New York City: The First 24 Hours

New York City was a place I really wanted to visit one day but never thought I would. Thanks to baseball and being "so close we have to go" got me there! Every one of us had a blast in the big city and I highly recommend it! But, bring your walking shoes, a big appetite, and a sense of adventure.

We drove our car from Cooperstown to Albany and hopped on the Amtrac that took us into the city. Arriving at Penn Station at 6pm gave us a glimpse of NYC "traffic"! We took a cab to our hotel to drop off our luggage and then on to Little Italy. Our brother-in-law was the tour guide that night as he is Italian and actually worked in NYC years ago. Pelligrino's for pasta and Ferrara's Bakery for cannoli's was a treat!

Saturday, we began our day with breakfast and then a subway ride to Battery Park. We boarded the ferry (after an hour and a half wait) to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty was beautiful and was Colby's favorite thing about NYC.





I was very excited to go to Ellis Island and try to find my great-grandparents names. They came from Macedonia in the early 1900's. Unfortunately, I couldn't locate them (maybe I'm an illegal alien!?!) The history at Ellis Island is awesome and was worth the six hour day of waiting in lines.




We hadn't eaten since breakfast and were all starving and hot! We decided to try Chinatown and walked to the Singapore Cafe (also a good little place to eat) via Canal Street. Now, I am all for a good bargain; but, Canal Street was a little too much for me. The ladies whispering in my ear, "Louis Vuitton?" and the men holding open these suitcases for me to see in -- no thanks.

After dinner we took the subway to Grand Central Station -- because I wanted to see inside of the terminal -- absolutely beautiful!




Saw the Chrysler Building...



...and stumbled upon Bryant Park. A little piece of heaven -

The Empire State Building at night...

Times Square ended up being our favorite place to end each day. The newly closed-down piece of Broadway made it so much fun to just stand in the middle of it all and soak in the lights and people. And, yes, I got my picture taken with the Naked Cowboy too.

Cooperstown

I wish every parent had a son who played baseball and could experience Cooperstown with them!

For the past 10 months, Connor's baseball team, the Spring/Klein Hooks, have been fundraising for the biggest opportunity in their 12 short years! We have sold briskets, magazines, held bake sales, hosted tournaments, and even stood on the side of the road "begging" for money! All that effort raised around $20,000, which allowed every boy to go to Cooperstown and stay and play for "free"...well worth all the work!

Cooperstown Dreams Park is located in Cooperstown, NY. The complex was a dream of a baseball loving family and in 1996 the park was built. On the 135 acres, there are 22 lighted, enclosed baseball stadiums. The teams stay all week together in one of the 105 barracks.

The Dreams Park has a few weeks out of the summer that is for 10-year-olds; for the other 10 weeks of summer, only 12-year-olds can play. There were 104 teams the week we were there from all over the U.S.

The week is started with Opening Ceremonies on Saturday night just like Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics...each team marches onto the fields with their team banner and is introduced. A Skills Competition finishes off the first night and then all go to bed for a week of fun and games!

The teams are all guaranteed 7 games and then quickly the teams dwindle until only the top two are left to play in the Championship game on Thursday night. The Hooks lasted until Wednesday night -- it hurt this mom to see them loose; of course I would have been crying if they won too!!

Before the Championship game, there was a ring ceremony where each player received an American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame ring. A fireworks display and then the Championship game ended one incredible week!

Now, between Chris and I, we took almost 2,000 pictures during the week...so I feel very proud of myself that I have narrowed it down to about 40 pictures to include in the post! I apologize to all who are not my parents (I would apologize to my in-laws; but, they were with us and got to live it too!)!!!

At the airport:

The Dreams Park -- honestly a Disneyland for baseball lovers!






The barracks where the boys spent their nights:


The dining tent in the background:


Here are the boys getting settled into the barracks on Friday night and then playing poker!




Opening Ceremonies:



Getting down to business:





My favorite catcher of all!


A proud daddy!


My dirty boy! Glad the Dreams Park crew got to wash THAT uniform!!


I always wonder what they say to each other...






The team had a blast off the field as well. Pin trading is a fun activity and a great way to meet all the other teams.



They also had fun at the cottages where all the parents stayed. What a bunch of boys...





One of two pictures of our family during the whole 12-day New York trip!

I think the boys had more fun watching the Championship game:

Awesome memories:

Three Days Late

I have SO MUCH to blog about thanks to an amazing last two weeks of summer vacation and the start of school. However, the head cold of all head colds came to visit me and I am just now feeling ready to tackle life!

I will begin with the biggest news of the week...SCHOOL STARTED!!

I always take that first day of school photo. As you will be able to tell, Connor just tolerated that this year...oh, can you imagine how joyful he will look on his first day of his Senior year?!?





For his 8th grade year, Connor is excited to have his second year of Spanish, be an office aide and play football. Unfortunately, there is math, science, U.S. History and Language Arts that has to be attended as well!! He does love school and has even talked mom into cooking him a real breakfast every morning!


Yep...pancakes, eggs and bacon. Poor Chris has asked me for 18 years to cook him breakfast...hmmm.

Colby is enjoying his 3rd grade year as well. It will be a big year as the all-important TAKS test begins in the 3rd grade.

Honestly, I was not yet ready for them to head to school. Both boys are going to continue playing baseball this Fall; so, with football and school, the routine is going to change dramatically from our laid back summer! I am sure once we get back in a routine, I will once again be happy to have my "Hours of Solitude"!!

LOST: The Last 20 Years!!

I leave tomorrow for my 20th High School Reunion! How can that be?!? I could accept 10th, maybe 15th; but, 20th??? I still feel like I am in my 20's...well, OK, maybe my EARLY 30's...

I am very excited to see all my classmates and their families. Once again I have to give props to FaceBook because through FaceBook I have been able to already bridge these 20 years. Most of us have gotten all of the "catching up" accomplished and therefore, I believe we will have a much more fun time this weekend.

To get ready for the reunion, we were asked to e-mail any pictures we have from high school for a video that will be seen Saturday night. I, of course, had about five photo albums FULL of photos and keepsakes from high school. (Thanks, Mom!!) It was a blast from the past and I spent an afternoon just laughing out loud reminiscing and seeing how funny our clothes and hair were in 1989!!


The six Senior Huskettes:

Before Homecoming Coronation:

Honor's Program Seniors:

Senior Trip to California:

After Graduation:

I am thankful for this group of people who I spent my teenage years with and can't wait to see them in person! I just hope they will all recognize me since I'm not bringing those bangs with me!!