Dear America, It's Your Lucky Day...

Getting Ready.

It is early.

One man's flag is another man's microphone.

Oath.

Citizens.

Always one random stranger in our family photos. Must learn photoshop.

Celebrate.

The number one way we determine whether a restaurant is fancy enough to celebrate HUGE family moments-little jam jars. Check.

What happened when he heard they didn't have hot chocolate.

 Sure she asked to wear red, white, and blue.

Yes, she asked that her hair look like Dr.LaBootie's crown.

Doesn't change the fact that they will always remain...

Ethiopian.

Smaller Than I thought She Would Be

It seems ridiculous to continue writing about our New York trip when this is happening, but I feel like I should finish what I started.

 Dr. LaBootie- There is no way she could have lived up to the hype. The build up was huge, and while I wouldn't necessarily classify Meazi's reaction as disappointed, the good doctor was "Smaller than I thought she would be." The best moment was when Meazi first saw the statue from Battery Park. Her eyes got big, and she could hardly believe that she was actually seeing her. That was cool.

Here are my tips:

Buy your tickets in advance, online. 

Take the earliest ferry. The island will be empty when you arrive. In order to do this, you'll have to get up pretty early. I feel like we escaped the hottest part of the day by going so early.

Let your children race around the moat like mud path that encircles the fair doctor...

Again, bring Uncle Mark to chase after Melese. Do you see Melese?

Go to the museum...

When we made reservations Crown access was sold out, which is ok because you have to be 48 inches tall. We did climb the 100 plus stairs up the pedestal, and saw a pretty good view from the inside and outside...

 The only drawback to taking the earliest ferry is that your kids may be tired.

You may have to let them sleep in Battery Park right after you disembark.

I think Meazi was more impressed by Uncle Patrick's (Mark's lovely partner's) lemon cake. She complained about not being able to go in the crown. I said something terse like," You CANNOT be complaining about that after we brought you to NEW YORK CITY!" We were hot, tired, and a wee bit cranky. It was not as poetic and inspiring an experience that I thought it would be. However, since then, I see that she still loves Dr, LaBootie. She came home from a summer art class last week talking about how everyone except her made a pinch pot. She made a Dr. Labootie which will be "cooked" so she can keep it forever and ever.

Have a great trip.

Traveler's Aid. NY-Part I.

Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life. — Jack Kerouac

 When Steven told me he'd like to attend his cousin's wedding in upstate New York I was excited. I immediately began planning our trip to the city, and to Meazi's idol, Dr. LaBootie. Thinking about it further, I became filled with anxiety about traveling with two kids under six. I was sure they would become lost or stolen or worse. Visions of Amber alerts and subway track falls filled my brain as I tried to figure out one of life's big questions...How do you travel with car seats? The closer we got to the trip, the more I relaxed. That high level of anxiety inevitably ends in a resigned calm at some point. It has to.

In an attempt to provide more than, "Here are pictures of us doing fabulous things and having a wonderful time on our summer vacation," I thought I'd write a bit about what worked for us, travel wise, with the hope that it may help someone planning a trip to the Big Apple.

Take Jet Blue. It helped that the only seats available, together, were the more expensive, "Even More Room" seats. They provided, well, even more room! Our non-tv watching kids were thoroughly entertained by the rare Sponge Bob sighting and an unfortunate Family Guy viewing (Mom, what's a gynecologist?). Kind flight crew, yummy snacks, mini water bottles and wing stickers for the kids, helped to make us big fans of Jet Blue.


Don't Take the Red Eye. Big mistake. They slept, we didn't, so we had the worst of both worlds- kids were ready to go, we were ready to sleep. Luckily the Jet Blue terminal at JFK has a children's play area. We spent about three hours there. There was a giant screen tv. It is not completely enclosed so you do have to have one eye open in case your two-year old begins throwing his Croq's at travelers walking by.


Always Bring Uncle Mark. Uncle Mark met us at the terminal for our next flight, a short 45 minute trek to Syracuse. Again, lovely Jet Blue employees, healthy snacks and the ever so helpful, 'First bag flies free" (What kind of world is it where you have to spend 25 bucks to bring a suitcase?).

We checked into our mediocre hotel in a city which reminded me a lot of Milwaukee and experienced the "World's worst view from a hotel room". Our window looked directly into the parking garage. Only one family member enjoyed that. "Mommy, we see those cars again?" Melese had a rough night that first night. He cried to go home. It was so sad to hear. Always bring whatever thing it is to help your kiddo feel secure away from home. For us it was his nightly milk. We were out of milk.

We attended a beautiful wedding. When in doubt, say yes to that wedding invitation.

Next up- Bed-Stuy, Do or Die, and do not show her the Beyonce Fourth of July, Statue of Liberty performance before the big day.

140.

Out of the 140 pictures, this one is the best. This is when she saw the statue for the first time.

Her favorite part of the trip is still the water feature at the Central park.

And her Uncle Mark...

Wordless Wednesday

Start Spreading the News.

We are off! We are off to a big, fat, Jewish, wedding. We are off to worship false idols...

And we are off to give NY state a big, ole wet kiss, to celebrate that it is one of the few wise states that recognizes that everyone should have the right to marry.

If you were thinking of ransacking our 950 square feet in our absence, be advised that a tiny,old, Irish, granny nanny and a half-deaf, geriatric pup 6'2 armed, former member of the IRA and a giant rabid Rottweiler will be guarding our abode.

Steven's cousin is having a black tie wedding. I wasn't going to get Meazi a new dress, since she had this pretty yellow one from the fundraiser, and I knew she was getting a custom made dress in August for my sister's wedding.

We went into a local shop that sells a lot of Quinceanera dresses, to find Melese a black tie. Meazi noticed some long dresses and asked just to try a couple on. She put this one on and I was a goner. The way her eyes sparkled when she saw herself in the mirror made me hand over the credit card instantly. Well worth the 34 bucks.

 Have a wonderful Fourth of July. See some of you in NYC.