Winding down the summer

While Labor Day typically indicates the end of summer, for us it meant VACATION. We hadn't originally planned on taking a vacation this summer after all the travel we did earlier in the year. However, after so many of my friends went of vacation (sometimes multiple vacations), I just couldn't resist the urge and began submitting my petitions to Jonathan. Once I received the go-ahead, JD & I settled on a long weekend down at the Gulf Coast, staying in Corpus Christi.

JD warned me ahead of time that CC is not like Hawaii, our normal beach destination. He had both his and my expectations set low so we both were very pleasantly surprised when we realized just how wonderful the beach was there. The water was clear, the perfect temperature, and of a shallow grade that allowed for plenty of area to play and wade into the surf. Even Morgan, who I fully expected to flip out at the sight and sound of the water, enjoyed herself -- though, granted, the sand was a bigger hit.

Our vacation had a little something to appeal to the whole family. I'm a sit-on-the-beach-and-soak-up-the-sun type while Jonathan is a go-and-see-what-there-is-to-see type. Morgan is too young to voice many opinions or objections, but we threw in some activities there for her too. I got my requisite time on the beach and in the water, JD got a visit to a retired aircraft carrier (the USS Lexington), and Morgan got a trip to the Texas State Aquarium where she could see dolphins (one of her favorite animals). Add into that mix a daily nap (sometimes for the whole family), an early bedtime, and lots of good food (that I didn't have to prepare) and we were all happy.

What Morgan learned this trip: That it stinks to sleep in a pack-n-play in the bathroom. This is a major downside to not renting a suite. Next time we may look into a condo even.

What we learned about Morgan this trip: That she now understands the concept of "home" and may be a homebody. After waking up the first morning, she said, "I wanna go home" and repeated her request at least once each day we were away. This was interesting to us because we have traveled a lot with her, and this is the first time she has ever made such a request.

All in all, a really great trip! And nice to know that we have a close 2 1/2 hour beach getaway available to us next time we get the hankering. Now we just wait for the Texas heat to get the message that summer is over...

First walk on the beach

Catching waves

Another walk on the beach

Building our family sand castle

Highlights from beyond the beach

The best blackberry cobbler in Texas

USS Lexington

Dolphin show at the Aquarium

Taken while waiting on the dolphin show -
oddly, probably one of the best pics taken of me in awhile

Wickedly Cool

So here's a nifty little follow up to our NYC trip a few weeks ago ... remember how we had our credit card information stolen while we were there (which was discovered when we went to purchase our Wicked tickets)? As we had narrowed it down to one of two vendors who possibly perpetrated this offense, we decided it would be um... fair to let them know that they were potentially employing someone with this capacity to defame their business. One of these two vendors was the hotel we stayed in. When notified of said possibility, the manager on duty acted like "Yeah, so? You can't prove it was us. What do you want me to do about it?" Honestly, we weren't jerks about it ... really. When I got home, I posted a review of our hotel on TripAdvisor, my favorite of all travel forums, recounting our experience. No kidding when I tell you, the VP of their Property Management emailed me the next day to inquire further and then asked if he could call and speak to me as well. It took a few weeks but finally last week, he did call. Mr. VP was super cool and very apologetic. AND ... to make up for it, he offered to let us stay at either of their two NYC hotels "as his guest" whenever we want! Cool, huh? We currently have no plans to go back, but I promise you if the right airfare comes along, we'll be heading back to the Big Apple ... and leaving Little Miss with G&G again :)


Also, in the wake of NYC, I recently checked out the Wicked soundtrack from our library and am loving it just as much the second time around. Sadly, I feel like I have forgotten significant parts of the plot already that occassionally shake lose while I'm singing along as Glinda or Elpheba. In fact, I'm really starting to get the itch to suck it up and purchase tickets for one of the June performances of Wicked here in S.A. as part of Broadway Across America. I'm going to start praying for this little gift :)

In further pursuit of my own personal Wicked Mania, I additionally checked out Wicked (the book) by Gregory Maguire and have to say that so far I am whole-heartedly disappointed - nearly to the point where it is ruining the musical for me and I'm tempted to quit reading it just to perserve the integrity of that experience. Can anyone else offer me their thoughts on this?

What's new with Morgan? Well, I'm glad you asked. Her latest obsession is her "puppies" - the two pictured below. She loves to take them everywhere - as seen here eating lunch with her. She also takes them in the car, wherever we go running errands, and gives them rides in her little toy stroller. It's pretty amusing.


One is a husky like our real dog, Sasha. However, she insists its name is Roxie, like our cat. Whatever. Not a fight worth fighting. And the other is Tramp, from Disney's Lady and the Tramp. It does feel a little weird to tell my daughter that her dog's name is Tramp and then to hear her call him that. Does anyone know if this dog has another name?

NYC 09

Two weeks ago JD and I spent a long four day weekend in NYC to celebrate our five year anniversary. What made it especially great was that Morgan stayed behind with Grandpa and Grandma Schlueter (thanks Dad & Mom) and did wonderfully (so now we know we can do this again!). JD had visited NYC on a few previous occasions, but it was my inaugural trip. And choosing to visit in the spring was a good choice.

There is just SO much to see in this city. We tried to scratch the surface by hitting the "must-see's", but even still we know there is so much more we would've liked to do. Our feet definitely told us each evening that we had seen a lot -- we did a ton of walking! I won't go through all the places we visited. Like I said if it's on your "must-see" list, we probably saw it. One exception: The Met. We're not big museum folk, and we couldn't justify the expense of time it would've taken away from other things we wanted to see.

We did see the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry (which is free and also offers great views of the lower Manhattan skyline). Next trip I think we'd add a boat trip out to the island to see Lady Liberty up close and personal ... and take the side tour to Ellis Island as well.

And, of course, I had the obligatory slab of New York style pizza and a Gray's Papaya hotdog (Ness, remember those from "Fools Rush In"?) :)

One of our favorite experiences was seeing "Wicked" on Broadway - a truly fun twist on the story of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. However, it was in purchasing our tickets for this show that we learned our credit card information had been stolen and used with out our permission. This was a definite downer. Thankfully, our bank caught it and cancelled our cards to protect us from further theft.

We experienced a few other disappointments along the way as well. One included not being able to see into the construction site where the WTCs once stood. Obviously the construction is due to erection of the 9/11 Memorial. We were just bummed it was completely walled off from view.

Deficient customer service was another bruise on the Big Apple. With very limited exceptions, we were treated poorly. It often seemed that servers at restaurants existed merely to take your order and bring you your initial drink -- and then they expected a good tip for this! Even our hotel management when told that someone on their staff may have stolen our credit card information seemed to act like "So? What do you want us to do about it?" Honestly, I've been treated better in France -- and they are openly rude to Americans -- than I was by New Yorkers. For real.

So all in all, it was a good trip with a few blemishes. Jonathan and I really enjoyed our chance to get away as a couple. Even after having Morgan in our lives for just 19 months, we realize how much we need to get away and just be us. And I'm glad to have checked NYC off my list of "Places to Go." To all my Midwestern friends, don't worry - Chicago is still my favorive U.S. city :)

Central Park

Strawberry Fields, Tribute to John Lennon.
I wouldn't be a good Beatles fan if I didn't include this.
But no, I didn't leave the flowers ... I'm not that weird.

A view of the cement jungle (as Jonathan called it)
from Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center).
The depth to the layers upon layers of buildings is amazing.

One of only three pictures taken of us together on this trip.

View of Central Park (all 5o blocks of it) from Top of the Rock.

Atlas

The hub-bub of Grand Central Station.

One of Jonathan's favorite pics taken at Grand Central Station.
He was the cameraman for the majority of the trip.

View of Our Lady from the Staten Island Ferry.

Like I said, JD had the camera most of the time
so there are a lot of shots of me.

Brooklyn Bridge

Yep, it's still New Year's Eve 2009 in Times Square.