Christmas Eve

Christmas is such a magical time filled with beauty. Even though Jaime wasn't quite ready for the whole Santa thing, I wanted him to experience the magic of the holiday that comes from quality family time and the glow of twinkly lights in the evening. 

For the day before Christmas we set out to have some adventures in Midtown.  We saw the model trains at Grand Central Station, the windows on 5th Avenue, the tree at Rockefeller Center.  We simmered a bolognese sauce for lasagne and watched Frosty the Snowman. We opened a few presents and read stories. 

The train display at Grand Central Station was not exactly what I expected and was a little crowded.  But for a little boy it was pretty neat. And after a minute the crowds dissipated a bit and the parents could then relax (chasing a toddler through a tight crowd is pretty freakin stressful). 

Jaime gave his dad mini-heart failure after mini-heart failure running through Grand Central. So it was time to leave one crowded spot to hit up another - the window displays.

It is ridiculously crowded through Midtown during the holidays. We stopped at a couple of windows and briefly at Rockefeller Center. Jaime's eyes were big at the window displays and the tree is always so neat to see. Jaime confiscated the point and shoot camera and took a few pictures for us.

But at this point Jaime was cranky as was I - the poor little one ended up with a touch of a fever and I was just super tired. So after a quick stop at the most crowded Whole Foods ever (seriously, I have never experienced such a crowd. It was insane.) we headed home where Jaime took a long nap and I started the bolognese sauce.

We relaxed inside, playing games as it was super cold outside. And before we knew it bedtime had arrived.  We opened our traditional Christmas Eve present of pajamas, and decided that opening all of the gifts on Christmas morning would be overwhelming for a 17 month old so he got to open a few more before calling it a night.

After the little was in bed it was time to set up for Christmas morning. The presents came down off the shelf and the teepee was assembled.

After a movie for the grown-ups it was time to get a little sleep so we would be ready for a bright-eyed cutie to wake us up for Christmas morning.

Trains at the Botanical Gardens

One of the big holiday family outings in the area is to go see the train set up at the Botanical Gardens. They build model trains and NYC landmark buildings entirely out botanical bits and pieces. It is pretty amazing.

We signed up for a super early time slot so it would work best with Jaime's nap schedule but it also worked well for beating the crowds. We didn't have to wait in line to go in and while there were people there it was easy to explore and enjoy.

It took Jaime a second to spot the trains with all of the other sites.  He was then waving at them and saying hi as they clattered by. It was very cute.

Dan also enjoyed the trains and buildings. I enjoyed how pretty neat it was and how my boys were happy.

It was a ridiculously warm day so we didn't even take our jackets from the car to the conservatory.  After seeing the trains we thought about walking around a bit more but... lunch and naptime were calling.

We sat outside at Elizabeth's for lunch... outside. in December.

Such a nice day and fun little outing to make holiday memories.

Mother Son Day

One day in mid-December I took off a random day to spend it with my Jaime bug.  I so enjoy the one-on-one time.

We headed out for a morning snack time at the Muffins Cafe.  We got a blueberry muffin to share. They have those little French looking bistro table that are always wobbly - Jaime loved that. And he loved people watching out the window, he caught the eye of more than one person and made them smile.

Then it was off to story time. After waiting in line we got a ticket for the coveted 10:30 session.  I was so impressed with how well behaved Jaime was and how great he was at participating.

The rest of the day was relaxing with naptime and then just playing with puzzles and whatnot before starting dinner. Simple but good.

Visiting Santa

I was determined that this year we would not wait in line for an hour and a half to see Santa.  So we didn't wait until Christmas Eve and we didn't go to Macy's.  Instead we headed downtown.  The atrium of a building was turned into Santa's village so it sounded kind of neat.

The wait was very tolerable and they were smart and got you to pay for your photos before they took them... spoiler alert, Jaime was not so thrilled with the whole idea of it.

At least there were lots of stairs and escalaters to climb while we waited.

On the way home it started to snow, the first of the season.  Jaime thought it was pretty neat.

After his nap we did a little walk in the snow before dinner. He loved it.

It's beginning to look a lot like winter...

Highline Holiday Concert and A Strawberry Shake

Jaime loves music so when I saw that there was going to be a holiday concert, of sorts, at the highline we added it to the calendar.

There was a band and a drumline and a choir.  Jaime had big eyes taking it all in and loved to clap along.

After we were sufficiently chilled, we headed into Chelsea Market for the now annual strawberry shake from Ronnybrook.  Yum.

Good stuff all around.