New York City

Jeff, the girls and I just returned from a weekend trip to New York City. Jeff had a conference there last week and the girls and I took a train on Friday to spend the weekend there with him. We had a fabulous time. The girls loved the train ride up, but the subway was so noisy and bustling that it was a little overwhelming. Since it was so crazy cold, we decided against our original plan to see the Statue of Liberty, but we went to the American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and the American Girl Store. We took a cab ride across the famous Brooklyn Bridge and we ate some awesome pizza (and soup) at Franny's in Brooklyn. We saw the outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral and we saw the skating rink at Rockefeller Center.

Caitlin and I went to Broadway to see the Lion King. It was fantastic. I am ruined for all future Broadway shows, it was that good. We had a bit of an adventure getting there though. I originally thought the show time was 1:30pm, but realized that it was really a 1pm show just as we were getting on our subway train. Caitlin and I sprinted the four blocks from the Times Square subway to the theater and sat down just as the lights dimmed. After the first song Caitlin turned to me with big eyes and said "That was amazing." Direct quote. And that was just the beginning. We laughed, we trembled, we cried, we cheered. The Lion King should win every musical theatre award ever invented, starting with music, costumes, and scenery. Wow! Just wow!

Jeff and Gwen, however, did not want to attend because they consider musicals on par with waterboarding as a form of torture. (They don't know what they are missing.)

Oh, and funny Gwen story: We sat down in the hotel restaurant for lunch. While we were waiting for our food to arrive, Gwen picked up and studied the selection of jams in little individual containers on the table.

I asked, "So Gwen, which jam would you like the best?"

Without missing a beat, she said "None of them. They all have high fructose corn syrup."

Dear advertising-industry-that-tries-to-get-kids-to-eat-junk-that-isn't-good-for-them,

There is one kid in America that you have no control over. She's onto you. She can't be fooled. And if you ever meet her in a court of law, you are going down.

Love, Gwen's mom