New York, New York!

| November 30, 2018

Yesterday I pulled Sam out of school (which is a shocking thing in and of itself because I never want to let her miss school). Why did she not go to school? Because we went to New York City! My mom and I have been talking for years about taking Sam to NY to see the Rockettes Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall. She always loved the DVD ever since she was little and we wanted her to see it in person. We thought if we didn’t go soon, we would never go, because that is usually how things are. She is definitely old enough to handle the trip and so I looked for a bus trip because, let’s be real, I am not driving to New York City! We settled on Starr Tours and off we went! The bus picked us up right near our house at the ungodly hour of 7:45. It was going to be a long day but we hoped it was worth it. The bus was comfortable and we settled in for the ride.

The first order of business when we got there was lunch. Our show tickets were for right after lunch time so we needed to eat before then or we’d be starving!

Next stop was to find the Rockefeller Plaza tree. I had no intention of going all over NY, so thankfully, it was nearby. I know nothing about NY or how to get around and if it wasn’t close, we weren’t seeing it. I am glad it was right next door just about because Sam loved it!

A bit of window shopping is always in order if you are in NY at Christmastime…

Finally, it was time to go! The line to get in stretched forever! I really half thought we wouldn’t get through the security and get to our seats before the show started, but we made it! Everyone at this show got Santa hats to wear, which made it extra fun.

The show was awesome! Some parts were just like we have seen on the video, and other parts new. Sam did like sort of being familiar with the parts coming up.

One of our favorite parts is when all the tin soldiers fall over. It was so great in person!

The whole show was really worth the trip. It was so much fun and so much bigger and more elaborate in person. Sam asked us right away if we could do it again next year so I guess she enjoyed it! After the show we had a few hours before getting picked up to go home and Sam spied something that I knew was in NY, but had no idea where it was.

Yup. The American Girl store, or the “AG Store” as Sam likes to call it. I told her we’d buy her something small, but NO DOLLS. She was pretty good and actually didn’t ask for much. We did stop and take her picture in front of the Samantha section, of course!

We pretty much had to drag her out of the store, but she had fun. It was fun taking her and I didn’t even have to take out a second mortgage before we left!

We were all so incredibly exhausted and still had about an hour before the bus left but had no energy left to roam so we just sat outside and people watched. This office building had a really cool display outside and for me and my mom, and comfortable wall to sit on! Sam had to ham it up for the camera, as usual.

Sam got bored from waiting so she asked if she could take some pictures. I really like some of the ones she took!

We didn’t get back to Springfield until around 9:00 p.m. and she was toast. The poor kiddo conked out on the way home, but she had a blast so it was worth it, 100%!

How I Got $140

| November 26, 2018

A while ago, I wrote about our trip to the bank to open Sam’s bank account. Well, the 3rd graders had a writing assignment where they had to tell a story about themselves and Sam wrote about her trip to the bank! Her principal Tweets a lot and she even Tweeted a pic of Sam and some of her classmates!

Our Cats Are Rockin’ Their Christmas Gear

| November 25, 2018

Everyone in our house is a bit Christmas crazy, even the cats! Sam must have dressed them up a million times. You can imagine how thrilled they were.

Zach is happier just chilling with the Santa hats. They make very snuggly blankets.

He loves to hang over the step and this was just too cute.

Sam’s bed is always covered in stuffed animals and each Christmas she drags out all the Christmas ones. Since Zach is always cuddled up sleeping with her stuffies, he had to try these out too. Sam really loves that about him. I think the fact that he loves stuffed animals as much as she does makes them a special pair. Every stuffed animal has to get shown to him for his “approval”. If he hugs it, it’s ok, and if not, well, poor stuffie gets chucked off the bed. If you are not Zachy approved, you go!

It’s Tree Time!

| November 24, 2018

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s tree time! Everyone in our house was excited to finally put the tree up, especially the cats. Well, mostly Penny.

Sam dressed her up in a Christmas outfit and Penny jumped right into the tree. Does she think she’s an ornament?

Usually, the star is the last thing to go on the tree after we decorate it, but Sam made us a custom star (out of aluminum foil) and insisted we put it up first thing. I have no idea why she made it, but ok. Why not?

It seemed to take longer than usual to decorate this year mostly because instead of hanging ornaments, Sam was messing around, mostly with poor Zach and Penny.

Sam loves all of our Shutterfly ornaments and the one with her Poppy went right near the front of the tree.

Sam’s homemade candy canes get put on every year. We have some she made out of red and white pipe cleaners and this year she made some out of red and white paper straws. I am always shocked that Zach doesn’t climb the tree to get the pipe cleaners – he loves them!

Penny was being even less helpful than Sam, which Sam thought was hysterical, of course. At the rate we were going, it was going to be New Years before the tree got done.

Our fireplace hasn’t been converted to gas yet, and since the TV is there, we don’t want to burn a wood fire, so we improvised! Sam of course, had to be  a goofball. All night. Which is why it took 10 hours to decorate the tree….

Mark and Zach had enough of the decorating and just chilled by our fake fire. 🙂

It didn’t take long for Zach to get back to his favorite napping spot though, under the tree.

The tree did get done eventually so Santa can come!

Sam and Her Kitties

| November 18, 2018

I don’t post many random pictures of Sam with her cats, but boy, does she love them. And they love her. They really follow her around and let her do pretty much whatever she wants with them. I love this picture of Sam and Penny all curled up on the couch. Penny never misses a chance to snuggle up with her favorite human and a warm fuzzy blanket.

Zach is a typical cat who likes to get in the middle of whatever you are doing. Sam and I were trying to play a game and Zach just would not stop laying in the middle of everything. Sam finally gave in and gave him a piece of his own. We rolled all his rolls for him but alas, he did not win. 🙂 Having cats since they were kittens is the best thing that could have happened for Sam. They love her in a way that Zephyr never could and she eats up every minute of it.