Lily Takes A Bite Out Of The Big Apple!

Tony and his colleague, Laura, attended a workshop in New York City this week and Lily and I went along for the ride! Lily and I had hoped to spend time with friends while we were in the City. While we were able to have dinner together Tuesday night the remainder of the time did not turn out as we had planned....but you know what they say about the best-laid plans often going awry! Not to worry, Lily and I had a wonderful time together while Tony and Laura were hard at work!

Luckily our hotel was located in midtown Manhattan (6th Ave. and 46th Street). We were able to walk to Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, Time Square, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the 5th Ave. Shopping District, FAO Schwartz....and Lily and I visited them all! I wont even tell you how many blisters my poor feet have! We walked absolutely everywhere. Honestly, I was too much of a wimp to brave the subways alone with my sweet Lily!

Lily slept through FAO Schwartz, loved the Central Park Zoo, and overall was a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people and all the hustle and bustle of New York City. It was way too hot for me to use the baby carrier so we went out and about with the stroller. Lily rode in the stroller with her legs sticking straight out! I think she was saying "Make way world. Here I come!"

New York City is an incredible place to people watch and...oh, the sights we saw! On Time Square we saw a police barricade and SWAT team. Naive me thought it was filming for TV...you know, maybe Law and Order or something...but...no...it was the real deal so we high tailed it out of there! Lily and I stopped for a drink at a Starbuck's on 6th Ave. and 56th...a very busy intersection. The Starbuck's is located right on the corner and Lily and I sat in the corner window. Lily waved and said "Hi!" to every person who walked by. I was shocked by the number of people who stopped to wave back or just to smile at our sweet Lily!

Wednesday night we headed to a Mexican restaurant for a delicious dinner. Lily just loved the Mariachi Band and they appeared to be quite smitten with her, too! You should have seen Lily bobbing her head and dancing along to the music in her highchair. I think the Mariachi Band has its first groupie!

Yesterday, Lily and I had lunch in a little Italian restaurant on "Restaurant Row". Lily positively charmed the owner of the restaurant who actually came and joined us at our table. Lily was in a very chatty mood and said "yum, yum" after each bite of her vegetarian pizza. Naturally, this made the owner's day! The owner was speaking to Lily in Italian and had her giggling up a storm. Hmm, I wonder if she could understand him!?! I know I sure couldn't! The gentleman kept trying to get Lily to say "Ciao". He never did succeed, but I'm quite certain Lily said "Hi!" to every man, woman, and child in New York City!

Lily was a pretty good traveler. A lot of this was a result of Tony's co-worker, Laura. Laura was so sweet and patient with Lily and entertained Lily on the train ride up...in part by wearing her water bottle on top of her head! Lily found this absolutely hysterical. Lily was a little less patient on the train ride home...but again...Laura to the rescue! At one point Laura took some hand cream out of her purse and moisturized her hands and arms. Lily...not missing a beat...took Laura's sealed hand cream and "applied" some to herself! It was so cute to watch Lily copy Laura. What a little mimic (or should I say Parrott?!).

The last two weeks have been quite a disruption to Lily's schedule. Here's hoping for a few quiet days at home!