Lilian Takes Manhattan Brooklyn

Thursday morning, we packed the whole family (minus the cats, the poor cats never get to go anywhere) and drove down to NYC for the weekend. Why Thursday morning? My company is based out of NJ, and I wanted to spend a couple days working out of our main office.

Bonus points for Kristian doing most of the driving.

Bonus bonus points for getting a couple hours of work done while Kristian did most of the driving.

Thursday and Friday featured driving. A lot of driving. Lilian got to spend Thursday afternoon with my sister and niece, melting the hearts of everyone that they encountered.

That night, we took Lilian to a bar to meet up with some friends in their back garden. We also got tacos from the Kimchee Taco down the straight. Baby + bar + kimchee tacos = just about about as Brooklyn as you can get.

(Not pictured, Lilian munching happily on my friend Meredith’s bracelet).

Friday, Kristian and Lilian got to hang out.

(Lunch at a beerhall not pictured)

Saturday, we met up with my sister and her family for an awesome block party. I mean, there were decorate-your-own cupcakes. What’s not to love?

(Not pictured, the ice cream truck where the kids could order whatever their little hearts desired).

(Also not pictured, every kid in the immediate vicinity losing their tiny little minds).

My Mom and Step-Dad also came down for the weekend, which meant that they got to do some babysitting spend some quality time with Lilian. Which meant that Kristian and I got to catch up on our relaxing.

(I am really far behind on my relaxing).

Friday night, we took the Metro out to Coney Island to see a Brooklyn Cyclones game. Lilian had mixed feelings about her first encounter with a subway.

My niece, on the other hand, is a fan.

We got to Coney Island, just as the Mermaid Parade was ending.

(Not pictured, hundreds and hundreds of drunk, sun-soaked mermaids).

MCU park, where the Brooklyn Cyclones play, is pretty nifty. And you can’t beat the view!

Or the food!

(Nathan’s hot dogs and chili fries, FTW).

Any my family caught a foul ball! My brother-in-law was somehow convinced that this would happen. And he was totally right. I missed it happening (Kristian and I were walking a cranky baby around the concourse), but I guess the ball was going straight for my nephew, my sister batted it down mama-bear style, my brother-in-law got a piece of it, and then my nephew picked up off the ground.

My sister also caught one of those t-shirts that they fling at the fans. She was on a roll! We thought it could come in useful as a baby warming device. Especially since said baby’s mother packed everything you could ever think of possibly maybe using at a ballpark. Except an extra sweatshirt or sweater. Which would have been really useful. We wrapped Lilian in a t-shirt in the off-chance that it might cheer her up.

It…. did not.

We stayed as late as we could, but eventually it was pretty obvious that Lilian was no longer enjoying herself. I blame the fact that she’s the only person in our group who didn’t get to eat a hot dog. We left around the 6th inning, which means that we missed the fireworks that they set off at the end of the game. We did, however, get to see the Jackie Robinson statue outside the ballpark.

Jackie Robinson, as you might remember, is kindof my jam.

The statue commemorates Pee Wee Reese putting his arm around Jackie Robinson, as a show of solidarity in a sea of racism. It’s pretty inspiring.

We also got to see the super moon. Which is like a regular moon. But super.

By the time we got back to the subway, Lilian was out.

We got her home without incident. She happily dozed through the entire bedtime process, which involved a lot of undoing of makeshift baby warming devices.

Kristian stayed at our friend’s apartment with her, and I went off to a hipster bar to drink seltzer water and feel old. And stay up late catching up with friends.

I always hope that keeping Lilian up a little late will mean that she sleeps in a little. I was especially hoping to get a little sleep in after staying out until 1am. Of course, dreams were made to be broken. Lilian woke up around 5am and refused to go back to sleep until I fed her. And then she was up for good around 7:15.

Good thing she’s so cute!

 

Also a good thing: Kristian taking Lilian and Gracie for a walk while I got another half hour of sweet, blessed sleep.

We met up for one last visit with my sister’s family, and then we hit the road. And the road hit back. I think it took us about 6 hours to get home. Good thing we enjoy each other’s company so much!

It was a great weekend. Completely exhausting, but great.