Monday, January 21, 2013

So New York

Before my trip to New York with my mom, 2 sisters and 2 sis-in-laws, I promised myself a few things. One, I was gonna branch out and try new foods. Two, I was gonna find a celebrity and see if I could really act all chill like, "Oh hi Kim and Kourtney..how's Penelope and Mason?" And Three, I was NOT gonna act like a tourist.





Then we stepped out of our hotel, onto Times Square and I was all amazed by the lights and people and I was whipping that camera out faster than I don't know... something fast..my ability to think of a good metaphor is drawing a blank..but I was fast..and sadly it didn't stop there.


So we hit the ground running (or jumping in the case of Lauren and Lex..which if you know the Christensens, you will know we don't go anywhere with out a jumping photo or two.)


I had to pay homage to my home girlies back at home with this pic of the ultimate Barbie wonderland. Seriously, it was an amazefest of all things a girl could ever wish for.


And as long as I had blown my cover of not being a native New Yorker, why not take a pic of my first Subway ride there. I mean that's a classic right? And we didn't even get mugged or nothin!
We stopped by for a session in the New York Temple. So crazy to have this right in the middle of chaos and all the hustle of the New York life. It was beautiful inside and was such a great experience.


That night my sister Alexis' lifelong dream came true and we saw Newsies on Broadway. She was in serious perma-grin mode the entire night. Now listen, I am not  Broadway guru, seeing as how I have only seen a handful of them in my life, but this was one of my favs. The dancing was incredible and Lex got to meet the star Jack Kelley. Wish fulfilled!




Our next stop was the 9/11 memorial. And if I am being honest, this was not particularly on the top of my list of things to do during our short stay in the Big Apple, but lesson learned...it became one of the highlights. There are 2 big pools where the towers stood with the names of over 2,900 people who lost their lives that day surrounding them. There was such a reverence there..it was definitely worth the time to go see it.
This is one of 7 buildings going up right around the 9/11 memorial. It will be done this year and will be the tallest building in the western hemisphere.

We then headed to Macy's which takes up an entire block and a New York block is like 4 of ours put together. This was the wooden escalator inside the store..crazy right? An old classic.

And you can't go to New York without heading to FAO Schwartz..the biggest toy store ever. And yes we danced on the "BIG" piano. and FYI, you can purchase your very own for a mere $250,000. And they have sold 2..I asked. I thought about it..and then I was like..ya..no I think I will buy a house instead...

We then found this cute little shop..we were actually looking for cheesecake..but found this pizza instead. Honestly..best pizza ever..like fer real...And after that we ended up chatting with a guy from Northern Ireland..who was either super friendly or had had a little too much to drink..pretty sure he was looking to take us all clubbing..am I flattering myself? Maybe? If only he knew how many kids and husbands there were between us ;) But I totally dug his accent.


We ended our trip with an outing to Wicked! Another great show that we couldn't stop quoting. It was a fast 4 days and we crammed as much shopping, walking and food into it as we could. I couldn't have gone with a better group of girls. And in the end, I was a total tourist,who did try new foods, but never saw a celebrity in a crazy, busy city that I was glad to just be visiting. Good times!














Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Pre & Post Holiday Party Times..sortof

I know..I know...I am a blog slacker and you are all mad I haven't updated right? Since I have such a big following (you get that's sarcastic right?) So here is how the holidays went down here at the Belnap's

It started out with a Christmas program from the 4th graders which would be my cute Ellie. But this is the camera shot you get when you have one of the tallest girls in the whole grade... she's the candy stripe in the back..and apparently a new zoom lens for my camera is what I should have asked Santa for.
So I snuck up afterwards and snapped this gem...she did a great job and even had a part.
Then came Christmas Eve which was a total bummer since Nate didn't get home til 9:30, so Santa had very little help. But somehow he managed and the kids woke up to a fab Christmas day!

And yes Chloe has her first shiner..and no it was not from the wagon..she fell a few days ago at Grandmas house



I'm not sure why we bother to get our babies any gifts..give them some wrapping paper, a box and a bag of candy and they are good to go!



Then came New Years, which by the way was also a total bust..did I mention that my family had been sick the entire week before Christmas..every single one of them sans me..I have a deal with God..you know..i have so many kids so I can't get sick. Heard of that one? He seems so understand..So then Chloe got round two on New Years Eve..so exhausted and plum wore out, this mama kissed Nate at 11 pm and off to bed I went. Such a party pooper right? Sheesh I gotta get my momjo back.

But then we kind of made up for it with a quick tubing day..I say quick cuz you all know we are living in Antarctica right now with this negative degree weather and let's face it..you can only stand your nose hairs to be frozen for so long...


So there you have it...a pre & post holiday update. Aren't we fascinating? Hope y'all had a good one too!