Seize the Day

 Remember those teenage obsessions we all had?  Well one of mine was the movie Newsies.  I went to the movie on opening night with my cousin Laura and sister Julia.  We LOVED it!  We got these newspapers from the theater with info about the movie and cast and lots of great pictures (and yes, I still have my copy).  I plastered my locker with these pictures so that I could see the cute boys every day at school.  I'm guessing I saw the movie at least 10 times in the theater.  I remember riding my bike with friends to Movies 8 so that we could see it there.  I might have even been one of those super annoying girls that let out a little yell when the cute boy did something especially great (in this case it was when Spot Conlon arrived and said "never fear, Brooklyn is here).  I bought the cassette tape and memorized all the songs.  I bought the piano book and learned to play Santa Fe on the piano.  And I don't know how many times I rented the movie from Blockbuster, but I'm guessing between me and my friends it was 10-20 times. Yes, I was obsessed, and luckily I had a cousin, sister, and friends that were obsessed too.  So when Laura called me up in January and told me she wanted to go to New York in April to see the Broadway production of Newsies, how could I say no?  I almost did, thinking that I would be a bit crazy to go with a newborn, but I just couldn't miss out on the fun, so we made reservations, bought tickets, and planned a cousins retreat in the big apple.

 I am so glad I said yes and packed up my 5 week old baby to go to NYC.  Newsies was awesome.  We went to the play the first day we were there and it was a highlight of the trip.  I was a little worried about how it could compare to the original, but it really was so great.  The singing and dancing was fabulous.  My favorite was the tap number they did to King of New York.  It was especially fun to see some of our favorite dancers from So You Think You Can Dance (Jess, Evan, Alex) in the play.    I loved it so much, I would be willing to pay to see it again.  A big Thank You to my aunt Jimae for watching Lexi so that I could go.

 On our second day in New York we went to a fancy restaurant that had cool names for their entrees like the one I shared with my table called the "wah-zah".  Then we rented bikes to explore Central Park.  We thought we would only go a few miles and be gone for an hour...but a few of us missed the turnoff we were supposed to take and ended up doing the entire 6 mile loop around the park.  There were some intense hills on the north end of the park that we mistakenly went to, so we enjoyed some good exercise.  We saw some famous landmarks including this fountain and pond where we sang "How Does He Know You Love Him" from Enchanted.  Lexi had a bit more relaxing afternoon riding with my Aunt Jimae in the pedicab.

 After the park we made a trip to the Apple Store and FAO Schwarz,

 where Julia tried on the sorting hat and hoped to be placed in Gryffindor.

 We headed back to Grand Central Station for dinner and then the hotel for some jewelry stamping, which led to a few mistakes and a lot of laughter.

 The next day we took a few subways to get over to the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge (Spot Conlon's territory).  We were hoping for the famous ice cream and pizza...but we were there a bit too early.  So we had to settle for taking some fun pictures.

 Isn't this picture awesome?  Thanks to my sister Julia for always being up for a good jumping shot.  She was definitely inspired by the Newsies.  Probably one of my favorite pics from the trip.

Then we walked across the bridge on a parkway above the cars.  It was a fun walk with great views of the city.

 Then we headed to Ground Zero to the 9/11 Memorial.  Behind us is the new World Trade Center building.

 This is one of two memorials that stand in the footprints of the twin towers.  They are huge fountains that run into a big deep hole in the middle.  All of the names of people who died are written around the edges of the two fountains.  It was a touching memorial to all those people who lost their lives that day.

 Then we hurried to Battery Park to take one of the last ferries of the day to Ellis Island.  We didn't stop at the Statue of Liberty since most of us had been there, but we got a good view of it as the ship went by.

 Then we headed to Little Italy for an authentic Italian dinner, complete with a pushy Italian waiter and delicious pastries for dessert.

 We finished off the night by going to Rockefeller Center where we saw the ice rink and the studio where they film the Today Show.

 The next day was our last day to spend in the city before we flew out that evening.  We had some good family time in the morning, went to the Natural History Museum, got lunch at the famous Shake Shack (delicious), did some souvenier shopping, and walked through Times Square.

 Lexi was a champ.  Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better traveling baby.  She slept for most of both flights, slept 7-8 hours at night, and was happy and content to be pushed around in the stroller or carried in the pack.  Thanks to my cousins for planning a great retreat with uplifiting devotionals, fun activites, and time to reminisce, share quotes and stories, and exchange some of our favorite things.  It was such a fun trip with some of my favorite people.  I'm already hoping we can do it again someday.