Our New Christmas Eve Tradition

Fondue! We had ours with green apple and bread. It took all of 10 minutes to throw together and it was delicious, although S needs something else, like salami, in order to call it dinner.

Chinese Bakery

This is a chinese bakery in my neighborhood, Forest Hills, and they have some awesome pastry's there. My favorite translates to "Choco-nut." I got Alicia hooked on chocolate bubble tea here.

Dad and Alicia Up for a Visit

Here they are half-way across the bridge. We are on our way to pizza in Brooklyn.
They are about to have some amazing dessert in the lower east side.
Economy candy, also in the Lower East Side.

Thanks Dad and Alicia for visiting! It was great having you here!

A Day at the Zoo with Drew

In August I got to stay with Kurt and Debbie for a few days. On one of those days I went with Debbie and Drew to the Portland Zoo and followed Drew around on his preferred path through the exhibits.
Here he is in front of a picture of "George," his favorite monkey.

And then he spent awhile in the petting zoo, grooming little goats. It looked like he was doing a really good job, very practiced at it I guess!

It was really fun seeing Drew go through his favorite parts of the zoo and hang out with him for the day!

Goodbye Connor

There's Connor, up early, packing up his stuff so we can leave for the airport.
Breakfast. Mom, you'll have to put him on an intense multi-vitamin regimen after this vacation. Sorry.
In line to board the plane. Bye Connor, I'll miss you very much! It was so fun to have you here and hang out with you. I hope you had a good time in New York.
Home from the airport and here's the last bit of Connor at my apartment...a little green water balloon that didn't make it into his bag...sigh.

Connor Last Day

I let Connor sleep in until 10 today and then I pulled out the big guns...Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks.
Connor was kind of fascinated by the disgusting cockroaches outside. This one was no match for Connor's shoe.
Here we are at the arms & armor wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This is the armor of King Henry VIII.
Resting legs.
Egyptian art.
Inside the Temple of Dendur.


At first Connor didn't want to sit by strangers...that didn't last long though. By the end of day one he'd squeeze in anywhere.
Getting ready to have pastrami sandwiches at Katz's.
Connor said he liked it. He thought the place was definitely unique at least!
We tried an "egg cream," it's a fountain drink that came from Brooklyn in the earlier part of the 1900's. We both thought it was a little gross.
Handmade donuts from Doughnut Plant...this was a hit with Connor. So was Dylan's Candy store.

Blowing up balloons in Central Park.
Connor put a red can out and did yo-yo tricks in the park for cash. He got $2. Yeah, from me.
He did a few kiddie-rides to kill time before the jazz show.

The view from the jazz venue was amazing.
The jazz was very cool...I wish the guy had played the tenor sax though, Connor was waiting for that!
Connor had a front row table.
I tried to get a candid picture of Connor yo-yoing his way throughout Manhattan, but he always caught me.

Connor Day 3 Omission

I forgot to mention that we saw the Bodies Exhibit yesterday, after pizza and before the boat ride. Connor was telling me about a show like this in Germany that he wanted to see, so I showed him this exhibit and he decided he wanted to check it out. It was disturbing mostly. Very amazing and I highly recommend it, but I don't think it's for everyone. Connor mentioned at the reproductive organ section that he wished Jeremy was there....it was for sure one of those moments to share with another 13 year old boy, and not your older sister, hahaha.

Connor Day 3

Time to wake up Connor....oh, I feel so bad doing that every morning, poor guy. Last night we got banana puddings from Magnolia Bakery and watched Big, which I think he liked. He then insisted on staying up to finish his book so it was a late night for him.
First stop this morning was Trinity church. Connor saw the graveyard and wanted to check it out. Most are from the mid-1700's. The one Connor is standing by is Alexander Hamilton's grave.
Here is what the graveyard looks like.
This is art in front of the church; it's the roots of a sycamore tree that was pulled out during 9/11.
Connor at Washington's Inauguration spot.
At the New York Stock Exchange which Connor kept referring to as the Auction House because of the kind of weak explanation I tried to give him for what it was all about.
At the bull. Both ends.

I tried giving him some chemical energy.
Here he is resting his legs on the ferry ride over to the Statue of Liberty...and peaking out the window below.


That's the view of lower Manhattan from the observation deck at the statue.
In the museum...a replica of her face and foot.


I think this was by far Connor's favorite part of the Statue tour...leaping down the staircase...hahaha.
Here he is at the Brooklyn Bridge...it was a bit of a walk, but he was a good sport.

Finally, I got a candid photo! He liked his Italian soda
We went to Lombardi's in Soho. I think he liked the pizza, it's one of the best!

Drinking lemonade and texting his girlfriend at South Street Seaport.
Getting ready to board The Shark.
Cool views from our boat ride.

We went to see a movie at 7:45 and then Connor wanted some ice cream. We sat in Union Square and headed home.