THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS

So my 5 day trip to New York City has come and gone...
For those of you who had no idea I was even going, my friend Leanne (South African friend living in London), decided that we needed to go to New York and have a girls week, so she flew me there, booked us into a hotel and we had 5 fantastically fun days filled with hysterical laughter, too little sleep, too many calories, lots of sightseeing, fun filled activities and of course SHOPPING. Lol (though the shopping was more Leanne, than me. lol)
Yes, I am EXCEPTIONALLY spoiled by my awesome friend. :)

Our trip started last Thursday. We both arrived at JFK Int'l Airport, got our luggage and started our trip across New York to our hotel in Brooklyn. AirTrain, Subway, walking... hauling our nearly overweight suitcases, filled with what I thought was much too much clothing for 5 days, but turned out to be barely enough... My suitcase weighed 46lbs, and then I had a laptop bag and  a SLR camera bag too (though I put my laptop bag in Leannes suitcase.. hehehe)

We didn't see any of New York, until we left the subway station at our stop in Brooklyn. LOL... needless to say, we didn't expect what we saw...the area of Brooklyn that we stayed in was less than choice. Good thing Leanne and I had our 'South African Bred street smarts' on. It was late, dark and the neighbourhood was filled with slightly dodgy characters... though as the days passed, we became more and more 'comfortable' with the area and it's interesting occupants. LOL... Once at the hotel, showered and in our pj's, we had a late night of girly catch up, giggles and laughter and Leanne looking decidedly drugged on the mild 3mg Melatonin I gave her to help her sleep with her jetlag. LOL... She's a definite weakling in the drug department (and melatonin isn't even a real 'medication'...it's sorta natural actually. LOL... I on the other hand can handle my drugs like a true junkie. LOL
Late nights became the norm for all 5 days... we never made it to bed before 1am, and some nights were closer to 2am... I guess we acclimated to New Yorks 'no sleep policy' with ease. :)

Friday, Leanne dragged my lazy, sleepy butt out of bed (which turned out to be the case on the other 4 mornings too. LOL)
We headed to Battery Park to catch the ferry to Liberty Island. To our complete luck, we scored free tickets and saved ourselves $12 each on the cost of the tickets. A couple had just bought their tickets and then saw the line they'd have to wait in to board the ferry (we stood there for over an hour), so they gave us their tickets... with free tickets, and being able to miss the ticket purchase line, we were willing to wait the hour or so to board the ferry. It was mostly shady, and it's not like we had anywhere else we needed to be.

So, we finally boarded the ferry, and headed to the island.  Got some fun pictures of Manhattan and of Lady Liberty from the ferry. On Liberty Island, we had a great lunch... it was GINORMOUS, as is typical for any American meal. lol. We both order the kiddies chicken tenders and chips meal, and neither of us could finish it. This country knows how to eat.

After heading back to the mainland, we made our way to Times Square to stand in line for discount tickets to a Broadway Show. Another long queue... We got all our waiting in line activities done on the first day! We were able to get tickets to see 'West Side Story"... I was pretty stinking excited to be going to a REAL Broadway Show... as in the 'actually on Broadway' kind. LOL
By this point in the day, we both smelled a 'pretty' scent of Africa... that pungent onion, mix dirt, mix perspiration variety... LOL... time to head back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner and the show.
We met up with Leanne's NY friend, Jordan (Who turned out to be a great tour guide during our time there...we got to see some little NY 'secrets' that on our own we never would have found)... had dinner at an Italian restaurant, and then headed to the show. It was great fun... though I didn't educate myself on the story line before hand, and had no idea it was such a sad show... but the performances were great, and it was just so thrilling to be at the real deal. LOL.
After the show, Times Square/Broadway area was still buzzing with thousands of people... New York literally is the city that never sleeps... only in New York can you get on a subway train after midnight, and still not be able to find a seat. We of course had to adopt the city ways (When in Rome... ) so we decided not to call it a night, and instead headed to a little restaurant that sells the BEST cheesecake on the planet... No Jokes... it was so ridiculous divine, I could barely contain myself. lol.

Saturday was AWESOME. We headed back into Manhattan, and went to the Museum of Natural History. Leanne and I aren't huge museum goers, but it's one of the museums you always hear about, so we decided to check it out. It's an interesting museum... but we did our usual speed tour through it... we aren't the 'stop, stare and read every plaque' kind of tourists... we're the 'been there, seen that, got a picture, move on' kind. LOL... it works for us.

After the museum, we met up with 'tour guide' Jordan, and went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch... I'm not a huge mexican food fan, but I'll be honest, and say that my chicken burrito was pretty stinking good... not gonna lie.
And then, for the best part of my entire trip... cycling through central park... YES, I Carla Geddes, self proclaimed couch potato and hater of all forms of exercise, rented a bike and cycled... wait for it... 5, yes FIVE MILES (8km) through central park... Needless to say, I surprised even myself...
By the end of our cycle, my legs were in a rather achy, wobbly state, but I lived to tell the story, and I still managed to get out of bed the next day... Miracles really do happen. LOL

Central Park is this beautiful place, with lakes and trees, and picnic spots in the middle of a crazy, busy city of skyscrapers and dirty subways... Don't get me wrong, Central park was bustling too, but with cyclists, and joggers, and pedicabs (dudes on bicycles pulling 2 passenger carts), and I was just loving the change of scenery and feeling the wind in my hair as we went down hill on our bikes...I was all for the down hills. LOL

Sunday, we tried to do as little that required money as possible. So, we went to church, and then we got the subway down into the Soho/Tribeca/Greenwich area... for those of you that don't know this... SoHo is short for South of Houston street and Tribeca means 'triangle below canal street'... which defines the boundaries of those two neighborhoods. These little neighborhoods are filled with quaint little restaurants, shops and historic buildings etc. We found a cute restaurant called 'The Pink Tea Cup' where we had some lunch. After lunch, we walked around the area a while. We then went to the High Line (I think that's what it's called)... The high line used to be a railway track, that ran on a bridge 'above' manhattan... since they no longer use the tracks, they decided to turn it into pretty walk way, with plants and flowers, and seating areas to relax and enjoy the view of the city. We were there on Sunday during the day, but at night, it's lit up and I guess more romantic looking.

Monday, we set aside for shopping. Even though, no normal person can afford to shop there, you can't go to New York without experience the high end, over priced 5th Avenue.
I was SUPER excited to go the H&M on 5th Avenue... it's about the only affordable store there, and H&M as a general rule sells stylish, well priced clothing. Back in Michigan I used to go to the one in the mall, but it was TINY... the one on 5th Avenue, is a huge 3 story store, and the same store that Jake and I frequently saw when we watched "What Not To Wear"... yes, Jake watched it with me. LOL.. I love that show. So to go to the famous 5th Avenue branch was pretty exciting. Clearly, I'm easy to please. LOL.
I didn't buy much... just a couple plain t-shirts and a long top to wear with my black leggings.
Leanne did enough shopping for both of us. lol.. just kidding! :)


For whatever reason, after our shopping trip, we just stopped taking pics. LOL.. I guess the exhaustion was finally starting to set in.
Tuesday, we hit China Town where we got a few things from the vendors... scarves, jewellery, a t-shirt for Jake etc
We had the most revolting ever lunch in China Town... I love Chinese food, but this was GROSS! I ended up having a can of Sprite for lunch.
And then it was time to head home... the luggage haul back to the airport, fighting the crowds at JFK, and then my bag got left behind... though it really came as no surprise... when I saw the chaos at the airport, I knew my luggage wouldn't get on my flight... and of course this is about the 5th time I have had missing luggage... seems to be the norm for me. Fortunately it was delivered today, still intact with nothing missing.

I bought Luke a NY Taxi Cab toy car.. the kind that you pull back and it winds up and then rides forward when you let it go. It seemed like the perfect gift, as Luke is getting quite into his toy cars at the moment. He LOVED it when I showed him how it worked. He would chase after it, then bring it back for me to wind again. LOL. However, 10 minutes later it was in the toilet. YES, the TOILET... that's how Luke rolls. :)



And so that was our trip... we had a BLAST! I was sad to have to say goodbye to Leanne...especially seeing as we don't know when we will see each other again.
I must however say that as fun as it was in New York, I could never live there... it's just a little too much city for me... I think the longer I am married to Jake, the more small town girl I am becoming.

"YAY"

Luke is 15 and half months old, and we THINK he has finally said his first word... it's still a little muffled, and unclear, but he seems to be trying to say 'YAY'!

Usually, when Luke does something clever, or he listens when we give him an instruction, we clap for him and say, "Yay", or "Yay Luke"... recently, he started clapping at himself when he did something clever. It's very cute.

He likes to clap at himself when he closes the dishwasher door, or when he puts his stacking cups inside of each other when we play. (He can put them into each other if you give them to him in the correct order... he doesn't quite have the 'bigger and smaller' concept yet)

Then just the other day, he was getting into my nightstand drawer, which he knows he isn't allowed to do... I told him to close the drawer... so he closed it and clapped to himself and said what definitely sounded like an attempt at. "YAY"... it was more like, "AYE", but it was a definite try!

Since then we have heard a few more, "AYE's"

I am so excited to hear what he learns to say next... I think because it's taken him so long to say a single word, in my mind I had stopped imagining what it would be like when he spoke...I got so used to the constant grunting noises he made instead. Now I am excited to hear his little voice making proper sounds as he learns more words!

We are so proud of our growing little boy. He makes us so happy! :)

CHINA WEEK ADVENTURES AND A CUTE BOY!

I am long overdue for a blog update, but the past few weeks have been CRAZY! Week before last, Jake was in China for work (I have told him to do a blog post with some pics for you...) It was a tiring, long week for Luke and I being here without 'daddy', BUT, we made sure we stayed busy so that the 6 days Jake was gone would go by quickly, and so that Luke and I wouldn't drive each other loony with boredom. LOL.

On the Monday, we went swimming at a friends house. Luke used a big floating thingy, and was happy as can be floating around by himself!

Tuesday, was our friend Jo-Jo's birthday party, though I don't have any pictures from that!
Wednesday, we went with my friend Rachel, and her two boys Landon and Carson to the mall. The boys had fun playing with the train set in the bookstore, and then we took them to the pet store to look at the animals. Of course a trip to the mall wouldn't be complete without a cinnamon sugar soft pretzel and a cup of fresh lemonade. (It's become my mall tradition. LOL)

Thursday, I decided to host a 'Crayola Moms' tea party at our house. We had a nice group of moms and kiddies come over with treats to share and all the mommies enjoyed some lemonade and yummy food, while the little rascals all ran wild in the play room! It was great fun, and sooo convenient, because when Luke was tired and didn't want to play anymore, it was a 3 second walk down the passage and he was in his crib for a nap. I am definitely all for hosting things at our house rather than only going out!

Friday, a big group of us went the the Childrens Marble Museum in Raleigh. What a great museum. Kids can play there for HOURS. They have a little of everything. Such fun! It's a bit of a drive... about 50 minutes or so, but soooo worth it for a family outing with kids. Luke was really enjoying being able to run wild and actually be allowed to touch EVERYTHING. lol... something he doesn't usually have the freedom to do.
Unfortunately he had an accident about 30 minutes after we got there. My friends daughter, was running without looking, and ran Luke right over. Poor thing was just standing there, and then literally just got bulldozed over from the front. We happen to be in the corridor area at the time, not the play area... and the floors are hard granite. He ended up with 2 bumps on the side of his head, and some burst blood vessels in his ear lobe. I put an ice pack on it, and gave him some Tylenol because I am sure that caused a sizely headache. After that, he wasn't much in the mood for playing anymore.

These pics are too great... Jake had the good camera in China, and my flash wasn't working so well!



Since China, things have been JUST as crazy... Luke and I got sick pretty much within hours of Jake arriving home, and now 8 days later, I am still fighting the same old stubborn cold. Luke has been in really good spirits despite his cough and congestion. What a champ! Hopefully we will both be better in the next few days!

The next pictures are just random ones of things Luke has been up to lately. He is changing and learning so quickly. My baby is not such a baby anymore (hmmm...time for another baby maybe??? lol)

We don't feed Luke very often, so he finds alternate ways to survive... like 'stolen' ketchup! LOL



The result after a REAL dinner. LOL (Dinner time and bath time go hand in hand these days. LOL)

Lukes new 'trick' though it makes me VERY nervous! Jake taught him how to turn the lights on and off, and now he likes to climb up there and do it himself... just goes to show, you really need to be careful what you teach your kids. LOL

Such a cutie

He has also learned that he can ride his cars on the floor (or furniture), and it's really cute to watch him playing on the floor like a big boy. He is yet to do any sound effects while riding his cars around, but I guess that'll come after he learns to speak (which he still isn't doing)

Luke NEVER wears shoes.. it's just one of those things we gave up on. In fact, right now he doesn't even own any summer shoes that fit. He out grew his sandals, and we never bothered to replace them because he hated wearing them... we never forced the issue. I think babies/young kids have far healthier feet if they can grow naturally without the constriction of hard shoes. Anyway, with fall on the way shortly, he will need some shoes for the colder days. I spotted a genuine leather pair on clearance the other day, so I grabbed them. I thought they'd be cute for church or if he wears slightly smarter clothes. We tried them out today, with his very cute hand-me-down outfit. His feet looked so ginormous. LOL.. partly because the shoes are a little big (though there is only about 3/4 inch space by his toes, so any smaller and they wouldn't fit for very long), and partly because we are so used to seeing him barefoot. He looked so cute though. He looks like such a big boy these days.

And then ofcourse they came right off again as soon as we left church. Luke really would spend every minute totally naked and barefoot if he could. LOL


And that I believe is about everything that has happened since my last blog entry.

BAD PARENTING? ... LOL

Today Luke got hold of some clothes that were lying around. It was a few items I had lent a friend for the 80's party we went to on Friday night that she returned to me at church today. LOL
He was dragging the clothing through the kitchen and living room, having a great time, so we decided to play dress up with him. LOL.
He was such a good sport, though I'm not sure if our choice in attire would be considered the most fitting for our little boy. LOL.
I guess this is what happens when you have 2 worn out parents left to entertain a toddler on a boring Sunday afternoon. I was the dressing co-coordinator, Jake was the photographer and of course Luke was the model...and such a cute one at that!

So, presenting our little Sunday afternoon drama queen! LOL