4th of July, New York Style

Robert and I wanted to get in a short kid-free trip before Baby 2 arrives and decided to spend a long weekend in New York. Some friends of ours recently had a baby, and we wanted to visit them as well as have some time to sleep in, talk, and eat at a non-toddler friendly restaurant. My parents graciously came to SA to spend the weekend with Claire, and we were able to enjoy our time together without stress. Here's the rundown of our weekend:

FRIDAY
Our flight left early (around 7) and we were at our hotel by early afternoon. We stayed less than a block from Chris and Ashley's apartment, so after settling in and grabbing snack at Red Mango, we went over to the apartment to visit with Ashley and Baby Ruby. I loved getting to hold a newborn again - she is a doll! That evening we visited the Modern Museum of Art before having dinner at Fishtail by David Burke. We had lobster dumplings and mussels as appetizers, and for the entree, Robert had a whole lobster while I had the diver scallops with foie gras raviolini. We shared a side of lobster macaroni and a dessert of chocolate mousse and praline ice cream. The waitstaff was attentive, and we definitely enjoyed our food and our time together.

SATURDAY
We slept in (yay!) and spent most of the day walking around NYC with Chris, Ashley and Ruby. There were several stops - lunch at Wildwood BBQ, farmers' market in Union Square (where we bought some fresh pitted cherries to snack on), Starbucks, Purl in Soho, and dinner at Otto for pizza and gelato (we had to try the famous olive oil gelato, and it lived up to the hype!). It was a fun and leisurely afternoon. After dinner the Gimbels headed home, and Robert and I walked over to the Meatpacking District to see Highline Park, which has been developed on an elevated train track. It was close to sunset when we got there, and it was full of people, but not crowded. There is a good view of the sunset over the water and several art installations along the way.

We walked the entire length of the park before heading back to our hotel. Later I calculated that we walked about 8 miles that day - no wonder I was a little sore!

SUNDAY
We took it easy Sunday morning getting ready to leave. Lunch was at the Shake Shack, a place we were hoping we'd get a chance to revisit. The lines can get out of control during the summer, so we arrived shortly after opening and only waited in line for about 15 minutes. Our burgers, hot dog, fries and strawberry shake were just as good as we remembered! After a quick stop to say goodbye to the Gimbels, we headed to the airport for our flight home. Other than a delay at DFW for about an hour and a half, the trip home was completely smooth. Claire was already asleep when we arrived home, and we turned in ourselves after a quick peek at her and a short visit with my mom.

The trip was exactly what we were hoping for, and Claire did great with my parents. This was the first time we'd both been away from her for more than a day/night, and Mom and Dad kept her busy and happy. So happy that she wasn't as anxious to see us on Monday morning as I thought she would be, but I was glad that she wasn't pining away for us the whole time. :) We were able to spend Monday as a family, including lunch with two of Robert's cousins, Ashley & Mike, and Mike's girlfriend who were passing through town. We all enjoyed our last 4th as a family of 3!