take me out to the ball game

we headed back into new york this last week to yankee stadium.

for only $5 a ticket (plus a $15 service fee, $35 parking fee, $10 toll road...), we got to watch the NY yankees play the toronto blue jays.

it really was just fun to be there at the infamous yankee stadium.

it is right there in the middle of a city.

beyond the scoreboard is just city buildings, it was seriously way cool.

we of course were in the very most top section of the stadium but it was a great view and we really enjoyed it.
we brought a few of our own snacks but had to get us some hotdogs.

a few home-runs, 1 grand slam, and 9 innings later, the yankees won 6-2.

 

glad this is just another things we can say we've done!

a weekend of family and new yorkness

so, like i mentioned a while ago, we were lucky enough to have family come in town and play!

cody and camille took the TWELVE hour drive to us with 2 little kids.

they were saints.

but we were so happy to have them here with us, and really couldn't believe they came all the way,

fo' reals people, they were stellar.

it got a little crazy when they got here.

to say it simply, jaden, the 2 1/2 year old, LOVES casey.

LOVES CASEY.

and it's great because, casey loves him.

we somehow made it work with 4 adults, 1 toddler, and 1 newborn in a 1 bedroom apartment with the tiniest bathroom/kitchen and a crappy AC.

it was just the best to have them all there to just talk and play with one another!

the first day we trekked our way to hoboken to see the infamous cake boss!

and boy was it a hot day.

hot and humid.

the line was mostly in the shade but we took every chance we could to go into other shops with AC during the wait.

after waiting in line for over and hour, we were allowed to go in the little itty bitty shop.

HOLY. COW.

it was packed in that place (but at least it had AC!)

it was really fun to be in there with all the pictures on the wall and the beautiful desserts everywhere.

i decided to hang out with baby brielle and the stroller by on side instead of push through the crowds.

it was really fun to just be in there, sit back, and watch all the commotion.

we all walked over to sinatra drive on the river to completely enjoy our sweets.

thankfully, a breeze came by a cooled us a teensy tiny bit, ha.

the sweets chosen were 3 cupcakes, 1 cookie, and 1 brownie/trifle/awesomeness.

jaden couldn't wait long enough for his cupcake,

my m&m cookie was crazy soft and wonderful

the brownie/trifle/awesomeness was rich beyond rich.

i was also surprised with the yummiest red velvet cupcake for my birthday, so good.

after taking the drive back to our place in new jersey,

we jumped in our swimsuits and jumped in that pool ASAP

(ps- we got the pool passes figured out so we didn't have to pay, thank goodness!)

it was seriously tons of fun in the pool.

jaden was a mix of emotions from 

1) YAY! we're going to the pool!

2) no! i don't want to get in the pool!

3) i must cling to you in the pool!

4)  i don't want to walk in the pool!

5) no, stay in the baby pool!

6) no, keep throwing me in the big pool!

7) i want to go back to the big pool!

8) no i don't want to leave the pool!

it was just the funnest thing to play with him in the water.

funniest line from the pool "i don't want to sink, i want to float!"

casey and i then ran to the tiny/fake playground/park by our house to get a bit more of jaden's energy out.

that night we all just hung out at our place talking, playing games and laughing.

we loved being around them.

it brought back so many memories of our fun summer in indiana!

our final day we trekked to central park to hang out.

after driving around for what seemed liked forever, we miraculously found two beloved parking spots by each other.

we walked forever to the great lawn, swung on the swings, lounged on the grass, watched the baseball players, chased jaden around, passed around baby brielle.

funniest memory from the park: casey breaking jaden's stick.

since they were only in town 2 days, we just had to make sure they tasted shake shack since it's seriously like the best burger.

it did not disappoint, and the line was only like 10 minutes!

we walked the 10 blocks back to the car, and right at the end of the last block,

the stroller wheel fell off!

story: the double stroller they were using was the one casey found on the side of the road while working!

it was not the most awesome stroller to begin with but it lasted as long as we needed it to.

it was such a joke, but it got the job done.
and yes, jaden pretty much didn't fit in the front at all...haha he's one large 2 1/2 year old because he's awesome like that.

on the way home we went to liberty park.

we stopped and saw the beautiful back side of lady liberty.

jaden did a great immitation of her, it was great.

we video chatted it up with family that night but it didn't match much longer after that.

i fell asleep while video chatting and cody and camille packed up the family for the next morning.

it really was just the best time with them around.

we were so lucky to get to spend time with those 2 kids because they're changing so much!

luckily we'll get to see them again in august on our way back to nebraska.

till next time familia!

ps- 2 month old brielle was an angel, angel i tell you!
being around her i was like, "yeah, we can do this baby thing!"
but then again when she would cry and neither casey nor i could soothe her that's when we'd look at each other and think "we can't do this! how are we going to do this?!"
ha, my oh my, that will be it's own journey.
i can only pray and hope that soothing your own child is easier than soothing others' like people always say...iye yiy yie.

our day at central park.

after church, we scrounged up food and packed up ourselves to play in central park for the afternoon. this has been our cheapest new york excursion yet.

$3.50 toll to get through the Lincoln tunnel (because we finally had our easy pass)

and that's it!

after driving around the same few blocks for almost a half hour, casey FINALLY found a wonderful parking spot!

hallelujiah!

that first night when we went to shake shack we must have just been lucky bc we found one within 1 minute.
and since it was sunday we spent no money buying anything, yayyyyyy.

of our time spent in new york thus far, we've realized there are two kinds of people:

1. stereotypical new yorkers who aren't helpful when you ask questions and scoff at you like you're a bafoon.

2. crazy nice people 

example 1: that taxi driver 2 weeks ago who said "don't park in a parking garage, every where is free parking in NY after 7 pm saturday nights

example 2: we began parking somewhere we finally thought was legal, we were about to walk away from the car and guy in a car stops at the stop light next to us and says "hey, you're going to get a ticket there bc A, B and C

example 3: when in central park we went looking for a bathroom this one lady gives us the most detailed directions ever to get there to make sure we get there and don't miss it.

so yeah, we've been pleasantly surprised over some of the kindness found in NY.

so, we spent about 3 1/2 hours just lounging in central park for an afternoon.

it was wonderful.

it wasn't way too overly crowded.

the weather was beautiful.

and there were tons of fun people around us playing around.

we had lots of yummy snacks.

it was just a great time to sit out in the sun, relax, and laugh and not feel rushed to go do anything.

we then walked around some of the park for an hour or so.

visiting the turtle pond (those turtles are savages),

seeing bellvadere castle,

and walking past more dogs than i've seen in ages.

there were also quite a few gentleman in their full uniforms walking around memorial day weekend.

we also saw more yammacas (however you spell that word) than i'd ever seen in 1 place before.

we had such a wonderful, relaxing time in central park.

our sunday was perfect.

burgers and parks in nyc

so we spent our saturday night in new york city last weekend.

it kinda stinks with how work works out,

but we do try to steal a few hours in of fun on saturday nights.

casey was the awesome brave driver as always.

he amazes me in driving situations, ha, sounds silly, but true.

i'm getting better at being prepared exactly where we need to be and he's getting better and getting us there somehow.

we went to the infamous shake shack in madison square garden.

we'd been to shake shack in DC with my uncle last summer and were excited for the burgers again!

they really do taste amazing.

and their zig zag fries are sure yummy.

we spent a good half hour or more in line, and after an hour finally got our food.

i was starving, to say the least, and thoroughly enjoyed every bite.

i got the single shack burger and casey the double.

we don't play around when it comes to fries anymore and got 2.

i couldn't believe how busy that place was,

for reals, the line did not ease up one bit the 2 hours we were there.

brooke, christian, and kelly were our wonderful company and made for great laughter through the night.

at 9:30 i realized that the park we wanted to go to closes at 10!

so we speed walked our way 5 blocks toward 10th ave and enjoyed the park for 15 minutes.

the highline is an old elevated railroad track converted into a beautiful park walkway in the midst of the city (and it's free, yay!)

it really was so pretty and fun plus it's like a little haven elevated from the hustle and bustle of the streets.

we will most definitely be going back to visit it in the daytime.

laughter abounded all night.
booke, christian, and kelly are 3 of the funniest people i know.
this summer will be do great with them around.
 

i'm so happy casey is eager and willing to do all the fun things with me.

we have the attitude of "when in rome" when it comes to visiting places and try to do it all and taste it all.

it's just the best.

we're very excited for the many more activities the summer will bring us!

if you've ever been to nyc or lived there at all we'll take all the tips we can get on food and activities!