Boyer Blurbs: New York, New York

In May, Jason had a meeting in New York City, so we decided to make it a family trip. This was our first time back since we lived there and I was very excited to return to a place full of so many good memories.

Actually, I lied. I forgot that Jason and I were in NYC just a month earlier, in route to Kenya. We had a 5-hour layover and since it was dinner time, we thought we would grab some pizza at one of our favorite places in Brooklyn, called Grimaldi's. We hopped on the subway and thought we were making great use of our layover, until the conductor informed us over the intercom that our stop was closed and the train was going straight to midtown Manhattan. So we got off early, walked in the rain the rest of the way, discovered that they moved locations, walked to that (not too far, thank goodness), and finally enjoyed our delicious brick-oven pizza, reminiscing on past experiences there. By the time we were finished (and we are not slow eaters), we didn't have time to walk back to the closest functioning subway stop. So we took a cab. No big deal. Until we paid the driver and realized that our pizza basically cost us $80!

The night we flew in on our family trip, we met up with Dave, Susanne and their daughter, Claire.

On the left, you can see the men bonding with their Claires. On the right, you'll notice a family photo with one daughter still consumed by her airplane surprise: a Hello Kitty notepad with small pen. Gabby was so attached to her notepad that she would write as she walked, bumping into people and large objects... like buildings. We eventually had to confiscate it until the flight home.

The next day, while Jason was in meetings, I was able to meet up with my old boss/friend from CMMB. We had lunch at Max Brenner, a required stop on our NYC visit. Max Brenner is basically Willy Wonka's chocolate factory disguised as a high-quality restaurant. Gabby was very pleased to get a chocolate treat from their store following our lunch. For dinner that night, we met up with an old friend, Mala. Then we discovered a new treat at a place called Holey Cream: it involves a donut with your choice of frosting and topping, sandwiched over three scoops of your choice of ice cream flavors. It's pretty hard to go wrong with something involving fresh donuts and creamy ice cream. Delish.

Jason's brother, Marcus, and his family, are in the process of moving from Pennsylvania to upstate New York. They were nice enough to make the drive down to the city for a visit. Cami, Jason's sister, was even able to fly in from Denver. It was a mobile family reunion and we were quite the scene with 7 kids under 10 in a city like that.

The cousins enjoyed bonding over lunch in Battery Park.

At Times Square, Gabby met her current obsession in real life: Hello Kitty. She was ecstatic from a distance, until Hello Kitty got too close and she realized that she prefers kittens to be less than six feet tall.

The gals enjoying our free boat ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

Loving the view of the Statue of Liberty and the company of good cousins.

For dinner that night, The Dugans invited us to The Metropolitan Club's rooftop restaurant to celebrate Hugh & Victoria's birthday. I wish I had taken some photos from the balcony. The building is on the SE corner of Central Park (close to The Plaza Hotel). The view of the park in the spring, surrounded by crowded buildings on all sides is remarkable.

It was so fun to see the Dugans. While I was in grad school, I worked as their nanny and they have always treated me like family. This photo is from 2005:

Victoria & Evelyn then:

Victoria & Evelyn now (on the left). I can't believe how much they have grown up!

Gabby was awesome for dinner, thanks to that Hello Kitty notebook again. Claire was not crazy about missing out on the excitement of the adult table until the chocolate sufflés entered the scene at the kid table....

The next day, we combined all Boyers + Dugans for a picnic in Central Park. The kid's CP favorites were the carousel and the playground.

Gabby had a good view of some entertaining street performers.

My practice daughters:

What is amazing to me is how similar Victoria & Evelyn are to Gabby & Claire. Gabby & Victoria (the oldest) are both sweet and reserved. Evelyn & Claire are more extravert & energetic. They are all learning French, they like ballet, and Claire even tried to copy Evelyn on her red hair. In fact, Claire's middle name is Evelyn (literally). I just think it is great that I got a trial run before I had my own girls! I hope I didn't mess them up too bad in the process of learning.