The Weitz Family Visits Washington

After what seemed like many months of planning and a few failed attempts at picking a weekend, we finally had our 2^nd weekend visit from Jess, Jon and Ethan. They arrived on the train Friday afternoon and stayed until early Sunday afternoon. It was a quick trip, but we packed in a lot of fun! 

On Friday, we had a nice dinner out at Silver Diner. Perfect for kids and great food, it ended up being a perfect choice. On Saturday morning, we drove up to Clemyjontri Park in McLean. I had a feeling Ethan would love this park, and I think it’s safe to say I was right. Quinn and Keely like it too, but we only go there when we have little ones in town. Quite honestly, they are just too old for parks but they like to live vicariously through the younger friends and cousins we bring there. 

We spent about an hour there and then it was time to head home and get Keely ready for her soccer game. After the game, we decided to head downtown to visit the Air & Space Museum. The museum was a hit with all, and we spent about 2 hours there before heading home to prepare dinner. Insert my WWBHM post here, because that picks up our activities from dinner through about 9 AM when I finished running the following morning. I was so happy to have 3 extra people in my cheering squad on Sunday morning! After my race, we had brunch at Jukebox Diner. Before we knew it, the time had come to bring our guests to Union Station for their return train back to NYC. It was too quick, but there were a lot of laughs and a ton of fun. We are so glad to live close enough to see them – though not as often as we would like, it’s working out to once or twice a year and I know I look forward to these visits.

Other fun stuff to mention – teaching Jess and Jon Anomia (and Jess getting a little too enthusiastic about playing!), teaching Jon to rainbow loom, and we can't forget Keely’s salon complete with massages, manicures, hair styling and even magazines to read in the waiting room!

It was definitely a fun time, and I’m so glad they were able to make the trip down to see us. Next time, we’re looking forward to visiting New York and Brooklyn, or even meeting in the middle for a getaway (Philly is the most likely place). I don’t know exactly when it will be, but I do know I look forward to the next time we get to hang with the Weitz Family :)

The Best of Friends

By my recollection, Jess and I met the summer after 4th grade when we were both campers at Manalapan Recreation (or what we called Rec for sure).  I was 10, she was about to turn or just had turned 11.  We didn't go to the same school at the time, but we met up in middle and high school.  No matter how much time passes or how far apart we are, we always fall right back in line with each other.  We've spanned different colleges, different states, have been leading arguably different lives - but our friendship has remained true and pure.  We are now both 35, and we marvel that it has been 25 years.

We are both thrilled to finally be living on the same coast...the closest we have lived to each other since we were in high school.  We visited New York in November for the kids' TV debut (which was made possible by Jess) and they made a trip to DC this weekend to stay with us, and do some sightseeing.  We have created a bit of a monster with Keely (Keyak as Ethan calls her) and Ethan...a bit of an obsession.  Ethan just loves her, and was so excited to be seeing her again this weekend.  They spent most of the time together.  She was such a diligent babysitter, waking up much earlier than usual to hang with E, and taking such good care of him.  She even took a bath with him (her in a bathing suit, of course) and I question who enjoyed that bath more.  There was much laughter and good conversations, and Jess and Jon got to experience the bliss of having older children around to care for the little one so that they could relax and chat as adults get to do when their kids get older.  We braved some pretty cool April weather on Saturday to explore DC...walking around the Washington Monument and WWII Memorial.  We followed that with some museum hopping, from American History (love that First Ladies exhibit) to Natural History (the Titanoboa exhibit is pretty cool, along with the old favorites) and then a bit of the Castle and the surrounding gardens.  After some downtime back at the Donovan homestead, we headed back out for an early dinner in Old Town Alexandria.  This was Jon's idea, and thanks to Jess and yelp.com we found what will most definitely be a repeat dinner establishment for us...the Columbia Firehouse.  We walked down to get some cupcakes from what will most definitely not be a repeat bakery for us (they weren't worth the calories) and then down to the water.  We didn't get rained on, and it was a busy but fun day.

Their visit was so much fun, and we wished it would have been a bit longer but it was really perfect.  We're already talking about another meet-up...Philadelphia is being discussed or maybe we will be NY bound again.  It's so great that we are both so close to Amtrak. 

And I've just had the realization that I can credit Rec for both my soul mate and my lifelong best friend.  It's unlikely that James and I would have met without Rec and while it's likely that Jess and I would have, it's still where we can credit the beginning of that friendship.  How amazing!

New York City & The Today Show

About a week ago, I got a surprise e-mail from my oldest friend Jessica.  Jess and I have been friends since we were 10 years old - Quinn's age! - and no matter how far apart we are or how long it's been since we have seen or talked with each other, it's always like no time has passed.  Our friendship is so true and pure, and one of a kind.  It is really a friendship for the ages and I always enjoy whatever interactions we can get.  So the e-mail I got from her was a question asking if Quinn or Keely would be interested in making an appearance on The Today Show.  Jess' upstairs neighbor is a publicist for Parents Magazine and they were doing a bit on their article in the November issue about the best toys of 2011.  They needed kids to play with some of the toys while the editor and hosts (Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotbe) talk about the toys.  The date of the show being Monday would have been a problem, but the kids happened to be on their fall break.  We'd toyed with going somewhere for a long weekend (Florida, Boston) but hadn't booked anything - so we were free, and we decided to have both kids participate in the show and make a weekend in NYC.  I booked train tickets and two free nights at the Hilton New York. 

We left for New York on Saturday afternoon.  The kids had never been on Amtrak before, and it was a fun experience.  It's a pretty quick trip - only a little over 3 hours - and much, much easier than driving to NYC.  When we arrived, we walked the mile to our hotel, through Times Square.  The kids loved seeing all the activity...we saw at least 5 Elmos, Shrek, Woody (Toy Story), Mickey, Minnie and some others I am sure I am forgetting.  We had beautiful weather the entire trip, and the night's walk was cool but not cold.

Sunday we planned to spend with Jess, Jon and Ethan.  We knew Ethan, now almost 2 years old, only through pictures and were so excited to meet him and see his parents!  We met up with them at Chelsea Market after taking the subway down from midtown.  Jess and Jon planned a walking tour of many NYC neighborhoods starting from the west side over to the east side.  We walked a really nice path called the High Line, an old elevated freight train track that has been converted into a multi purpose path.  We walked along the Hudson River, enjoying the views of NJ and Lady Liberty and let the kids play at a cool playground.  We walked through the West Village, SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown   We had lunch in Chinatown...our first experience with dim sum and it was so yummy.  We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and then down Court Street in Brooklyn, the kids enjoying some ice cream along the way.  We must have walked 5 miles and we saw so much.  We walked and laughed, and all enjoyed each other's company.  Somewhere along the way, Ethan and Keely bonded and he developed a name for her - something like Keeyak or Kiosk.  We ended up at Jess and Jon's in Brooklyn and hung out for a while.  Keely enjoyed feeding Ethan dinner and it's safe to say Ethan entertained us all until it was time for him to hit the hay.  After all, we all had a big day coming up with all three kids making their TV debut.  We took the subway back to midtown and found some dinner at Angelo's Coal Fired Pizza.

Monday morning dawned and we prepared for our walk down to the NBC studios.  After a few wardrobe changes (for Keely, obviously) we made our way to the studio.  We were shown into the Green Room...a place for those waiting for a TV bit.  They had food, TV, sitting area and a hair/makeup area.  Keely wanted Jess to do her hair, but Keely got lucky because the studio hairstylists had an opening and did her hair professionally!  She was thrilled to bits.  We waited patiently for the time to come to head up to the studio.  The kids only got about 5 minutes with the toys before they were on live TV.  The parents all stood off to the side and tried to stay quiet.  I watched live, instead of on the TV they had in the studio.  We didn't see the actual TV production until we got home last night and relived it.

All I can say is live TV is crazy.  I have a new respect for those who do this day in and day out.  When you combine live TV and kids, you never know what might happen.  And chaos is what ensued on this 3-4 minute bit.  The hosts and Parents editor were so cool and calm though, improvising and moving along as if nothing was everything was going according to plan.  Keely and another girl were on TV live in a teaser about 5 minutes before the spot, that went great from what I understand.  The actual bit was so funny, although mostly because we knew what was going on from behind the scenes.  Ethan decided he didn't want to play with Elmo as planned, he wanted to be near Keely.  Then he wanted to play Connect Four and he pulled it off the table.  Keely was such a natural, laughing and giggling and reacting to Ethan in the funniest way.  Things calmed down then when Quinn was last on his unicycle.  He only got 5 minutes to practice and it was hard to ride!  I'm impressed that he was able to move back and forth, and happy he didn't fall off.  We got his hair cut and gelled it for nothing though, since he was wearing a helmet :)  Well, not for nothing - he was in serious need of a haircut.  You can see the clip at this link, and we will be getting a DVD in the mail so we can preserve it forever.  It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity, and one that we will remember forever!  Thanks to Jess for knowing the right people, and thinking of Quinn and Keely to help out.

After our brush with TV fame, we had the rest of the day to spend in NYC.  We went to FAO Schwartz and explored, the kids playing on the 'Big' piano.  We walked through Central Park, eating pretzels and knishes from one of the many food carts.  The kids played on the huge stone playground.  We went to the Stage Door Deli for lunch/dinner before our train departed for home.

We all enjoyed our trip to New York.  I love that we got to be tourists in NYC, something that neither James nor I have ever gotten to do.  The kids enjoyed it too, and I think we'll definitely make this a repeat appearance.  It's nice to be so close and have the train as an option.  A year ago, we were still in Utah and I never would have thought in one year, the kids will be on The Today Show and we will be visiting New York for a weekend...just because we can.  I'd say the East Coast is treating us pretty well :)