Booboo goes to the apple

Back in September (ah! such a delayed post), the grandmas, booboo, and I hopped a train (not like hobos - we bought tickets) and pointed our selves northeast towards my beloved, NYC (you can read more about my missing living in love of visiting NYC here, here, and here .  Although Booboo has been on several transportation modes (including airplane, boat, car, truck, and bus before) in his short life, he had yet to ride a train - so this was a pretty exciting day.

i love the stranger's look on the right as she watches grey's face light up watching the train:)

We got on the train and were able to snag 4 seats towards the front of a car that faced each other - well, truthfully we took all 8 so Grey had room to roam and climb for the...brace yourself...7 hour train ride.  Yes, a 17 month old + 7 hour train ride = "CHOOOOO CHOOOOO!" for 5 of the 7 hours.  This now is a public apology to anyone who was riding the PA train to NYC on the weekend of Sept.16:

To whomever was annoyed by my overly excited, 'Choo-choo' screaming child,

at least he wasn't crying?

love, tabitha studer

The trip was as enjoyable as a 7 hour train ride can be because we had snacks and toys and books enough to keep the little animal occupied until he crashed out for a little while.  Gigi (Marianne) had packed us all a lunch (thank you!) and the grandmas were happy to take Grey for "walks" to the food cart while I sat and stared at the wall in silence (for moms - that is not bored, that's bliss).

We finally made it to Penn Station, and after navigating the subway (woohoo - 2nd new mode of transportation for Grey!), and checking into our hotel room in midtown west; we stretched our train-tired legs over to grab some dinner at the Stage Deli and visit Times Square to introduce Grey to all the lights and people.  

so Grey knows how to 'get in the picture' now?  cool.

It was a pretty boring night after that considering we had just had such a long day on a train and afterall, our group was comprised of 2 grandmas, a pregnant lady, and a toddler - that's a pretty sleepy bunch.  So we walked a few blocks back to the hotel with some coffees/teas and called it a night.  

We got up with gusto on Saturday morning, well Grey did and offered us a candid presidency speech (he was standing on the bed jibbering on and on and waving his hands around).  After a stop to pick up some bagels, we hiked up to Central Park and Grey climbed and slid his way all over Heckscher Playground.  Bagels in central park while my babe plays nearby? oh goodness NYC, i miss you so.

swinging with Gigi

climbing with Abba

Then we headed across the park and over to FAO Shwartz for some toy envy and a little shopping.

an Abba bar!

make-your-own-sticker demonstration

The toy store was fun and I was an incredibly cool mom and bought my child....placemats.  hah!  They have animals and the US on them AND they keep my table semi-clean...whatever, I AM COOL.  Grey still does good in toy stores (and by good I mean he doesn't throw a fit when I make him put stuffed animals back) because we talk about how the toys live there with their families and friends.  He seems to be fine with leaving them there since its kind of their home.  

Back out on the street, we flitted down 5th avenue and across to Rockafeller Center, in hopes that Mare would have another sighting of Alex Baldwin (we didn't).  We did, however, stop by a street musician playing buckets and the like as drums and Grey was mesmerized.  oh goodness NYC, i miss you.

Then we hopped back on the subway and headed downtown to meet Elena and make it to Marianne's hair appointment at Devachan.  By this point, Grey was pretty sleepy and took a quick snooze in his stroller.

For Mare's 50th birthday, Rudy had arranged for she and I to go to NYC together so she could visit the ultra curly-girl hair salon.  The trip was a huge success with both fun and hair restoration, that we knew we couldn't make the trip without setting up another appointment.  If any of you readers out there are super curly girls (like our Gigi is...and our Booboo boy is), then next time you visit the big apple - make an appt. to stop for a little Deva Curl loving...because this is what happens:

While Mare was getting Deva'ed, we walked around with my dear friend and brooklyn resident, Elena.  Abba got a make-over at Sephora and Booboo and I poked around the Scholastic store.  After a quick stint in Chinatown for some bartering (it's a requirement if you come to the city with my mom and mother in law in tow), we all came back together and headed up to Union Square for some more playground'ing and dinner at The Coffee Shop.

Grey and the girls

With full bellies and one stolen creamer cup, we jumped back on the subway and got my sleepy baby back to his hotel room.

The grandmas happily enlisted themselves in bedtime duty, so that Lenny and I could walk up town and eat Tasti-DeLite and catch a movie (Contagion) for the 11:30p showing.  Full movie theater at that time of night so that Lenny and I had to sit in the first row?  oh goodness NYC, how I miss you.  It was so fantastic to catch up with Len, even though we hardly ever see each other and we're both probably the worst email/caller/texter-backers in the history of the universe - it always like no time has passed at all.  I have a very few number of friends that I can text something like, "want to go see a movie right now?" and they'll say, "yea, let's go" without any planning or concerns...its awesome.

After a good night's sleep and a taxi ride (Grey's 3rd new mode of transportation in a weekend!) we made it back to Penn Station for a trek back to Johnstown..another 7 hour trek.  Grey managed to stay AWAKE for 6 hours and 45 minutes, so that during ONLY the last 15 minutes of the ride he was completely zonked out.  

It was a great trip and I am so grateful to Greyson's grandmas for making the trip with me and all their help.  My hope is to continue a tradition of a NYC trip every summer/fall so that my kids might grow up with a little bit of their city-loving momma right alongside that very big bit of country-loving dadda.