Oh the Places You'll Go... In a Heat Wave!

This past week, Lucas, Matt and myself ventured to New York. Yes... that means that I had two days to unpack from our trip to Colorado, do laundry and repack for a week trip in New York. We have been planning this trip for a little while. Matt's grandparents live in upstate New York and we wanted them to meet Lucas. Little did we know... we were going to be in New York when it was having its hottest temperatures since 2001. You might think that Tucson is HOT in the summer at 100+ degrees. Well, you are quite wrong. New York is HOT at 100+ degrees with 90% humidity. The sweat just rolls down your back and there is nothing that you can do about it. The trip was worth it and we had a great time!

Lucas with his Great Grandparents.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Ralbovsky.

Great Grandpa, Great Grandma, Grandma, Dad and Lucas.

There are four generations.

Lucas' middle name is Mason.

It is after the street that Matt's grandparents live on in New York.

We went on many adventures. One of those being on a 6 hour plane ride with an 8 month old. Lucas did well. The first leg of the trip he did great until the last 30 minutes. The only way I can describe his mood... was PISSED (pardon my language). Luckily we sat next to a very understanding man who has 2 boys of his own. On the way home, Lucas did much better. He slept most of the time and played well. On one of the planes we had a row to ourselves so we let Lucas sit in one of the seats. He thought he was hot stuff.

Lucas sitting in his OWN seat on the plane.

Isn't he just the cutest.

Anyway... now I will go into the rest of our adventures day by day.

Friday: We arrived in Johnstown, New York really late. We rolled in about 11 pm. Lucas was tired after a long day of travel (6 hours on a plane, 3 hours in a car from the airport), but wanted to play before he went to bed. We were very lucky because one of Mary Ann's friends who lives in town let us borrow some of her toys that she has for her grandchildren. Lucas was VERY happy to have toys to play with.

Saturday: We took a day trip to Saratoga. It has a cute Main Street and there is a horse race track. Matt wanted to visit there because there is a lot of history in the town. It was nice to get out and walk around some cute shops. Of course, our first stop was at the toy store. Lucas is now fans of Elmo and Cookie Monster. He thinks they are so funny. So we let him play with the toys there. This is our new trick... Let him play with the toys in the store and then we don't buy them. I know this won't work long, but for right now, it is nice.

Saratoga's Main Street.

There are all of these horse statues around the town.

They are beautiful.

Lucas and Matt.

Lucas and myself.

Finally, a picture of me with my son in a blog.

Then in the evening we relaxed at Matt's grandparents' house. Mind you, they do not have air conditioning and it was 90 degrees. In the evening, we went to Pine Lake to watch fireworks. We celebrated the Fourth on Saturday instead of Sunday. Most places were having the fireworks on Saturday. Lucas had a blast during the fireworks. I was a little worried that he would get scared, but he is his Mama's son and couldn't get enough. We were so close to the fireworks that we even ducked a couple of times because it felt like they were coming right at us.

Pine Lake where we celebrated the Fourth.

Lucas crawling around.

Yes folks. He is crawling!

Lucas and me waiting for the fireworks to begin!

He couldn't stop watching them.

Sunday: We went to church in the morning. Then in the afternoon we went out for ice cream at this cute little ice cream shop. It reminds me of an ice cream shop from the 1950's. I ordered a double scoop so that I could share with Lucas. Boy, did he LOVE the ice cream. Every time I would take a bite, he would scream at me because he wanted more. He had it all over his face. Don't judge me about giving him ice cream. It was a very warm day and the ice cream was so COLD. It just felt good. Plus, Lucas started cutting 2 more teeth on top and he was uncomfortable.

The ice cream shop.

See how WIDE his mouth is.

Oh, and see how it is all over his face.

Do you think he enjoyed it?

This is a video of Lucas eating the ice cream.

Monday: We took a trip to Cooperstown. This is where the Baseball Hall of Fame is located. It is this cute town with a lot of history. It was interesting to see all of the baseball memorabilia. They had everything you could imagine from Babe Ruth to the Women's league.

Cooperstown

Lucas with a statue of a Sandlot child.

Doubleday Field.

It is named after the inventor of baseball.

Lucas running the bases.

He thought this was so funny.

The next MVP of the 2032 All Star Game?

Matt and Lucas in front of Babe Ruth's locker.

This is the bat and ball from the famous, "Shot Heard 'Round the World."

Lou Gehrig's locker.

The Phillie Fanatic.

Jackie Robinson's memorabilia.

"The Babe"

A League of Their Own.

Then in the evening, after I think we were all melting, we went to return the toys to Mary Ann at her house. Luckily, they have a pool. Lucas couldn't wait to get in. We didn't have any intentions of going swimming, but as soon as Lucas spotted the pool, he started to yell. We put him in onesie and all. He splashed and giggled. It was then decided that Matt would go and get the swimsuits so he could really enjoy it. Lucas didn't want to get out at the end of the evening. The pool was about 75 degrees, but it felt SOOOO good.

Mary Ann and Rich with Lucas.

They are the ones that lent Lucas the toys and had the pool.

See how Lucas is staring at Rich. He thinks he is Santa.

Lucas trying to get into the pool, clothes, diaper and all.

Which is why...

He had an outfit change.

He is in his swimsuit and having the best time!

Tuesday: Matt's grandpa goes to coffee every day during the week. He has been doing this for years. He meets up with some of his former postal workers and they chat, tell jokes and enjoy each other's company. So we thought we would join him before heading off to the City. Plus, coffee is at McDonald's that has air conditioning. Lucas is now the youngest member in the coffee group. Lucas enjoyed the admiration of the gentlemen there and a pancake. Then later that morning we took off for the City. We made a little side trip first. We went to Hoboken, New Jersey to Carlo's Bakery. If you aren't familiar with it, it is from the show Cake Boss on TLC. It is one of my favorite shows. I just had to go there. Unfortunately, it was one of the hotter days. We waited in line for about an hour and half before we made it in the store. Lucas and Matt spent time in a store to stay out of the heat. I teenager even passed out in line. Thankfully she was alright. Anyway... we got into the store and ordered our goodies. I got a red velvet cupcake, cannolis, and a cookie. I must say they were quite delicious.

Frank.

The inside of the bakery and one of the cakes.

Finally we made it to our hotel in Times Square about 5 pm. We checked in and made our way to get some New York pizza at Famiglia's (so YUMMY). Then we walked to Central Park. It is one of my favorite places in New York. It is so pretty. We took Lucas to a playground and let him swing and play in the water sprayers. He was so happy.

Central Park.

Isn't it just gorgeous?

Look how happy he is.

After that we took Lucas back to the hotel and put him to bed. Matt's mom watched Lucas so Matt and I could go out for a little sightseeing, shopping and a drink. It was like we had our own personal nanny. We were very thankful that she went with us.

Wednesday: We got up early and made our way to the Today Show. We waited for a little while hoping for our chance to get on television. We saw Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and Minute to Win It. Then it was our chance to get on. The weatherman (not Al Roker he wasn't there that day, but some other man) came out to go over the weather for the day and the opening shot was of Matt and Lucas waving, then it panned over to me and Mary Ann. We got several texts from people saying they saw Matt and Lucas on the Today Show.

A clip from us on the Today Show.

This picture was sent via my dad from his tv.

Guy Fieri.

He did a segment on Minute to Win It.

After, it was starting to get hot, so Mary Ann took Lucas back to the hotel and Matt and I went to SoHo to a famous pancake restaurant. We saw it on Bobby Flay's Throwdown and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to try the blueberry pancakes. They were SOOO DELICIOUS. Then we walked around SoHo a little bit and went back to the hotel to cool off.

The Delicious blueberry pancakes and maple butter syrup.

The before.

The after.

We shared them and couldn't even finish.

After Lucas took a nap we went to Toys R Us. We let Lucas play with the toys and then Mary Ann bought him a bear that made Lucas smile and laugh. It was his souvenir from the trip.

Lucas and myself in front of the t-rex at Toys R Us.

Later that evening, Matt and I went out to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. It really isn't until July 23rd. This was part of the reason we went on the trip. First to see his grandparents and then to celebrate our marriage. We went out to dinner at Bobby Flay's restaurant, Bar Americain. We enjoyed a good meal. I highly recommend the filet mignon if you make it there. It was nice to have a dinner out together, just the two of us. After dinner, we went for a quick drink before heading the our show. While we were having drinks, Matt surprised me with a nice note and a new ring. It is a Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow ring. It is GORGEOUS. He is so sweet and such a wonderful husband. After the nice surprise, we headed for our show, Promises Promises. It was so funny and wonderful. Such a special evening and a perfect way to celebrate out 10 years together.

Matt and myself on our way to celebrate.

Promises, Promises.

Such a great show.

Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth were the stars in the show.

Thursday: We made our way back home.

So those are all of the places we went... with an 8 month old. It was so nice to get away, see Matt's grandparents, have them meet Lucas, see the City and celebrate an anniversary. It is a trip we will never forget and one to remember.