Last Day

What an incredible, crazy day this has been! It began dark and early at 5:00 a.m. when I forced myself out of bed. I got myself ready and turned the news on to wake the kids up just in time to hear the weather man say "It's dangerously cold out there today..." I don't think it ever got above 28 degrees, and the wind chill was ridiculous. So Jeff looked at me like I was a nutcase and said, "Do we really want to do this?" I was so tempted to crawl back in bed, but so glad we didn't!We had to be in line at 6:15 to get inside the studio. My sweet friend Lisa had a connection and was able to get us in. It was FREEZING, and my kids were wondering what in the world their crazy mom had dragged them into. But we finally made it inside and began to thaw out under all the studio lights.
This is Ashley. He came over to us and bonded quickly with the kids, who happened to be the only ones present today. This allowed them to be the center of attention pretty quickly. I was amazed at how much the crew likes kids. But the crew was honestly awesome to everyone in there. They were great at making you glad you had gotten up early to do this.

Anyway, so Ashley comes back over a few minutes into the show and brings my kids a schedule of everything that was going to happen so they could follow along. We saw that Paula Abdul was going to be there, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. But they were going to do all of their stuff upstairs, so there was no chance we would see either one of them.

A bit later, he came back over and whispered to us that if we could stick around afterwards, he'd take us up to the control room for a quick tour. It was amazing. All I can say is that it pays to have cute kids!

There is a security dog that greets you as you walk in, sniffing for drugs and chemicals and stuff. But he was just a big teddy bear, and the kids got to pet him and love on him quite a bit. Of course, Bailey was in heaven with that.
A lot of the second hour was taped downstairs. Diane wasn't there today, but Robin, Chris and Sam were just a few feet in front of us for the window segment. Sam actually came over and talked to Bailey and asked her her name. She was so excited! We were on camera for a couple of other shots as well. Can't wait to get home and check the Tivo.
At the very end, this camera guy came over and told them to do a little happy dance. It was going to be the closing shot, but they didn't come to him. So he told them to go ahead and do it anyway so that they can have footage of kids on a day when there aren't any in the audience. So they could be on again at some point in the future, even though we won't be anywhere near NYC. Guess I'll have to get a season pass for GMA for awhile.
After the show, the hosts pose for pics with those in the audience. Ashley came over and whipped us right over to Robin so that we could get along for our private tour. I can't explain how surreal all of this was. Robin is so tall and thin and beautiful. She was so gracious and kind. I loved her immediately. I'm glad if one of them had to be on vacation today, it wasn't her!
Ashley took us back to the control room where we got to see where all the magic happens. We also got to meet the director for this morning's show. He looked my age, which made me feel old. How can somebody my age be directing a national news show?
As we walked around the hallway, I felt Jeff grab my arm. I turned around to see the group of people walking towards us and realized that Paula Abdul was right in the front. I said, "Hi!" She was so, so sweet and just gushed all over the kids. Apparently, the American Idol persona is genuine. I asked if we could take a picture and she said, "Absolutely!" So we got one of all of us and a couple with the kids. Craziness!
She asked if the kids were allowed to watch American Idol and I told her that we do (even though I actually haven't watched since Taylor Hicks won, but that was TMI for the moment.) She leaned down and asked Bailey who her favorite judge is. My sweet innocent child said, "Simon." Ahhhhh!! It turned out that Bailey had no idea who this woman we were talking to was until I explained it to her over breakfast. Bless her heart.
We continued down the hall and peeked in the green rooms and hair and make-up. I saw Chris Cuomo sitting at his desk. But as we walked past Sam's office, he happened to be standing by his desk and came over and spoke to us, so we got another great pic! He was really so nice, too. It just seems like a great place to work.
Afterwards, Ashley took us into the upstairs part of GMA where they film the opening news segment and a lot of the interviews and things. He took our picture by the desk, in front of the Times Square window, in front of the weather and at the watercooler couch. He was just so unbelievably generous with his time, and even gave us his e-mail so we could mail him a Christmas card. He was amazing. After we walked out we just kept pinching ourselves, wondering if all of that had actually just happened. What a crazy fun morning!
After a little breakfast, we headed over to Central Park because we had promised the kids they could ice skate there. Even though it was really cold, they really wanted to do it. It's always been a dream of mine as well, so that probably helped their cause.



Unfortunately, the minute I stood up on my ice skates, my stupid foot rebelled. There have been very few things I have been limited from since my accident, but ice skating is definitely one of them. I just didn't have the strength in my ankle at all, and it was excruciating to try and walk on those dang things. Bradley was so disappointed for me, but I told him I was having way more fun watching them and taking pictures than I would be holding on to the wall for dear life! He did so great, though. Those heelies have definitely prepared him well for the ice.
We wandered up to the American Museum of Natural History for a quick peek at the dinosaurs, but decided not to shell out another $50 to walk around the place for the short amount of time we had. I really wanted to walk back through the upper part of Central Park, so we grabbed a pretzel and went for another stroll. Since the sun was out, it was at least bearable under our multiple layers, but by the time we reached 60th and Lexington, we were pretty much popsicles.
We had reservations at Serendipity at 4:30, thanks to the recommendation of Jeff's cousins over Thanksgiving. If you have seen the movie with Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack, this is where they have frozen hot chocolate after their chance meeting in Bloomingdale's. It is an adorable, quaint, tiny little restaurant that we absolutely loved. The food was delicious, and the frozen hot chocolate was a taste of heaven.

This is the brain freeze...
Our time in NYC has been one of the greatest times of my life. My kids have made this trip so much fun, and if it weren't for missing Bryant I wish we could stay another week. But it is definitely time to reunite with the little guy.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Thanks for following our journey. It's been so much fun to share!

I'm not sure why it never occurred to me that Princeton Alliance Church in Princeton, New Jersey, would be located in the same town as Princeton University, also in Princeton, New Jersey, but today I discovered that fun piece of information. Dana picked us up early enough to head on out there and have breakfast together. We had enough time to ride around and look at the campus. It is beautiful. For the most part it's exactly what I would have expected it to look like. So much history in this place. I think I got smarter just driving across campus.


Dana's baptism happened at the noon service, and it was absolutely perfect. I didn't find out until I got there that I was going to pray for her after she was baptized, but I was thrilled and honored to have the chance to do so. The service was really nice, and the baptism was at the end. Dana had videotaped her story, and it was incredibly moving. She had a lot of family and friends who came to support her, which was a really wonderful thing. I was so proud of her!
Afterwards we had lunch with Dana's sister's family, her brother and a good friend. It was a bit chaotic with 5 kids, but for the most part they did really well. I haven't been to P.F. Chang's since I got sick there during my last pregnancy, so it was good to learn that I can eat it again.

Dana's nieces are the same ages as Brad and Bailey, and her nephew is six. They hit it off really well. Bailey and Brielle are both animal and bug enthusiasts, so they had some common ground right off the bat.
Afterwards we headed back to Dana's condo. My kids were thrilled with Rudy and Clarice, and even learned how you walk dogs in a high-rise condo!


This is on the 6th floor of the building, and it's carpet that magically washes itself twice a day. How crazy is that? You still have to scoop, though. I guess technology can only go so far for now.
Before heading back to the city, Dana drove us through a Christmas light show that the kids loved. Bryant would have loved it so much. I'm starting to miss him a bit, I think. But not too much. We still have one very full day to fill tomorrow, starting at 5:00 when we have to get up and get ready to go to GMA. Hopefully we'll see you all across the airwaves in the morning!

New York Day 3

We sort of slept in a bit this morning, but it was much needed rest. We didn't wake up until 8:00, which was kind of a late start to get ready, eat breakfast and get down to Battery Park for our 10:00 Statue of Liberty reservations. But the kids were thrilled to have their first ride on a subway, even if we did get on headed uptown versus downtown and have to make a slight out-of-the-way trip to 66th Avenue. No big deal, it turned out. Our 10:00 time was just a time to get in line, and apparently getting there at 10:20 didn't do anything to mess us up.
Wasn't it too cold to ride on top, you ask? Yes. Yes, it was. Thank you, Lord, for long underwear.
But the view was totally worth it...
I don't even know what to say about this one.
This is as high as you can go up since 9-11. We climbed 153 steps to look up Lady Liberty's dress. A bit disturbing.

This sweet park ranger is the one who let us in to the monument, even though our ticket apparently didn't cover that part. I think he has a bit of a soft spot for kids. Putting him at the security entrance was kind of like having a golden retriever for a guard dog. But he was a talker and spent a few minutes telling my kids to make him proud, because they were his future. He was delightful.
If you've ever wondered what the statue looks like on the inside, this is looking straight up to the top from the inside stairwell.
The place was so swarming with people that there was nowhere inside to eat our very processed and over-priced lunch. It's really, really hard to dip french fries in ketchup wearing gloves. I never knew that until today.
This was our view of the Lady as we departed. This time we were smart enough to ride inside. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea. We were crammed in that ferry like cattle. Or perhaps one tired, huddled mass of people, yearning to be free...
Dana came to meet us for dinner tonight, and since there was a slightly important football game on, we hunted for a place where we could catch it. We ended up at a place with MASSIVE big screens and sat right down towards the end of the second quarter. It was bizarre how easy it was. Perhaps NYC at Christmastime truly is magical. Not magical enough to pull off a win against Florida, but who couldn't have been proud of the Tide tonight?

Afterwards, we walked over a couple of blocks to Rockefeller Center to see the tree at night. Us and about 50,000 other people.
Even with all the folks, it was still a beautiful sight to behold.


And as we were walking back, it began to snow little tiny diamonds from the sky. Picture perfect.
Tomorrow comes the reason for our trip. My beautiful friend will publicly profess her decision to follow Christ by being baptized in front of her family and friends. I'm so proud of you, Dana. I'm so grateful that God granted me the privilege of watching Him draw you to Him. It's been such an unbelievable honor to walk alongside you on this journey of faith. Love you, friend. :)

Pics from Day 2

I'm so tired, but had to post a few pics from today. This morning after we got up, we walked down to Times Square to see if we could see anything through the GMA window. This is how close our zoom could get to Robin...However, I just found out that a friend was able to get us inside the studio for Monday morning, so look for us! It might be hard getting the kids there at 6:15, but should be a fun experience anyway. Thank God this isn't the week of Britney Spears' birthday bash...
After a breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts, we headed to M&M world, where much fun was to be had. Jeff's mom would have been in utter heaven!

They each got to pick a half-pound of whatever color they wanted. Far too many choices, so little time.

Next it was off to Toys 'R Us, where riding the ferris wheel was the first order of business. They were old enough to ride solo, but I was secretly delighted when they were put in a car with a grown-up!
Lunch was pizza...

Then on to Bloomingdale's to begin our walking tour of store windows. My favorite was Saks 5th Avenue, but these were really cool too.
Here's my babies making a charitable donation. They want to give at every single bucket. It truly warms my heart, even though I know it's kind of just a game for them. The Salvation Army folks don't play around up here, though. They're singing, playing instruments, talking into microphones doing a kind of auction-type thing. It's a lot better than that dang bell!
This is outside the Disney store. We went in for all of about 3 minutes until my cloud claustrophobia kicked in and we made a quick exit!
Next we wandered over to Rockefeller Plaza to check out the tree and ice skating rink. They are so excited about skating at Central Park tomorrow!

After a brief rest at the hotel, we headed back to Bubba Gump for dinner. We figured if we went early and then came back and dressed for the show we'd be able to get in easier, and we were right! We breezed in about 5:00 and got the perfect table right by the window, direction across from ABC. It was sweet!
As was our Alabama Mud Pie. If I hadn't walked about 15 miles today, I might need to be concerned about my calorie intake so far this trip...
There are some random red stairs in the middle of Times Square, and I'm not really sure what they're there for except they make a great place to climb up and take pictures. New Year's Eve, perhaps?

And the cherry on top of the sundae of our day was Mary Poppins. There are not enough words to describe how much I love, loved this show! It has to be in my top 5 all-time favorites. Absolutely spectacular! I think I loved it even more than the kids. If TPAC brings this, it would be worth renewing my season tickets just to see this one show.
To sum up this day in a word... Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious!