It's safe to say that we utilized every single second of her trip to our advantage. In a way, I was treating it as an extension of my birthday celebration. I even shoved her out the door that very first night; just a tired mom of two and a pregnant girl out on the town - thrilling! First I took her straight to Lincoln Center and we ate sister-sister enchilada meals from Rosa Mexicano. I know, I know, bring her all the way from Texas and serve her Mexican food, but it made it feel like old times, except I was the only one drinking a margarita. She is a huge aficianado of restaurants with ambiance, so I knew she would not be disappointed.
Next, we headed downtown on the number 1 train and walked over to Rockefeller Center. As we walked along the streets she noticed the vast difference between the Upper West Side and the area near Times Square. This was more what she pictured New York to be. Three hours in and she has already taken a plane, taxi, train and walked the NYC streets. There is a certain energy as you move further downtown - streets are more crowded, people seem to be walking faster.
It was so much fun seeing the Christmas sights for the first time with her. With two little ones, it is not exactly easy to have a nightlife! On the way to Rockefeller Center you pass Radio City Music Hall on 50th Street. There is a giant tree in front of the theater and this is where the Rockettes perform in the Christmas Spectacular show. Apparently, everything we were doing was very "New York Christmas" and I was soaking it up. A few blocks later and we were at the famous tree and ice skating rink. The tree was gloriously tall and the streets were essentially bustling for all intents and purposes. I think we were reenacting scenes from the song Silver Bells: "City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style, in the air there's a feeling of Christmas." There literally WAS a feeling in the air! Even the street vendors were blasting Christmas music on their radios and at Rockefeller there was spontaneous caroling going on.
As we took selfies and craned our necks to see the very top of the tree, we walked around to see what I will describe as the walk of angels. Christmas angels line the paths headed to both the tree and the ice skating rink. When the space began to feel overly congested, we headed over to witness the Christmas lights in front of Saks 5th Avenue. I had no idea we would be surprised with a lights show on the building. It was truly breathtaking, as Carol of the Bells is blasting through the speakers, you can just stand across the street and get a front row seat to the show. Apparently, we were not actually that special, because I think it plays every 20 minutes this time of year, but it still made for a memorable and festive experience.
The next day, Meredith and I took Scarlett to an adorable little restaurant called Alice's Tea Cup. It is self-described as a whimsical tea house, and children are given fairy wings and sprinkled with "fairy dust" upon arrival. It was endearing watching Scarlett enchanted with the process, getting to drink water from a glass tea cup and order a purple frosted cupcake. Of course, monitoring the tea cup was probably the main theme of the meal, but it was all worth it to see her eyes light up and little hands carefully cradle the tea cup. The age of three is a wonderful time when you can begin to actually take a child somewhere without constantly worrying about having to use about one thousand napkins and bring special water cups and bibs with you in your purse.
Later in the day, we decided to venture out to Central Park's Wollman Rink. This experience, while photo-worthy was not quite as pleasant. We took the whole gang along, and unbeknownst to me, Savannah was starting to get a bad cold on top of teething (getting her molars - no fun at all). Mind you, she did have a tantrum worthy of any two-year-old in front of countless spectators at the rink - back-arching, sobbing, mindless running around - SO MUCH FUN - good thing there was absolutely nowhere to sit.
However, despite all of that, Scarlett had fun trying to ice skate with her Daddy and looked pretty cute doing it, too. Savannah and Trey had to leave early, leaving Meredith and I with Scarlett and a half-empty double stroller. On the way home, a random girl on the subway had the nerve to whisper a comment about "it's a free country" (regarding the stroller) and I quickly nipped that in the bud. After the night we had had, I had a zero tolerance policy on sarcasm from strangers. In restrospect, I can see what a fun time this rink might be with a group of adults and no toddlers, maybe even a non-sick baby during the day. Alas, we try to do too much, but I have to applaud us for trying anyway!
The main event of the weekend had to be seeing the Nutcracker, which I consider a family tradition, with my sister. Once a dancer, always a dancer, as we dreamed of our dance past lives...sigh. The David H. Koch theater is truly a beautiful venue and you really can see the stage from every seat. However, this did not help the fact that about fifteen minutes in, two extremely large boys (they looked about 18) sat down in front of us. Isn't that always the case? What in the world were they doing there??? We kept giggling about it because they looked like two high school football players, complete with North Face jackets, jeans, and buzz haircuts. But to quote my subway heckler, it is a free country. Maybe they like the ballet? Maybe they were enriching their cultural lives?
Sadly, all good things must come to and end, and the exact afternoon Mere left, Trey also left on a business trip...and the girls started getting really sick. Having sick children in a two-bedroom apartment is no joke. Between keeping things sanitary, children occupied, medicated, entertained, I was ready to have a break. Sickness gets in the way of everything, especially this time of year - parties, church services, activities we want to do. However, our main focus had to be getting them well, and the extra cuddles don't hurt from my little sickies! I just all hope we can stay well enough to get home for Christmas. I will be ready for family time, central A/C, garbage disposals, driving, and a little southern hospitality so I can brave the Spring in NYC.
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