November in New York

It never ceases to amaze me how much there is to do in New York City! November has been no exception. Here's an overview of our month:

First off, a kind of crazy day. The girls and I headed to the NY Historical Society's grand opening of their children's museum. We met up with some friends who luckily had been there long enough to know that it was too crowded and geared towards older kids, so we didn't go in. We decided to head to Central Park to enjoy the beautiful fall leaves. Just after crossing the street, Hannah got BIT BY A DOG!! I was terrified when she jerked back as I was holding her hand, and I looked back to see her hand in a Golden Retriever's mouth! She had been carrying a bagel, and the dog had jumped out from behind a garbage can to grab her food. I knew everything was probably OK when Hannah just kept yelling, "He ate my bagel!" There was a little scratch on her thumb and a bruise on the back of her hand, but everything turned out OK. Then the Park was so freezing that we walked around just long enough to get frozen hands and pink noses. To improve the day, we stopped by Levain for some cookies, and then I took Hannah to the Hayden Planetarium so she wouldn't remember just bad things about the day!
Hannah loves to make Abbie smile. Here was a very successful attempt!I hosted playgroup just before Thanksgiving, so luckily the holiday events were starting up. We went to storytime at the Schwarzman (Ghostbuster) Library and then walked around Bryant Park. The kids loved watching the skaters, then we walked around the shops for free samples, and snacked on amazing waffles with speculoos at Wafles and Dinges. Yum!!
My sister-in-law Kristi works for Madison Square Garden and was able to get a bunch of free tickets to the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall!! We invited our friends the Farnsworths and the Arnetts to join us. We just wished that James' seat didn't remain empty next to me the whole time as he was stuck at work :( The kids LOVED the show! The live nativity (with real camels and sheep) was amazing, and the toy soldier routine was our favorite Rockettes performance (especially when they slowly fell down like dominoes!).
Beaver and Brittany came into town the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was SO fun to see them! We met them at the 9/11 Memorial (our first time out there); the waterfalls were beautiful! What a great tribute to those that lost their lives.
The Monday before Thanksgiving, I met up with my friends Erin and Courtney and their kids so we could visit the Disney Store and Toys R Us before the crazy after-Thanksgiving crowds. The girls loved the princess area in the Disney Store, especially the magic mirror.
At Toys R Us, the kids rode on the giant ferris wheel with Erin. Hannah talked all day about "riding so high in Tato Head!"
Since I was cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, and I knew we wouldn't make it to the Macy's Day Parade, I took the girls to the balloon inflation event around the Natural History Museum. Hannah and the Barrand boys loved seeing the balloon character, especially when they were in the act of being blown up. It made it all worth the cold temps when we were watching the parade on the computer the next day, and Hannah kept talking about how she had seen the balloons!


Our Thanksgiving decorations were lots of fun to make. We did a felt leaf garland with embroidery stitching and a Thankful Tree. Hannah decorated leaves to illustrate what she was thankful for. This is what she told me they meant: my family, my cousins, my friends, Daddy giving me blessings on my head, a cow, and two cows!Thanksgiving dinner was at our place, and we were so fortunate to have Jordan & Kristi and Grant, Catherine, Belle, & Gabe Smith join us! The food was excellent and the company was even better! So thankful for wonderful family and friends!