Christmas in NYC!!!

So I decided to meet my parents with the kids in the city to see the Christmas excitement yesterday. I was fully prepared for traffic, crowds, and keeping a toddler and a preschooler entertained and happy. The trip in was fairly easy- we had no traffic, but a couple of quick stops so Anya could pee in a diaper. I didn't want to lug around the potty chair in the van so we had to improvise, but it worked out OK. The first snag came when I packed the kids into the stroller bundled up to the max so I couldn't hear Anya when she was telling me that she had to pee again. OOPS, bad mommy! What was the result? A full-on accident completely soaking her pants- ugh. I didn't realize this until we had met my parents (as they drove across Broadway and we walked up to that intersection- couldn't have planned that!) and went into Virgil's for lunch. THis brings me to the second snag....our plan was to hit TRU first and ride the Ferris Wheel. TRU was CLOSED.....supposedly, there was a pipe explosion or something- rats! Luckily, the kids were so happy to see GramPapPap that they forgot all about TRU.

Our lunch at Virgils went great- Anya spent half of it wrapped in my coat as I ran out to the Gap to get her new pants (I sported my dad's jacket!)....what parents do for their kids, huh? Baz wouldn't be separated from PapPap. I was a distant second to my dad- even when he tried to go get my mom's coat from their car, Baz insisted on going along.

The next stop was Rockefeller center. By now, the snow was coming down fairly heavily and it really felt like Christmas!!! Baz was maxxing out on the cold and lack of sleep, so after a quick look at the tree and the ice skaters, we stopped in the Nintendo store to warm up. Yep- even on a trip without George, we hung out with Mario!!! We actually had to drag both kids out- if it weren't for the promise of seeing Mickey, I think we'd STILL be at Nintendo!!!

Disney came through with the usual magic.... as we entered the store, Baz popped for the lifesize Goofy statue. Both kids ran gleefully though the store, only getting more excited when they discovered that there was yet another level to explore. Baz went nuts over the stuffed LMQ pillows and ANya zeroed in on the Haunted Mansion Clue game that she decided to use her bday money to buy. As we hung out in this area, I heard an announcement about characters arriving shortly- woohoo!!! As I did my research the day before, I found that Wednesdays were not a usual day for meet and greets, so this was a surprise (or I would have made sure to pack Anya's autograph book- we play autograph session on a daily basis). We then had the pleasure of meeting Santa Goofy and Xmas Chip & Dale. Baz unfortunately is behaving as a toddler and wanted nothing to do with these characters unless we were separated by a pane of glass. A high five warmed him up a bit- I guess we have to practice a bit before our trip!

The ride home was tedious since we hit the peak of rush hour, but the kids handled it well, so it was OK. Anya couldn't open her game fast enough, but I think it'll be a while before she really "gets" it. She threw a massive tantrum at bedtime- this one was a real doozy, but she did eventually break out of it and go to sleep. The aftermath wasn't even bad- she got up with no problem, got ready for my office and school with no drama- yay!!!!