Big day in the city....

We started out our day with a some time at the apartment. I had to get some work done and the kids needed some rest. We wrote a couple post cards to the grandparents and sent them in the mail via the blue post office mailbox. The kids are not accustomed to this so it caused a bit of excitement.

Afterwards we went to get Christa's friend Maddie for a play date--she had a day off school today. NYC schools do not get out until the end of June. We got some pizza at Luigi's and went to the playground where we also got some Italian ice--yum!! Christa begs for Italian ice--I think she would live on it if I let her.

We got on the train and headed into the city.

Ryan was a walking subway map today with his subway shirt.

As you know, he is the subway expert.

We arrived at the 14th street and 8th ave stop where they have these great money art guys everywhere--we love them. Check out more about the artist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Underground

We headed down 8th ave to 15 street and went to House Productions for an audition for Christa.

 

After we finished with the audition, we got a crepe at the Chelsea Market which is next door and headed up to the Highline Park where we enjoyed the view, saw some great art in random places, and had some fun! Great park and there is a wonderful Children's book all about it

called the "Curious Garden". Maddie's class read the book and then took a fieldtrip there.

I love the schools up here!!!

We finished the Highline and made our way to the subway to avoid the rain storm that was coming. Ryan wanted to head to the Hudson for a walk but we took 9th ave instead. We should have taken the Hudson because we would have gotten to see a big cruise ship sailing out of the harbor. Instead we got to run into the angry fruit salesman who yelled at Ryan for asking if he had a trash can. We made it to the A C E line and headed up to 72nd street. We couldn't find the right train but we did find Maddie's new advertisement where she had to wear a mask of a middle aged man. Funny hah?

We made it to 72nd and walked to Alice's Tea Cup AGAIN--we can't help ourselves. It was so good and so much fun but we must stop and find new restaurants that we love. WE MUST!

After we ate, the girls talked me into taking a stroll through Central Park. They had to twist my arm but I finally surrendered especially considering I LOVE the park. We went to Strawberry Fields where the girls left a special present at the memorial, headed to the Fountain, listened to a beautiful cellist, played with bubbles, and then ended up at our favorite playground in the city.

We headed to the Columbus Circle subway station for our trip home just in time to see the sun setting over the Hudson River visible through the buildings and the city streets.

The sun was setting on another wonderful day in the big city!

busytown

This is the Campbell kids talking.We started our day out today Ryan woke up at 11:00 a.m. Christa woke up at 8:00a.m. First we had Cimmon Toast Crunch. It was NOT good said Ryan but Christa thought it was so-so.:{ Then we got reday to go to a adution. I praticed my lines and my brother did inprove and made us laugh.( of course). Yeah i`m a really funny guy by the way this is Ryan. This is Christa. So I then for lunch we had pizza and that was the chepast lunch yet. The was ittlan ice and I
wanted a scoop. my mom said"NO". I was sad.:( Next we went back home and packed our fun bags and set off to see the casting director the casting director of OZ. Hahaha! So we took the G to the A to 34th street Penn Station. We entertained ourselves on the train with silly subway faces. I look like a dead pig demon. When we got off the train we saw a beautifual mosaic that Christa liked becuase it had to do with acrobats and Christa wants to be one when she is older.

We got off the train and went to Macy's. Christa was excited but Ryan was like "OMG--NO MORE SHOPPING!!!" Ryan wished Tyler was with us so he didn't have to go shopping but he was patient. So we went in during a major renovation and then we had to use the side door and had to go down a weird hallway and then take 6 escalators just to get to the kids' department. On the way up we all overwhelmed by security who were all running up to the escalator yelling "OUT OF THE WAY!!!!" We were weirded out and Ryan thought there might be a nuke getting set off in Macy's but it was just a mad customer who throwing tables and breaking stuff and there was glass everywhere. Christa got a new dress, some socks, and some shoes. Here we are on the old Macy's escalator--I'm awesome and the escalator is wood and loves me. Ryan almost got kicked out of Macy's because he was hanging out while Christa and Mom were in the dressing room--security found him suspicious and said "Where are your folks????"

After we left Macy's we saw a street performer drumming and we got a great view of the Empire STate Building. WE went to Starbuck's and got Christa all ready for her audition which was like a circus act in the toilet trying to get off jeans and on a dress without touching the floor. Ryan was a  wonderful person and waited in a long line to get Christa and Mom a drink and did not get himself anything because he was afraid he would not have enough $$$$$.

Then we took the 6 train to Spring Street because we could not take the 4 or 5 because they are express trains. So we took the 6 and went to Spring but really should have gotten off at Canal--mom's mistake again. I don't make mistakes because I am the SUBWAY RA! Do you know who Ra is? I will never tell you so you have to google it. Muwahaha!!! Then we walked very fast to Christa's audition and Ryan had a cramp and a sore ankle and all I watned to do was sit down and kill some balloons on my kindle fire. Anyway we made it and here is a picture of her at her audition. Doesn't Christa look nice in her new dress????

After that we went to a playground in Chinatown/LES but I didn't play because I was being grumpy and tired so I sat with mom but even mom went and played with Christa. But I am still perfect. Don't you think so??? I am amazing.

Next, I got to pick the restaurant because I was really patient today and because it was my turn. WE were going to go out with our friends but we couldn't so I picked going to South Street Seaport to the Heartland Brewery. We had to go through Chinatown to get there and My mom got us this weird bubble drink with like weird bubble candy things in it that were disgusting. She liked it but we did not. She was confused which train to get on but the subway god and goddess showed her the way. But seriously Christa is not the subway goddess but I am just being nice here. We were flexing our subway muscles and looking for rats in the mysterious liquid by the tracks. More on that later.

We got off at Fulton street and Mom got a couple things at some shops but didn't get anything for us. Something about no nouns, just verbs--whatever that means. So then we finally made it to our dinner place in South Street Seaport at Heartland Brewery in Daddy's honor. We played I spy--WE spy with our little eye something green--can you spot it? But it in the comments section and you might win big!!!

It started to rain so we evacuated and headed to the train but we stopped for an ice cream on the way which was a tragedy of epic proportions. It dripped everywhere so I had to throw it away. Christa ate hers and was making this annoying slurping creepy noise the whole time that made my teeth itch like someone stratching the chalkboard. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! We took the A to the G and it was raining when we got out. WE used the umbrella for a while but when we gave up and just danced our way home in the rain which was way more fun. We realized all this beautiful rain would eventually turn into mysterious liquid so we were a little grossed out. Again, more on that later. Now it is time for us to go to bed so see you later. Mom says "GET TO BED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Big Day!!!

It was a big day for us here in the big city! We started out our day early which meant Ryan had to wake up before noon. He grumbled but was enthusiastic to head into the city. We started our day out like everyday heading out the door for a walk down Washington Ave. Ohhh, and it wasn't raining today--it was cool but at least not raining.

We took the G train to the A train to the 1 train and finally ended up on 72nd Street and Broadway--only a 30 minute train ride. We were close to Alice's Tea Cup so we stopped in for a quick tea and scone--yummy! We walked up Columbus Ave on the Upper West Side--this is my absolute favorite neighborhood in the entire city. I just love the buildings and the avenues and the proximity to Central Park as well as the cafes and the shops--this is my heaven on Earth! We walked up to 79th Street where we met up with Christa's new acting coach--Tanya Berezin. Check her out: http://www.tanyaberezin.com/index.html  We met in her home studio so we got to meet her cutie dog named Harriet. Ryan is chilling with Harriet on the coach at Tanya's.

Christa had an amazing lesson and feels super prepared for her big film audition on Wednesday. :-)

Afterwards, we walked up to 82nd street to go to our favorite Dosa restaurant called Hampton Chutney--a great yuppy place with a picture window where kids can sit and read books. It is a definite favorite of the family. You have to try the chutney--today the best one was the curry chutney. After lunch, walked to the subway and spotted some great art on the way. We took the train down to 50th street where we got to see one of my favorite subway mosaics. They are all over the city and add to the overall joy of taking the train.

After a bit of shopping......

We headed to the Discovery Museum in Times Square to see the new Spy Exhibit. It was GREAT! While there, we disguised ourselves like spies--I bet none of you can even tell the pictures below are of us. We got to see cool gadgets and learn about interesting stories. Very cool! Ryan wanted to let everyone know that he made it through the laser maze in 20 seconds with no hits.

We will head back to see the Terracotta Soldier exhibit that is also there.

 

As we made our way to the train to head home Christa had to use the restroom so we ended up at Pax Natural Foods and decided to stay for dinner. They made each of us our own choose your own salad. It was tasty and cheap which is nice!!! We took the train home and Christa made

a new friend on the train by sharing her wiki sticks.

The sweet little boy made each of them a pair of glasses to wear.

We headed back to the apartment where I worked the night away getting everything ready for the start of online summer school and the kids played together.

It was a big day, but a great one.

Life is good!

Good day, but yucky weather...

So I think we are at about Day 9 or something here. Today, we awoke to a continual rain and the realization that we did not pack an umbrella. Not even one! I got up and walked to the Associated Supermarket in the rain to buy 3 $2.99 umbrellas. There was no choice--just black and not very good quality but they stopped me from getting even more wet. Christa had an appt with her manager this morning--Dave at SGM--out in Jersey. Check them out: www.shirleygrant.com On our way to get the car from the very unattached garage (2 blocks away), we noticed the reason we didn't bring our bikes. :-)

It was nice to be in the car--it was warm and comfy but navigating in and out of the city is not something I enjoy at all. My GPS is broken so Christa was the navigator--wow is all I can say. We are lucky we made it. Christa had a great time at SGM and got some good tips on how to improve her craft. Afterwards, we made our way to Union City for a Toys R Us job--here is Christa at Union City Studios!

Ryan opted to stay home today and promised to answer the phone whenever I called but did not hear the phone ring the 12 times I called-12 times! We were hoping to go see the Cake Boss after the thing in Union City but had to rush home to check on Ryman. Once again, Christa was my nav system--yikes!! We finally made it home and found Ryan snuggled on the couch in his PJs--he had  a good day and enjoyed staying warm and cozy in our apartment. Next time he will go with us since he can't hear his phone ring. :-) We ended our day with a visit to one of our great neighborhood restaurants--Maggie Browns. Then we came home and got warm after a day of being out in the rain. We watched a movie and had a typical suburban evening but we could see the Empire State Building from our street if we wanted to so it made it a little more fabulous.

The weekend.....

Saturday June 2nd to Sunday June 3rd--

Congratulations to our niece Candace on her High School graduation--wow, we are so proud of what a wonderful young lady she has become. She is headed to Poland for the year next year on a Rotary Scholarship. To celebrate her big day, Christa and I took her to get her nails done. It was a nice treat for us too and certainly cheaper than in the city.

We headed home to finish up final party preparations and around 3 pm everyone started to arrive. It was the combined party of Candace and two of her friends so it was quite a good crowd and a lot of fun! Tyler's brother Christopher was there with us to celebrate as well as other family members and lots of friends.

Ryan was a bit overwhelmed by the crowd of people so he chilled in the basement vacillating between air hockey and guitar hero.

The party continued into the night and ended up with some festivities at nearby Coblestones. I happily stayed back with the kiddos as I was too tired to party on. Today, Sunday, we enjoyed some bagels from Big Apple Bagels (ahh the irony of having NYC bagels in York, PA while we are supposed to be in NYC).

We played Taboo and had some great family time before we had to leave to get back to the big city and get Michael to the airport.

We fought horrible traffic to return to the city. The congestion getting through Staten Island over the Verrazano Bridge was the worst I have seen it but we made it finally to LaGuardia at 7:31 pm and Michael's flight was leaving at 8:30 pm so just in time only to realize that his return flight was out of JFK not LaGuardia. There was no way we could get to JFK in time so the Delta representative put him on standy for the 10:20 pm flight. He had to relax at the airport for a while, but I am sure it was better than sitting in more traffic attempting to get to JFK.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend with family--we are missing one particular guy named Tyler. All of us are a little home sick for Daddy!