There was a time...oh, around the whole first year of his life or so,
Lucky for me he grew.
On the drive over Jack and I had a talk about sitting on Santa's lap. He was not interested. So I had to give him a pep talk about standing next to him and when if anyone asks him to sit on Santa's lap he can just say no. It worked out pretty good. When he was asked, he promptly said "NO, thank you" and didn't freak out about being in the picture. Chase was still pretty wary. 
"Can I push it?" 
Jack's letter for Santa. We wrote it just before we got in line, 
We drive past this peak every time we go to or from Mesa so I guess we've seen it like 200 times now and always thought, "It would be cool to hike that someday." Lucky for us we have some awesome friends who were inspired by our Grand Canyon story and talking about fun hikes turned into actually planning one for the next Saturday, no time to loose! 
It is a crazy trail!
The view from the top is really cool. Picacho just sticks up in the middle of a huge flat area between mountains so it is amazing how far you can see!
The hike we did was down a steep trail, along a plateau for about 6 miles and then up another crazy steep trail for a total of about 14 miles. It was amazing! Here we are at the top with Lindsay Melen, thanks for inviting us to come!
And one on the way out. The funny part is that when we were scouting out the hike the night before we saw some people coming up the trail and they went through a tunnel at the very top. So, the next day after we had been hiking straight up for 3 hours we came upon this tunnel, halileuja! We made it!...or so we thought. It turns out there are 2 tunnels, the tunnel at the top was another 45 minues up, sad!
The stats:
We sat out in the back yard watching them glow for an hour. Quinn and I sat and the boys were dancing around them, staring them in the eyes and were generally mesmerized by them.
Grandma and Grandpa were happy to have Buzz and Woody over for Halloween.
"You have candy for me in there, i see it!"
Thats kind of sad really, I guess I am just not a vogue mother. But, the good news is I just bought one. Not that I am expecting a baby any time soon but because it was such an amazing deal! Normall $32 but they are having a deal where you just pay for shipping, $8.95!
Don't ask me why they are doing this but they are so you might as well take advantage of it and get one for yourself, or your friend, or to keep on hand for the next baby shower you get invited to.
Click here and use the promo code:
cranberry2.
Happy nearly free shopping!
Skating across the Brooklyn Bridge. I guess this bridge is the prettiest and everyones favorite so it is the cool thing to walk across it and enjoy the view of Manhattan. We thought it was cooler to skate across it. We were so glad we brought our rollerblades. We skated all over the place. Some of the city skating was a little crazy but it was all fun. 
The New York Stock Exchange. I didn't think this would be particularly interesting but did you know you can't drive on any of the roads directly surrounding the NYSE? or that there is a SWAT team there in full battle rattle every day? Or that there is a comedy troupe in suits and ties doing crazy stuff right in front of the building and broadcasting their antics over the web? Only in NY!
Not everything was perfect. Our boat for seeing the Statue of Liberty only got this close because of the high wind warnings from the Coast Guard. Bummer. I'll see you next time around Lady Liberty.
Quinn found some things he thought were more exciting than I did. 
New York Hot Dogs in Times Square. Our hotel was right in Times Square so we hung out there every night, it is hoppin at night. There are more people there at midnight than at noon. 
And Cupcakes!! I ate so many cup cakes. These ones from Crumbs were beautiful but didn't compare to the yumminess of Magnolia cupcakes (Magnolia is famous on Sex and the City). They are my new love. 
Last but not least, here I am with a real celebrity! Linny from the Today show. What you don't know Linny? (Click on his name to find out more) He is the guy who is at EVERY taping of the today show. He just stands there straight faced watching it all go on. He was surprisingly nice and personable. We had a good little chat. I was there in the crowd for a few minutes on 2 different mornings, it was so fun!
Well, he is. Along with being nice, funny, helpful, cute, blah blah blah...he is also the kind of guy that makes dreams come true. Dreams like going to New York City, staying in a nice hotel on broadway, seeing the sights, eating the food etc. etc.
Yes, you guessed it, my Wicked awesome husband surprised me with the news about this upcoming jaunt to New York for 3 nights just because he knows that I have always wanted to go there. At first it was going to be a real surprise, like go to the airport with out knowing where we were going type of surprise but he just couldn't stand it any longer so he gave me 1 clue a day until I guessed it. (It took me 4 days) So, next week I will finally be experiencing the real deal. It will be like Seinfeld, Project Runway, Friends, Maid in Manhattan, Confessions of a Shopaholic, 27 Dresses, P.S. I love you, etc. (Ugh, do you think I watch too much tv/movies?)
Oh and did I mention that he got us 2 tickets to see Wicked on the real Broadway while we are there? Is that like amazing or what?! See, he really is Wicked awesome!
Jack was a real trooper. He had no naps, did lots of walking and went a long time between meals but he never complained. At the end of each ride, "I wanna do it again!"
Here we are with our two little mice in front of the pumpin Mickey. 
Of course waiting in line was not the best part but Jack didn't seem to mind as he was like a monkey on those rails. 
Chase needed more entertainment while waiting. 
Daddy is good entertainment.
Before we went on this trip Jack didn't know who Buzz Lightyear was but now he can't get 
Here he is on the Buzz ride, we rode this ride the most times of any. He asked for this ride after almost every other ride.
The life-size cars were so cool, it felt like we could just jump in and go for a spin.
Here we are on "It's a Small World" It really is a small world at disneyland Quinn saw a guy he knew from ROTC and I saw a girl from my high school like 2 hours after I made the comment that I wanted to see someone I know!
Fueling up for the long drive home. It was sad to leave but we did get to stop in and have dinner at a restaurant that Quinn used to frequent on his mission. It was some very authentic mexican food served by some very authentic mexicans in a town that looked very much like mexico.
