Month: December 2024

What the heck just happened?

We saw friends.

The Steinwedell’s hosted our annual “Happy Birthday Jesus Party”. The kids all blew out the candles together, since that can be theologically confusing.

Have you ever done a “dirty Santa” party? This particular night, the “dirty” part was interpreted quite loosely, but the night was a blast.

The other guys opted not to see the nutcracker- that ballet storyline still confuses me, even though I’ve seen it 10 times now. Why do all those little kids come out from under the lady’s giant dress?

We saw each other

I didn’t get a picture of us, but you can just use your imagination that Taylor and I looked great and had fun on a date night before the craziness of Christmas got started.

We Hosted

For a couple years now we have been hosting the York family for brunch on Christmas eve. Most of us are sober-ish during this hour of the day each year

We visited

This year for the first time we did Christmas with Evan and the cousins- and had a pretty good time doing charades and singing some Christmas Carols.

Honestly, I am not even sure when we were at the Register’s house: was it before or after Evan’s house? Either way, the meal wasn’t something to forget: Ted got an amazing cut of meat, some Christmas Carolers came by, and Rosie and Mercy had a blast with their other cousins in town.

We Stayed Home

We did some “Logan Family” time with our own traditions: making peanut butter balls, church on Christmas eve, and our tradition for the girls to have a “sleepover” upstairs with us on Christmas eve. Rumor is that I snore, so they had to see first hand.

Our peanut butter ball tradition- maybe our 13th year? – is pretty darn efficient at this point. We have learned tons of things not to do.

Rosie got a bike, and Santa was pretty excited it was the right size. Rosie and Mercy pretty much get along and had a blast for Christmas eve/morning.

I know I know, one of the pictures above doesnt look like the other, but Taylor got this shot of the mountain of leaves that were collected from our backyard. I finally snapped and hired some teenagers wearing camoflage and a 1991 green Silverado to come get our leaves. It was amazing how good of a job they did, and it made hosting the Register/York family a little less embarrassing.

We surprised Rosie for her big birthday with a trip to the big city.

Where did you stay?

We stayed at the Motto by Hilton on 23rd street. It was between two subway stops- the red line and the orange line, and worked out great. Taylor is really motivated to get a good deal, so she picked the spot, and it worked out great. 

We arrived super early- leaving Greensboro at 6:15, and making it to the Hotel by 9:15 or so- way too early to check in, but we were able to leave our bags there, and check in by 3pm. The room had a queen bed/bunk bed situation which Rosie really liked, and I thought the view was awesome from the 25th floor. 

What did you do?

A few things were planned- this was Rosies big trip, so I wanted to honor her and the things she enjoyed. As a travel tip, I would recommend getting dinner reservations at the bare minimum, if you don’t want to eat street food for dinner. 

We saw all the touristy things around Rockefeller plaza, like:

FAO Schwartz, 

the Christmas Tree, 

the Lego Store, 

After watching all the movies to get the NYC spirit before the trip, Rosie wanted to see Central Park, which was a really fun tangent. 

Rosie is a dancer, so we saw the Rockettes- and it was WAY better than I expected. And Yes, I did cry towards the end during the nativity scene: it just reminded me of how many prayers were answered over the past 10 years for us to get to go on a trip like this. 

Going up to the top of a building had to be a part of the trip- and there are several options, but The Edge at Hudson Yards was where we ended up going- and it did not disappoint. The views were amazing, all the way around, and it had a glass floor for a part of it. Rosie loves a thrill, but the glass floor from 1100 feet up was almost too much for her. We got the all-day ticket to go any time we wanted, and I highly recommend it. 

Strolling on the High Line, walking through Chelsea Market, and seeing a few malls like Hudson Yards, the Oculus, etc. They were great spots to get warm. 

Rosie really likes the Broadway play Hamilton, and Alexander Hamilton is buried at Trinity Church between the NYSE and Freedom Tower, right near the place we went skating- so we stopped by there as well to see some of the names from one of her favorite songs: “The Schuyler Sisters”, all buried in the same place. Surprisingly, Rosie really enjoyed that spot- and her and I are going to see Hamilton at the Tanger Center in Greensboro later this month. 

Finally, we did Ice Skating to finish things up. There are a few places in the city to skate, and I was hoping to avoid the huge crowds if skating in one of the popular places like Rockefeller Plaza, so the Rink at Brookfield Place was where we ended up, and it was great. Rosie was really looking forward to that part, and she did great. 

Where did you eat?

For breakfast, Bagels are the way to go. There are lots of lists of “the best bagels in NYC”, but out of the ones closest to our hotel, we ended up at Brooklyn Bagels and Ess-a-Bagel. The latter one- with Lox, Scallion cream cheese and red onions on an everything bagel made for some downright offensive breath, but a darn good bagel. Rosie struggled with her braces, but didn’t complain.

John’s Pizza on Bleecker Street is the best pie in town, hands down. The wait was about an hour, so Taylor and Rosie did some shopping around the area while I waited. At that point, I didn’t really even WANT a pizza after eating Bagels (like, GIANT bagels) for breakfast 2 days in a row. 

It was the best Pizza I ever had in my life, hands down. I think Taylor would say the same. What makes the pizza so good? We asked the waiter, and he said it was the 100 year old coal-fired oven that cooks at 1000 degrees. 

Taylor really wanted to include Ellens Stardust Diner on our list because she went as a kid and really enjoyed it. There are lots of things I did as a kid and really enjoyed and many of them did not hold up well- the Brave Little Toaster movie was one of them. However, in this case, it did hold up well. It’s a little diner on Broadway where the wait staff are almost all people trying out for Broadway shows- so they sing these amazing Broadway numbers while people are eating, and they are surprisingly good. Once again, it was a 1 hour wait or so, so I did my dad duties while the girls shopped, but it was worth it. I was cold down to my bones at this point. 

It is hard to get dinner reservations at some of the more popular, kid-friendly places, so we had dinner at La Grande Boucherie, a French place with great Christmas decorations. It was alright, and Rosie was falling asleep by the end of the meal. 

We also ate at Rosemary’s for dinner. It was really decked out for Christmas and had great music and decorations. The food was great. Sitting in one of those restaurant booths on the sidewalk, looking in through the windows at the restaurant while wearing our coats during the meal to stay warm, was not great. Once again, no one complained- except me, I complained to the manager that the seating was not cool- it was freezing out there. Because we complained, they gave us some more carbs on the house.

What else?

The subway worked great. I worked hard to read up on some of the routes before going- I was still trying to recover from getting two families lost on a hike in the woods two years ago and didn’t want to embarrass myself. 

Everything around Rockefeller Plaza was super crowded, but the second day seeing other parts of the city wasn’t too bad. 

There is something on Apple Maps called “Guides”, where you can save a bunch of spots on a map and look at all of them at the same time, instead of looking up things 1 by 1. This was super helpful to add a bunch of “ideas” of things to do at various places around the city, then just let Rosie pick what seemed best. 

It was really, really cold. We got a 6:15 am flight from Greensboro to Laguardia, and that may have been a bit too early. Rosie was a little slow all day, and I think we were too. A trip that early meant getting all your stuff out- including long johns and layers and layers of clothes- the night before. I am proud to say that no one complained. 

Hudson Yards is a really cool mall- they put out 2 million lights for Christmas- but the stores aren’t that cool for people that don’t have a million dollars like us. 

Having a few things planned, and a lot of room to be flexible, worked out really well. I took note of that from how Taylor has planned trips in the past. 

On the first day, we took our bagels to Times Square as one of our first stops and learned that Rosie was afraid of the pigeons. “They kept trying to eat my food” she said. She was right, they were trying to eat her food, but for the girl that is not afraid of a single roller coaster, I was kind of surprised to learn of this new phobia of hers.

What about Mercy?
She stayed at her grandma and grandpa’s house (thank you Zippy and Papa!). We missed her, but it would have been terrible to have her in the dirty, dirty subways around the city. Zippy sent us some pictures and it looks like Mercy had a great time. 

To summarize:

Where did we stay?
The Motto by Hilton. 

What did we do?

Hudson Yards

The Edge

FAO Schwartz

The Lego Store

Central Park

The Rockettes

M&M Store

Ice Skating at The Rink at Brookfield Place

Hamilton’s Grave

Where did we eat?

Ess-a-Bagel

Brooklyn Bagel

Johns Pizza on Bleecker Street

Ellens Stardust Diner

La Grande Boucherie

Rosemary’s

This season is always wild- it starts with the excitement of thanksgiving, and then Rosies birthday is right on the heels of the holiday.

This year we did some quick Thai food on Wednesday to get ready for the busy days ahead. As tay would say, “Momma is tired, and dont wanna mess around with cooking.” So, she didnt. I even went the extra mile and took the kiddos to the park to get some wiggles out at the end of the day, and that was fun.

Thanksgiving

What do you do on thanksgiving morning? Do you have any traditions? Around our house, it is all about one thing: The Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. We love to celebrate the commercialism of it.

Actually, we just like recording it, and then watching in various parts and skipping the commercials- and being as absolutely lazy as possible. We deserve it, right? So, I made a (small) breakfast. When the kids said they are still hungry, a gentle reply of “Good, it builds character” was all they got from me.

They also created masterpieces on the scale of Van Gogh and solved complicated puzzles:

Just because we are lazy, doesnt mean things werent busy. Games played, gymnastics, and whatever the girls did that almost seemed like hitting each other, but no one really cried so it was fine:

I dont know what this dance move is (maybe a back bend?) but it gives me the heebie jeebies every time I see it: this move is what the bad guys do in scary movies, almost inhuman like flexibility:

Ok ok, by this time (11:30), we have been as lazy as possible. The house is kindof a mess. Stacey Tester (Taylors longtime friend, and my 11th grade date to homecoming dance) stayed the night with us the night before, and was somewhat scarce that morning- I didnt get any great pics of her I now realize.

But, it was time to start getting ready to go to thanksgiving at Taylor’s parent’s house, 15 minutes away, and the farthest drive we make in a given week.

The day was great- Deborah (or “Zippy” or “Taylors mom”) does a great job decorating.

The kids- cousins from Charlotte- had a great time. Bourbon was great as always- don’t mind if I do 🙂

There weren’t a ton of pics, so you just have to take my word for it: it was fun. The food was great. Our bellies were full. Then everyone crashed when we got home, and Rosie and I enjoyed watching Home Alone 2, Lost in New York. Rosie thought that movie was selected at random, but I assure it was not:

The Rest of the Weekend

What else happened that weekend?

Our friend Abbey Remein stayed the night Friday night- she is an awesome longtime friend of ours from Virginia. We woke up, and repeated much of the same as the day before, without the Parade to watch. Just as lazy as possible, and I used the opportunity to move some of the furniture in the garage to accomodate more people for Rosie’s birthday party in 10 days. Mercy was still in the Mercy-verse. If you are wondering what that means, this explains it:

Taylor did some Christmas shopping (black Friday, duh!), and I ran to a few stores to investigate my two big items for Rosie this year (I can’t tell, its a secret), and our friend Abbey showed up that evening. At this point, we were sick of Thai leftovers, so we had to break for some Greek food at our favorite spot, Mythos. Once again, time for more pajamas, doing as little as possible, which means: puzzle time!

Let’s talk about trees. No, not those kinds of trees- that is still illegal in North Carolina. I am talking about Christmas trees- this is a family blog after all.
We usually get our tree from the farmers market, but for the past few years, we have been getting our trees from Freedom House Farms- the place that my friend Houston runs to help families get back on their feet.

This is the second year they have been selling trees, and they got it all decorated to look great for the season:

The tree looked great on the lot, and after a bit of work, a few pictures, and some help from the Freedom House Crew, we got on our way. Again, momma doesnt wanna cook yet, so we stopped to get some lunch on the way back.

Did I say home? Just kidding. There was more to do: trader joes for a wreath for our Advent Candles, and some eggnog- because this was a time to be merry, and as luck we have it, we ran into someone special while we were there:

Rosie had an idea for our house which followed our rhythm: adding one or two decorations every year. Previously we have added 1-2 strands of lights (only white lights at our house), but now we are expanding to do a bit more, and Rosie wanted to make our light posts into candy-cane stripes. So, we brainstormed how to do that, and I am proud of her. We worked together, and it turned out….alright. Not amazing, but it was good!

We have a special way we do the tree, and if anyone doesnt do it in the same manner, they are doing it wrong:

• Bring the tree in, and put it on the stand (dont put the stand on before going into the house)
• Make it straight.
• Cut the netting off
• Add the lights.
• Add the garlen (Is that how its spelled? The red beads to decorate?)

After that is done, we add the decorations. Each year I take a video, and here is about 17 minutes compressed down to 45 seconds:

Taylor always says she isnt creative- but I think her decorating really shines as something “creative”.

Ok, Thanksgiving is over. Remember how I said there is one more thing? Thats right- Rosies birthday always jumps up on us, and this year we surprised her in a pretty fun way for her 10th birthday.

We made (Ok, TAYLOR made, she gets all the credit on this) a scavenger hunt for Rosie to learn that she is going on a quick trip to New York City to celebrate her special milestone. Most of the scavenger hunt would be pretty boring to watch (it is fun for me!), but here is Rosie reading the last clue in the scavenger hunt and putting it all together:

AS IF THAT WASNT ENOUGH, Rosie is the only girl I know lucky enough to have an unexpected snow day on her birthday, school closed! So, we had an impromptu trip to get a very, very uncaffeineted drink at a coffee shop, where I used the opportunity to tell her her birth story. Not the crazy details, just how we had a hard time getting pregnant with her, so we prayed a lot. It was a special time- I had a vision and knew we would get pregnant 10 months before, and it happened. God is good.

So, stay tuned- I cant wait to share more about our trip to NYC!