Estes Family Corner: New York, New York... Twice!

How many kids do you know who have been on a plane 15 times, visited Texas, Florida and New York City all before their second birthday? Well, add Michael James to that small list - a lucky boy and I hope this blog serves as a reminder to him in the years to come of all the amazing adventures he's had and will have.

I digress...

When I said New York, New York ... Twice! I meant it. I had an opportunity to go to NYC for a conference for work and it happened to be the weekend before Deborah's NYC graduation when we had all planned to go as a family. Not the best timing but David and I flew through Dallas; dropped Michael off with his Auggie, Poppy and Auntie Deborah for the weekend; and off we went for a mini-vaca. We caught up with friends, visited some old "haunts," saw some new things and had a wonderful time. Here are a few pics from our first of two weekends in the Big Apple:

We passed the skyscraper where I started my first job at Sloane & Company - who I am forever thankful for as they provided me the opportunity to fulfill my dream of living in NYC.

David and I bought tickets to "Annie" on Broadway, featuring Jane Lynch. Fun show and great seats (love the TKTS booth's 50% discount)

Here's the nearly complete "Freedom Tower" to replace the World Trade Center twin towers - it is VERY tall and spectacular to look at.

David and I were lucky enough to reserve tickets in advance for the 9/11 Memorial. The museum portion isn't open yet, but the gardens are. Here you can view the magnificent waterfalls that fill the holes of where the twin towers once stood. And all around them are names of the victims of the 9/11 tragedy. Beautiful yet somber experience.

Now, the whole time David and I were enjoying New York, my stomach hurt thinking about how much Michael must be missing us. How I had abandoned him and questioning if I should Facetime him while I was gone ... Dramatic, yes I know.

Well, boy was I wrong ... let's just say he'll go to Auggie and Poppy's house anytime. Here's some pics to highlight the fun he had:

He swam in the pool a lot and LOVED it (thank goodness).

My Mom and Dad introduced him to the library. If I haven't made it clear time and time again in this blog, my son is obsessed with books. So, my Mom said that when they walked into the library, he squeeled with excitement and ran towards the sea of books. Littleton Library, here we come...

He LOVED "driving" Auggie's car... like father like son

He got to wear Poppy's shoes and be a "big boy."

Thought the pool was pretty cool? Me too, but Auggie and Poppy introduced him to a water park too! Glad he's getting exposure to water and enjoying it.

He loves to feed the horsies (yea no horsies in the pic but c'mon, what a cute shot?!).

Okay okay so he didn't miss me as much as I was hoping, but I'm thrilled he had so much fun in Grapevine.

Fast forward a few days (literally) and we went back to NYC as a family for Deborah Kaye's graduation ceremony. Did I mention that the little girl that used to wear tights on her head, a tutu, a baton and a fur jacket around our neighborhood is a doctor of veterinarian medicine?! I am so unbelievably proud of my little sister and am so honored to have been a part of her Lincoln Center ceremony.

Ok, I know - tears ... back to NYC. First off I can't believe I've gotten Michael back into a car seat after this trip. He had the time of his life when he got to ride on our laps in taxi cabs - and when I say laps, hardly ... more like sticking his head out the window to say hi to every car that we whizzed by OR practically climbing through the middle window. The taxi drivers got a kick out of it and so did we:

And yes we sat on the subway too. Well, most of us sat but some of us, (cough, cough) HAD to stand like the big kids. Yep, Michael James got plenty of laughs, smiles and even some video taken from real New Yorkers when he showed them how riding a subway was really done.

He also got a chance to finally meet my Uncle Kenneth (affectionately known as "Kent" since I was Michael's age) and he latched on pretty quick to Kent which was so nice to see. And yes, I mean "latched"

He held Kent's hand forever - he NEVER does that ...

And let's not forget about Deborah. We had some funny family fails as we attempted to be the loudest family in the audotorium but only my Mom's voice stood out. I won't embarrass her but for laughs, "NOW ... 4" does not count as a countdown.

And we made sure FAO Schwartz was on the list of things to do too - think Tom Hanks in the movie BIG and remember Michael's fascination with books? Yea, FAO has a whole section dedicated to them.

He got to stomp around the big piano like the one Tom Hanks played in BIG.

I could go on and on, but let's just say we had a wonderful time in NYC - both times! And I can't wait to bring Michael back to experience the wonders of the city for years to come. Here are a few closing pictures of his first time in the city.

The Boston Red Sox?! Aren't we in NYC? Yes, Dad (aka Poppy) likes to stir the pot. But don't worry I wore my Yankees hat to represent.

Fearless - in fact, other parents were using Michael as an example to their much older children "look at that little baby, he can feed the goats, why can't you ..." awkward...