New Years Eve 2016

One of Savannah's Christmas gifts from Grammy & Papa was a full length zip-line tour in SC. She was THRILLED and super excited for a daddy daughter adventure on New Year's Eve.  She would probably say it was her most favorite gift, well other than NYC.

 She and Dave had a wonderful morning together and thankfully the weather cooperated.

Being that you have to be 80 pounds to go Preston wasn't eligible, so I opted to stay with him and we had a fun morning of our own! I hated to start our day of fun with going to the doctor, but I had some serious allergic reaction to something and had whelps that itched and burned all over my upper body. He was such a trooper and never complained!  At least we made good use of our wait time and ordered him some new basketball shoes (recommended by his physical therapist).

After finally leaving the doctor, we picked up lunch from Wendy's along with my medicine at CVS and then he got to choose his morning adventure.  It was a tough choice between Chuck E Cheese and Sports Connection, but in the end he chose the later. Whew!

He opted just to play games in the arcade and then used his points for some loot to eat and some to bring home.  It was such a fun morning with my little guy . . even if we did have to go to the doctor.

For this bigger guy, his fun quickly ended after the zipline tour . . as he realized his CPA renewal was due and he had 32 hours of work to do by midnight! oops!

 And here is how we ended our fun night . . with these crazy kids going to bed well before midnight!  Well there was also this little game that we watched on TV which made daddy pretty excited!

This has been an amazing year full of laughter, blessings, and praise the Lord good health too.  I can't wait to see what He has planned for our family in 2017.  Happy New Year!!!

NYC Day 3 ~ Subway, Statue, Scenes, Stands

We started day three a little later (as we were still pretty tired from Monday) but were still out relatively early compared to most of  NYC!  We used the subway a second time and headed out to the Statue of Liberty cruise.  This was a much longer ride so we got to see a lot of interesting people.  Getting through security wasn't too bad and  before we knew it we had boarded the ferry headed to see the Statue of Liberty.

This was Preston's favorite part of the trip.  We couldn't get tickets to the pedestal or crown, but it was still amazing to be so close to this beauty.  The weather had become quite dreary so after walking around the statue and taking some pictures, of course hitting the gift shop, we were ready to re-board the ferry to head back to NYC.

After getting back into the city, we explored around the Twin Tower memorial.  WOW!  Preston just couldn't understand why someone would fly a plane into buildings, but Savannah appreciated the memorial a bit more.  It made it seem so much more real to actually see where the towers once stood.
After that we hopped back on the bus and headed for Times Square again.

After a quick street stand lunch (which actually was delicious), we attempted to see the window displays at Saks Fifth Avenue a bit more, but the crowds were just unbearable!

So we finally gave up, went back to AG to pick up Savannah's shirt and then headed back to the hotel to regroup.  It was nice to relax a bit and we decided to have dinner in.  I ordered John's pizza, we picked up Shake Shack shakes AND Junior's cheesecake and brought it all back to the hotel for dinner.

We enjoyed a cheesesteak, hotdog, and pretzel from stands like this today.

It was one delicious meal and enjoyed in the "uncrowded" comfortable space of our own hotel.  We knew our fun in the city was over ;( and that we had to get up super early for our flight the next day so we called it a day and hit the bed!

This was definitely a Christmas to remember.  It was insanely crazy and something we'll probably never do again, but I pray the kids made memories that will last a lifetime!

NYC Day 2 ~ Rockefeller, Relics, Radio City Rockettes

Day two in NYC started bright and early!  We were up and ready to go by 8am.  After a short walk we started the day at the Rockefeller Center.  It was so nice to walk right in without any lines!

We took the quick elevator ride to the top where we enjoyed an awesome view of the city in the daytime.  It was cool to be able to see the Statue of Liberty, the Hudson River where the miracle on the Hudson happened, and the Empire State Building too.

After exploring around Top of the Rock, we headed back downstairs to see the NBC studios.  We didn't do the tour (even though Dave really wanted to) because I didn't think the kids would be very interested in that.  

Next up was seeing the huge outdoor Christmas tree and ice skating!  It was super cool, but the kids were surprised that there were no ornaments on the tree. :)

After that we hit the Hop on Hop off bus to make our way to the history museum. 

Honestly, it was everyone's least favorite part!

 We waited FOREVER to get back on the bus to make our way back to Times Square.  It even started sprinkling a bit so we had to endure that for a bit.  Once we made it back, Savannah was one happy girl to see this store!  She was able to design her own shirt for her AG doll.

 We did a bit more exploring and seeing a few window displays before deciding to head to an early dinner.  We arrived at Ellen's around 4:30 to find the line was TWO BLOCKS long!  Yikes!  I was a bit nervous that we'd never make it through dinner in time for our 7:30 Rockettes show.  BUT, it all worked out.  I left the family at the end of the line and went to get some information. I discovered that they would not give out wait times, but that there was room to be seated at the bar!  After a bit of a wait, they said to go get the rest of my party and they would seat us at the bar (ahead of the two blocks of people!).  Well, to make a long story short, when I showed up with the kids they said we couldn't sit at the bar with kids.  oops!  So they accommodated us by giving us the next available table!  Woo hoo!

This dinner was one of the highlights of our trip! There was constant entertainment from aspiring Broadway actors/actresses that sang many well known songs while we ate.  

We were out just in time to head to Radio City Music Hall for our 7:30 Rockettes show.  I honestly thought after 10+ hours of walking that Preston would sleep through it, but both he and Savannah were on the edge of their seats the entire time.  It was incredible!

Waiting for the show to start

They loved the 3D part of the show

Nativity ending

It was a long, exhausting . . yet super fun day in the city!  After the show we walked back to our hotel, but had to stop for a few quick pictures in front of these giant light bulbs.

Dave and I took turns carrying Preston most of the day so we were thankful that tomorrow had a bit less walking planned.

A Christmas to Remember . . . 2016 in NYC

Christmas morning started off just like "normal".  The kids waited at the top of the stairs until they made enough noise to wake us up and get us out of bed.  Then after I had the lights on and the camera ready they bounced down the stairs to see what Santa brought.  I totally forgot to take a picture with my mind racing just thinking about all that was to come!  

They were so excited with the bookmarks they each purchased for one another.  Funny that it wasn't a planned thing, but it was the item they each chose to purchase with their own allowance for one another.

Savannah was excited to get a new bike (although she can't currently ride it) and Preston was excited about his ezyroller . .  and they both loved the massive ping pong table that was set up in the living room from Santa.  We saved our main gift for last. . . two bags of puzzle pieces that they had to work together to assemble.

The puzzle said "Savannah and Preston, pack your bags quick because we are going to New York City today!  Merry Christmas!!"

Boarded and headed to NYC!

I think they were totally in shock, which was the BEST feeling ever!  I'm not sure how we pulled it off with Nosy Rosy and Tiny Tattle, but we did it.  With about two hours to work out, shower, eat breakfast and pack, we managed to get to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

We arrived in Newark, NJ and thanks to lots of planning and advice from friends, headed straight to the shuttle bus that dropped us literally blocks from our hotel in Times Square.  However, if cameras had been watching it would've been hysterical . . . like country dropped off in the city . . we were all turned around!  Thankfully, thanks to Googlemaps, we found our hotel and dropped off our luggage without too much drama.  Then it was time to hit the city!

The kids were shocked with the amount of trash in the city.  I was shocked at how truly crowded the city was on Christmas Day night!  Never the less, we had a blast.  First stop, M&M store.  I mean who needs dinner when there are M&Ms to be had! 

After that venture (we even had to wait in line to get into the store) and small purchase, we determined that we had to find dinner.  So PIZZA it was!  Yum!!

We had a quick bite to eat and then had our first experience with the Subway.  Super easy and fun!  We rode it to the Empire State Building, where we couldn't wait to see the city at night.

Waiting for the subway to arrive

 The view was amazing!  It was SUPER windy and COLD, but a truly unique experience to see NYC from the Empire State Building on Christmas Day!

Feeling a bit more confident by this point, we decided to walk back to our hotel.  Once we got back, we quickly hit the bed to get ready for two more fun days in the city!

Christmas Eve 2016

Christmas Eve was a little different this year.

We started the morning with working out!  Savannah is still in her boot so we stayed home and I did my long run outside (in this crazy warm weather).  The boys opted to do a 5k Jingle Jog at the YMCA.

Jingles last appearance for the year . . he spelled his name in Skittles!

It's hard to see, but Savannah's hair was a Rudolph bun.

After we had all burned some calories, we quickly packed the car and headed to Carmel for an early Christmas Eve service. 

 It was nice to be at our church for Christmas Eve, even it was a bit unusual to be there at 10am!

After leaving church, we hit the road for Great Grandma's house.  When we arrived the cousins were waiting and it was non-stop after that!  Gifts were exchanged, lots of food was eaten, laughs were shared, and before we knew it, the time had come to pack up and drive back to Charlotte.

It was such a fun day and filled with everything and everyone we love most!  

The Page Family

The drive home was quiet and we arrived in time to leave some cookies and milk out for Santa before making the kids settle in for the night.

Ballantyne Gingerbread Display

Today we made our annual visit to the Ballantyne Resort Gingerbread display.  We met the Marions there and as usual had a grand time!  There were lots of great houses and creations, but my favorite part was just seeing the kids enjoying time together. :)

Savannah's Holiday Party

Today we had a blast Southern Hemisphere style!  I helped with the class party in Savannah's class today and it was a huge hit with the kids.  They rotated through stations playing minute to win it games and also had a huge ice cream sundae bar.  Everyone got a beach ball and sunglasses to bring home and now are officially ready for the winter break.  One more day to go . . .

I wasn't the party mom for Preston's class, but they too had a grand time with lots of fun activities.