Holiday break wrap-up

San Antonio has a new aquarium.  The kids had a blast, but they rushed getting it open and I am not sure we will go back for a while.  This iguana was just hanging out, unattended, for anyone to say hello to.  Reese was not going to hang around.

Our family got the kids a gift certificate to Main Event for Christmas, so we got to bowl and play games!

We wrapped up the break with a hockey game with my family. 

I had so much fun with all of them, love them so much, and am excited about what 2015 will hold in store for us all!

Holiday break trip to Dallas

I had to work in Dallas for a few days over the holiday break, so Jeff being the sweet husband that he is, loaded up the kids and they all came along with me.  They played and hit the town and then we all got to be together at night.

We loaded up on Sunday afternoon and hit the road.

After a quick stop at Bucees ( a must for a Madrid road trip), we made our way to one of our favorite restaurants in Austin for dinner.  It was a bit wet and cold outside so we got these cozy seat by the fire.

All was smooth sailing until we then hit awful traffic in north Austin.  Not gonna lie, it was an hour of pure misery.   We eventually made it out and peacefully made it the rest of the way to our hotel in Dallas.

Jeff and the kids hit the Dallas Aquarium on Monday, it sounds like they had a blast.

Afterwards, they hit a burger joint at Goff’s Hamburger and in true Reese style, she ordered a salad. I love that she marches to the beat of her own drum.  Then it was back to the hotel to swim and see the swans, Queen and Baron.

This is the hotel that I stay at whenever I am in Dallas.  It makes me feel a little better now when I am there that they have seen it and know where I am.  (I try to ignore the other part that bums me out that now I am there without them)

That night we made it to the American Girl Doll store so that Ella and Reese could shop for Lily and Addison.  My camera has been acting up, so I wasn’t able to grab any pictures there, but here is Ella with Lily back at home.  Man, she loves that doll!

On Tuesday, they went to Lego Land while I wrapped up work.

They picked me up at the end of the day and then we headed back home.  Luckily our drive back was pretty fast and uneventful.  I was truly amazed at how well they did, since it was our first long drive.  I know it was a lot of work for Jeff, since they fight…a lot, but I know the kids had a great time and it made me so happy to have them there with me!

Visiting Daddy’s office

During the holiday break, we got a quick visit in at Jeff’s office. He had office supplies, markers, highlighters….these kids were in heaven and sure do love their sweet daddy!

Random pics from end of year 2014

As close as I can get of capturing Austin these days is a shot of him in the background.  Apparently almost 10 year old boys have no interest in having their picture taken.  I will keep trying with him and also enjoy snapping away of these sweet girls.

Celebrating our 14th anniversary in New York

We went to New York for our 1st anniversary, just a few months after 9/11. We love the city this time of year and had not gotten away by ourselves in almost 3 years.  Thanks to my parents watching the kids, we escaped for 4 magical days and had the best time!

Flight delay, not nearly as bad when you are flying without kids

In addition to going 13 years earlier for our anniversary, we also went in Jan 2004. We were living in California, I was working for Pfizer and training in NY. Jeff came out and met me for a weekend in early January, so cold, but so much fun!

After a bit of a delay on this trip, we eventually made it into the city and our hotel in Greenwich Village.  We had never stayed down in that area before, and although the hotel itself wasn’t all that fabulous, it was quant, and the location was fantastic!  The concierge directed us to Mario Batalli’s sister restaurant to Babo…Otto.  We had purposefully not made reservations at any restaurant or got tickets to see anything ahead of time.  We really wanted to be able to play it by ear and not be tied down to anything.  It ended up working perfectly.  We waited a while for a table, but it didn’t matter at all…we had each other and a bottle of wine.

The brussel sprouts and pizza were delicious, but couldn’t match this desert.  Jeff claimed it was the best he had ever had!

Down the street from Otto and right next to our hotel was Washington Square Park.

We wanted to see a comedy show, and didn’t have tickets, but got on the standby list and hung out at this gem while we waited for the show.

We got in and actually got sat front row.  We had so much fun, didn’t make it to bed until close to 2 and slept as late as we wanted the next day…heavenly.

We had breakfast at this adorable place called French Roast. 

After we started walking uptown.

Bryant Park was adorable.

The trip originated when I heard that Bradley Cooper was going to be in the Elephant Man and I wanted to go.  I was too stubborn to pay the high service fee for the tickets ahead of time and they were sold out when we did get to town.  This sighting was good enough for me.

We ended up seeing Wicked and it was AMAZING!

We hit the Museum of Modern Art.  There was a special Matisse exhibit, Van Gogh's Starry Night was my favorite.  My favorite Matisse.

The next day we went down to the World Trade Center memorial.  It was sad and beautiful at the same time.

We walked down to Battery Park so we could see Lady Liberty.

Then made our way back uptown so we could see Rockefeller center and find the America Girl doll store for Ella.

There was a protest going on in Washington Square Park,but I was determined to try and get a shot of us in front of the arch.  The bad selfie had to do.

Once we were back up town we also hit the American Museum of Natural History,my favorite museum by far.  The exhibits were fascinating and so well done.

A picture recreated from our first anniversary 13 years ago.  (don’t mind the photo bom guy in the back)

Before hitting the shops we grabbed a little NYC pizza,delish!

Could not believe this store, it had 4 stories and was packed!

We spent our last night having drinks at Analogue, dinner at Alta, and the black and white desert at Otto (again).

Alta had no sign and had the best tapas!

Possibly our best trip together so far and not because of where we were or what we did, but that we got to be together and just be…and still enjoyed each other so much after 14 years! Can’t wait to do it again next time.