NYC trip [very belated post!]

Frank and I spent a whirlwind two days/two nights in New York City this week on an impromptu adults-only vacation.  We got super cheap plane tickets on Southwest, so we decided to go for it.  Frank and I have both been to NYC several times, but we have never been together, and neither of us had been in several years.  We stayed at a nice boutique hotel called the Library which was really conveniently located and had a lot of great amenities, including a wine/cheese cocktail hour, complimentary breakfast, and amazing coffee/lattes available all day.  Our first day we just enjoyed exploring the city, strolling from Bryant Park all along Fifth Avenue, shopping, drinking coffee, and enjoying our time together.  We took a carriage ride through Central Park, saw the big tree in Rockefeller Center, and took in all the amazing decorations at Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, and other NYC stores.  That night we met up with Frank's sister Ariela and enjoyed a nice italian dinner.  The next day we woke up bright and early (no relaxing on this trip!) and headed to Battery Park to catch a ferry out to the Statue of Liberty!  This was on Frank's bucket list, and I was excited to share the experience with him, even though I had already been there once as a child.  We enjoyed the ferry ride and our time with Lady Liberty before heading over to Ellis Island and exploring the immigration museum.  I will be honest, I was about history-ed out at this point, but Frank really wanted to explore the whole museum so we stuck around for quite awhile before heading back to Manhattan.  We were STARVING when we returned, so we found a little cafe and enjoyed some delicious NY pizza.  We strolled along Wall Street before making our way to the 9/11 museum and memorial.  I was actually in NYC on 9/10, the day before the 9/11 attacks, with one of my ex-boyfriends, and neither Frank nor I had been to ground zero since the 9/11 attacks.  Frank was very emotional at the memorial and did not even want to go in the museum, but I convinced him to go, and I am so glad we did.  It was a wonderful museum - probably the best museum I have ever been to.  I loved the way it was laid out, and it was really cool (although also very emotional) to re-live that day.  We went out to a big fancy dinner at Tavern on the Green and had one of the best meals of our lives.  It was a gorgeous restaurant, and it was so pretty all decked out for Christmas.  We really had a wonderful trip!  It was great to take time to reconnect with my sweetheart.

The sweetest day

I am so far behind on blogging, and it is hard to pick it back up when there is so much I haven't written about!  Frank and I took a quick trip to NYC in December, and it was GREAT to get away for a few nights without the kids.  Kiersten watched them for us, and it was wonderful.  Speaking of Kiersten, she has been out of town for the last few days, and we have missed her so much.  She does so much more than just watch our kids.  She is really a positive influence in their lives, and she does so much to help out around the house.  As I was folding 5 loads of laundry over the weekend, I quickly realized how blessed we are to have her help!

December came and went with tons of Christmas-related activities including a trip on the Polar Express with Rylie and Allison, a night at the famous Arlington neighborhood Christmas lights (never again!), and hosting my family for Christmas.  We had a wonderful holiday season!

We have just completed three really big home improvement projects, and we are thrilled with the results.  We replaced all of our windows, painted the exterior of the house, and replaced all of the plantation shutters.  The windows were an enormous headache, but we are so happy they are done!  We are planning several more projects for this year including painting the upstairs interior, new doors, updating the wood room fireplace, new drapes for the master bedroom, replacing part of our fence, fixing our drainage issue, and doing some major landscaping projects in the back yard.  I love our house, but it is so nice to feel like we are updating it and making it ours.

January flew by with trips to the zoo, the Kimball art museum in Fort Worth, and the McKinney Heard conservatory to see the dinosaurs!  We enjoyed a lot of time outside in the unseasonably warm weather and spent a lot of quality time together as a family.  I have been very slow at work the last couple of months, so it has been nice to relax and work less and play more.

Yesterday I took off work because Kiersten was out of town and my mom was not able to come watch the kids (she came up last week to help out on Thursday and Friday but was not able to stay all weekend).  I dropped Frankie off to school at 9:00 and then got to spend a wonderful day with my sweet girl.  We played Candy Land approximately 20 times, and she loved it.  She doesn't care if she wins or I win, she just loves to play - so different from her brother, who has a hissy fit if he does not win.  Then we read about 10 books up in her room and played with her stuffed friends.  I took her to her gym class, and she did so great!  She is really fearless, and she was always the first one to volunteer to work on new skills.  After gym we went to Central Market for a mommy daughter lunch date, play time on the play ground, and a little grocery shopping.  By the time we got home, it was time to head up to White's chapel to pick Frankie up.  During our day together, Lily did not cry, whine, or yell.  She did not complain.  She gave tons of hugs and kisses.  It was THE sweetest day.