Alex occasionally falls asleep during bedtime stories and he is very snuggly (and snores lightly as he has since he was newborn). After I put Brooke to bed I came back to our room where we were reading stories and AJ was still snuggling sweet sleeping Alex. Both of us cannot believe our baby is about to be four years old!
AJ and Brooke planted some sunflowers around our yard. This was the first one to grow flowers. Brooke was so excited she made a sunflower for inside! So cute!
Late Tuesday night I was putting the kids to bed early because we had a long day of camp, magic show at the library, and a pool time playdate, and the doorbell kept ringing. I had already put Alex to bed and so I told Brooke to hold on a minute when I went to answer the door and OMA was there! She said ‘Happy Anniversary!’ and I was very confused. AJ had been very sneaky and planned a HUGE 10 year anniversary trip to New York City since January with Oma coming to watch Brooke and Alex for us. I packed my bags that night because we left the next morning after I took the kids to camp to introduce the teachers to my mom. We flew in that afternoon and enjoyed the view from our amazing W Hotel in Times Square that AJ had selected for us. Then we got to the business of getting travel gifts for Brooke and Alex including ‘I Heart NYC’ shirts, taxi cab toy cars, and custom made M&Ms from the store in Times Square. AJ watched Sex in the City while I got changed for our dinner at Aureole. It was a delicious dinner and afterwards we walked to the NYC Public Library, the Empire State Building, an interesting gem and mineral store, Grand Central Station, and Bryant Park. I took some pictures of the NYC skyline and our Times Square view before bed. In the morning I got up and read The New York Times while I waited for AJ to wake up and called for something for us to eat too. Thursday was our anniversary and the summer solstice so people did yoga in Times Square all day long. AJ had planned a walking tour for us so we started out at Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center. I got a picture in front of Tiffany’s window and The Plaza before we started to explore Central Park. We saw all the sights in the park and decided to have lunch at The Loeb Boathouse overlooking the water. After a delicious lunch we decided to rent bikes to ride all the way to the upper most part of the park and back. We parked our bikes and walked around the reservoir and across the Bow Bridge after seeing some turtles and resting on a sunny rock. We found out that there were bike lanes all throughout the city and we could use them to ride back to Times Square. Once we got back we had a light dinner and drinks before getting ready to see HAMILTON! AJ got us amazing seats to the show on our anniversary and when he told me we were going to Hamilton, I jumped up and down like a little kid. The show was amazing and we had a great time, even getting drinks at intermission in custom Hamilton cups. Friday we walked the High Line in Chelsea, visited Chelsea market, and rode the subway to the Village were AJ got a picture in front of the Friends apartment after we had lunch at Cowgirl. We headed back to hotel to get ready for dinner at Del Posto in Chelsea. We had a five course tasting menu and it was an incredible meal. They spoiled us with desserts at the end and we had them take a few pictures. AJ took a few last pictures of the bright Times Square for our last night in NYC. Saturday morning we had reservations for brunch at Tavern on the Green which was completely amazing. We both agree the best brunch we’ve ever had. We headed back to the hotel to pack up and head back home. It was such a memorable trip and so incredibly sweet for AJ to secretly plan for us to have this amazing experience together for our 10 year anniversary.
This Father’s Day we had a lot of fun celebrating AJ! It started off with a big breakfast then, AJ read to the kiddos while I cleaned up the kitchen. Brooke and Alex were so excited to give AJ his presents. We let AJ have some alone time at home in the morning and then we all went to lunch at one of his favorite places Mr. Jims. After a nap for Alex and more downtime for AJ we all went to the pool for some fun. I cooked AJ his favorite steak and salad for dinner after swimming. Happy Father’s Day AJ!
AJ and I decided to go to Harborfest by ourselves this year for a date night. However, it was such a small festival than in years past, we ended up quickly walking through it and having dinner at Waterside and then to Grain for drinks on their rooftop bier garden.
