New York, we dropped our bags and started walking...




We walked to the Empire State Building- something the boys have always wanted to do, and went to the top. It was COOOOOOLD up there, but the views were crystal clear and it was gorgeous! Andy got to see the statute of liberty (another obsession), so we were all happy!


 Seeing the statue of liberty///



After Empire State Building, we grabbed some lunch and walked down through Rockefeller- seeing their faces as they saw the tree for the first time was amazing.




Then we went to Radio City to see the Rockettes! It was awesome! Loved it! We were given 3D glasses when we walked in- and there was this whole thing where Santa throws gifts off of his sack- the boys were dying at this, haha, they loved it.



 After the show, we walked back to Rockefeller to check out the tree at night... it was just beautiful!



The next morning, all the boys wanted to do was ice skate in Rockefeller...after watching it the day before, they were set on doing it. We got there and shockingly, there wasn't much of a line, so we jumped in and got on the ice. This was a highlight of the trip for all, I think. It was so, so much fun! Sweet Cal resembled a new born giraffe attempting to skate, while Andy was off doing loop-de-loops around the place. It was terrifying and hysterical all at the same time. Eddie and I just tried to not pull anything... mom and dad found a table with a view and documented our escapades.




















 After ice skating, we had to make an unplanned stop back in the room to switch to dry clothes (hahaha) and then we walked to Carmines, which was another total highlight of the trip! We so loved this restaurant! It was so fun and SO yummy!









After Carmines, the boys took advantage of the drinks consumed and talked Grandpa into buying new shoes at the Nike Experience store... this place is really, really cool....





 After the Nike store, we had a quick break, so the boys went back to the hotel to rest, so mom and I broke free and went to Henri Bendel...our favorite place.... We were a little excited!

That night, we saw Aladdin...OH MY HEAVENS, we loved it! Loved, loved, loved it! It was full of excitement and fun and everyone really enjoyed it! Such a good show! I have no pictures from this though.... haha

The next morning, we were up and at em early, to catch a boat to go see the Statue of Liberty. It was a beautiful day for it and we loved the tour out there.


















We had a great rest of the day-- Disney Store in times square and a delicious lunch we found too. We headed back to the airport around 2... sad it was time to head back to the real world!

It was SUCH a fun trip and the best Christmas present ever for the whole family. We are still talking about the trip. The boys screaming at the TV on NYC that they recognized times square was pretty amazing too.... I love the memories we made there!





 

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Reindeer Games

We had a crew in for Christmas this year. Eddie's parents and sister all came in, Eddie's other sister had all of her in laws in town, and then my family! After Christmas morning festivities, we all headed over to mom and dad's for REINDEER GAMES. Oh, how we love Reindeer Games. It is the perfect thing to do on a Christmas afternoon, when all the presents have been opened, everyone had their mid-morning nap (looking at you, Ed), and it's time for some fresh air outside.

My mom goes all out for these games, which, really, shouldn't be surprising at all. She is wonderful.

We eat some, we drink some (okay, a lot) and we play a little baseball. It is so much fun. It has grown over the years...and I think it's a favorite way to spend the afternoon for all.

Some quick pics... not nearly all of them. But some.

 We have shirts, obviously. How else would we know who was on which team?

 Reindeer games needs fireball shots.


 The aunts with the babies.
 Thankfully the weather was perfect for it.







 
 
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