photo friday: home sweet home
Traveling has been on the back burner for some time now. I haven’t been out of town since January, when we went to High Falls State Park. In the past, there have been months when we would only be home for a handful of days. But those days are behind us. And I’ve run out
photo friday: high falls state park
As with MLK weekend 2014, we headed to a yurt at High Falls State Park. Not far from Atlanta, the park makes a perfect weekend getaway. The yurts are a comfortable home-away-from-home for a weekend. With heat, lights and electricity, we were comfortable (I remembered to bring my coffee pot….no going out in the cold
photo friday: union square and beyond
On the finaly day of our Thanksgiving week in NYC, we went shopping, breaking my “Buy Nothing Day” rules. First stop was the holiday market at Union Square, then on to Forbidden Planet and The Strand. We then wandered down to Washington Square Park and SoHo before heading back to Brooklyn and JFK.
photo friday: macy’s thanksgiving day parade
And finally! The reason I decided we should take at least one trip to NYC over Thanksgiving …. the parade!! We got up early, very early. And dressed warmly. And headed to the subway to get to the UWS near Tavern on the Green. Just as we arrived at Central Park West, a gate was
photo friday: on broadway
After our leisurely lunch at Tavern on the Green, we headed (in the snow!) down to Broadway. Over everything else playing, the girls had chosen It’s Only A Play. Chloe would probably have enjoyed a musical more, but Camille appreciated the play within a play. And both girls were happy to see Rupert Grint perform
photo friday: ellis island
The ferry to Liberty Island also includes a stop at Ellis Island. At one point, both of my girls were interested in immigration, but not so much any more. I think we all used all of our enthusiasm up at Liberty Island. We enjoyed seeing Ellis Island, but we didn’t spend much time there. Camille
photo friday: statue of liberty
In the very early stages of planning, one of the first things I did was to book tickets to go to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. I had been trying to take the girls to the Statue for years, but something always got in the way, whether construction or Hurricane Sandy. The tickets
photo friday: times square to grand central station
After our morning and afternoon in Rockefeller Center, window shopping and at Radio City Music Hall, we then headed down towards Times Square so Camille could have a chance to visit Midtown Comics. The rest of the evening was spent walking back and forth from Bryant Park to Grand Central as we picked Camille’s friend
photo friday: radio city music hall
As our trip approach, I thought I covered just about anything I might want to do with the kids on our big “Thanksgiving trip to NYC”. But then I realized I had forgotten one big thing — the Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular! Luckily, there were plenty of tickets left and a showtime that worked for our
photo friday: window shopping in nyc
After skating and breakfast at Rockefeller Center and then at various times during the day, we had a hour or two to spend. We spent it window shopping. Some time in the Nintendo store playing. Some time at American Girl reminiscing. Some time at the Lego store adding to the wish list. And time at
photo friday: skating at rockefeller center
While planning our Thanksgiving week in New York City, I thought it might be fun for the girls to get a chance to skate at Rockefeller Center. The idea of standing in a line to do so was not attractive to me, so instead I signed us up for the Perfect Start. The pakcage included
needle ice
With my Friday morning conference call ending early, Phelix and I headed out to Arabia ahead of plan. With our rush to leave, I neglected to check the weather for the day. I just threw on my usual: Keens (no socks), jeans, a turtleneck and a sweatshirt. When we arrived, Poppy reported that the temperature
photo friday: prospect park
After an earlier morning flight from ATL to LGA and a short taxi ride to Prospect Heights, we dropped our bags at our home away from home for the next few days. As it wasn’t quite ready for us, I managed to drag the family right back out for our first adventure. Being a lovely
photo friday: national zoo
It is rare that we make a trip to DC and skip the zoo, not even for bad weather. In the past few years, we’ve certainly been there more often than our own zoo here in Atlanta. I think Chloe’s favorite place on earth is the reptile house at the National Zoo; I can’t tell
photo friday: u.s. capitol
Since we haven’t been to the Capitol for years, not since before the opening of the new Visitor’s Center, I though we’d squeeze in a Capitol tour as well. While the same aide that got us tickets to the White House got us tickets to the Capitol, he reserved them before we knew when the
baby steps.
Leave it to me to choose the coldest day so far this winter to go on my first “long walk”. Part of my Energy and Empowerment year is to go on a weekly long walk. Sometimes in the woods, sometimes not. Sometimes with Phelix, sometimes not. To make it easy on myself, I decided that
photo friday: white house tour
Back when I was a kid, taking a tour of the White House was no more complicated than taking a tour of any other historic site. These days, planning ahead and being flexible are a must for a tour. Six months to 21-days before your trip (earlier is always better as tours fill up) you
photo friday: washington monument
Despite our quite numerous extended trips up to DC, especially the year that Rob had an apartment there, we never made it to the Washington Monument. To correct this neglectfulness, as soon as I arranged to hopefully have a White House tour, I booked tickets at the Washington Monument. And not a moment too soon.
photo friday: univesral studios
Although we spent the vast majority of our time on our short September break trip to Universal at Diagon Alley and our Cabana Bay Resort Hotel, we did visit the rest of the two Universal theme parks.
photo friday: diagon alley
Having loved our visits to Hogsmeade at Universal, the moment we heard about Diagon Alley opening, we put a trip on our plans. As with our past trips, we decided to go during the girls’ September break. The parks are at their least crowded since most of the rest of the country is just back
GBK Gwyneth