NYC Days 2 & 3: Into the night

12.17.2012

Before I share more about our trip to NYC, I would be remiss if I didn't express the pain I feel for all of the families affected by the tragedy in Connecticut.  I can't imagine the enormous loss they must be experiencing right now.  Death is never easy, even when you're prepared for it.  To have your loved one taken from you without the chance to say good bye?  Well, the hurt goes deeper still.  

Tragedies like this, and Gina's death, continue to remind me that my most important goal as a photographer is to capture the every day moments.  As I've said before, most of our lives are made up of these ordinary moments.  Don't let them slip by without documenting them.  Stop what you're doing and grab your camera.  You'll see in the images I'm sharing in this post that, while some of them scream Big Apple, some of them are quite ordinary.  And I couldn't tell the whole story if I didn't include those small, simple ordinary moments too.

Now on to the photos, which are a mix of big girl camera and iPhone shots.  Last time we went to NYC, we kept things low key at night because Madeline was only 2 1/2 years old.  Being that she's 4 1/2 now, we thought we would attempt some night time entertainment.  That meant keeping things low key during the day.  So the dumplings played with their stuffed animals and watched movies on the iPad.  

I had every intention of doing a wee bit of school like we did last time we visited the Big Apple, but the excitement in the air kept this teacher from focusing! lol

Since we missed seeing the tree at Rockefeller Center the night before, we decided to head over there on the second night.  It was a pretty short walk from our hotel.





I snapped this quick shot of Patrick with the kids on my iPhone.
And then Baba insisted  I pull my big girl camera back out of my bag so he could play photographer and snap a shot of me with the dumplings. Looks like I'll be turning him into a photographer sooner rather than later.
We love eating at Wu Liang Ye for dinner when we visit the tree at dinner time because it's simply delicious Chinese food.  After we finished up dinner, we headed back to our hotel room to freshen up.

And then we walked right back out the door and across the street to the Minskoff Theatre to see The Lion King!


We absolutely loved it!  And I was impressed with how well behaved Madeline was during the show!  She really listened carefully and kept quiet throughout the performance.  I was shocked. lol.  She's always so loud.  The costumes were incredible.  The only downer for me was that the character's lines were too similar to the movie.  It was a little bit different than the movie but not by much.  Oh well.  It was still a winner.

So, as I mentioned earlier, we really thought Caleb was going to lose his top left tooth.  So I snapped this shot of his "old smile" one last time, or so I thought.
Day 3 went on like Day 2....very low key during the day.  Then when Patrick finished up his meeting (oh, I think I failed to mention this part yet; Patrick was in meetings all day), he wanted to head back over to the tree because his iPhone had died the day before, and he wasn't able to capture a photo of the kids in front of the tree.  So we headed back there again....this time in the rain.

We passed by the Fox News Studio as we headed back over to Rockefeller Center.  That's Bob Beckel in the suspenders, and Dana Perino is the blonde to his left.
And since it was still raining, I snapped the dumplings in front of the tree with my iPhone too.
It continued to rain as we tried to catch a cab on our way to the Upper WestSide, but we had no luck, with the cab or the rain.
We stopped to get Caleb a pretzel to hold him over until dinner.  Unfortunately, it was like a hockey puck.
Well, we weren't just going to stand there in the rain and hope to eventually catch a cab during rush hour.  So we walked all. the. way from Midtown up to Lincoln Center in the Upper West Side.  Well, three of us walked..in the rain.  Patrick carried Madeline, and Caleb was a trooper.  We planned on grabbing dinner around there and were thankful that Bar Boulud had a table for us!  I was thankful that the food was delicious...and the atmosphere was loud!  Great.  Madeline fit right in.  I'm beginning to think she was made for the city. lol.  Anyway, after dinner we headed over to Lincoln Center to catch George Balanchine's The Nutcracker! 

By intermission the kids were exhausted, and I wasn't sure if they were going to make it through Act II.  But they perked right up.  Every time Madeline saw a costume she adored, she whispered in my ear that she wanted it.  It was so precious.  Caleb remarked that he liked baseball more than ballet.  lol. He was a good sport.  He did enjoy the storyline; it was just too much dancing for him.  Again, Madeline really surprised me with how well she behaved.  Madeline does not know volume control very well at all.  She's on or off.  So I was so impressed that she actually whispered!!! lol.  Anyway, we truly had a lovely time at the ballet.

And to top off the night, I got to meet up with an old friend from childhood, Alex, and his beautiful and sweet wife, Ileana.  Alex and I went to summer camp together as teens.  We all used to sit around the piano at night as he played song after song, mostly Billy Joel.  We called him our own Piano Man.

We knew back then that Alex was a pretty talented musician, and we had no doubt that he would make it big in the industry.  Well, twenty years later finds him quite accomplished on Broadway. He's won Tony's and Grammy's for his work on In The Heights, and other recent works include Bring It On and Wicked.  Oh, and he's also played for the President, as in President Obama.  Not bad, eh?  We knew he would make it someday, and boy, has he made it.  We're so proud of ya, Alex!

And our trip didn't end there.  We had one more big day in the city!  Stay tuned for lots more photos.  I told ya I took a bunch!

8 sweet words:

Unknown Monday, December 17, 2012  

Oh I love these photos. Night photos in the city are some of my very favorite - and NYC is an amazing place for that. Love that you had some yummy Chinese food and saw great shows. Will you laugh when I tell you that I cried at the opening scene of the Lion King? And I wasn't even pregnant - this was years ago and there is really no excuse other than my own crazy emotionalism. Glad to hear that you all enjoyed your time in the big city!! And, couldn't agree more about capturing the "ordinary" moments in photos. Truly, I feel there are no photos more worth having. xoxo

Fannie Monday, December 17, 2012  

Your pics are great!! I used to take so many around here (i live in brooklyn) but I've stopped over time... I am inspired to head out and capture one more winter in the city since we will be moving away this summer. :) What a great experience for the kids to experience NY during the holidays! :)

Melissa Monday, December 17, 2012  

As usual your pictures are so beautiful. What wonderful memories you are making for your family.

Deb Monday, December 17, 2012  

Love these photos, sis! I am especially jealous of the ones with Alex!!! I am so glad that you all had such an amazing time. Can't wait to see the rest of the photos!

Kim Cunningham Thursday, December 20, 2012  

So fun! I love NYC! Would love to go during Christmas with my kids. So much to see and do. Looks like a great time.

I so agree about capturing our babies! It's been a heartbreaking week.

Jancy Thursday, December 20, 2012  

I loved reading everything but my favorite parts were that your 4 1/2 year old is probably the same as my 4 1/2 year old, they are both loud. Must be a March thing :-) and Caleb saying he liked baseball better than ballet.PRICELESS!!!!!

lisacng Wednesday, December 26, 2012  

Love the photo of Caleb in front of the fountain with the giant ornaments. Great lighting/glow in the lights and exposure on him :). Aw, even cuter with both Caleb and Madeline! And I'm so jealous you saw Lion King. I've always wanted to!

michele Friday, December 28, 2012  

Great pictures, love the black and white ones. Glad you all had a good time in NYC, even though it was so crowded! You all did a lot in a short time, loads of fun!
See you all soon, miss you guys already!
Lydia sends hugs to her cousins!!
Sending all our love!
Michele

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About This Blog

This blog is a place where we have shared our lives with family and friends while we waited to bring our daughter, Madeline, home from China and while we actually traveled to China for her. It is also a place where we will continue to share our life experiences, as we try to glorify God and raise our two precious dumplings from China.

And now we wait to bring Havi home from China.

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