Day in the City with Gma and Gpa

On Wednesday my Mom and Dad drove down to the city to pick us up and bring us to CT, but not before we spent one more fun-filled day in the big city...

While Anna was getting her yearly hair done at Shizen Japanese Salon in the East Village, Mom, Dad and I took Madison to a local park...

Gma enjoyed pretending to put Madison's hood up while swinging her...

Madison enjoyed it too...

A black squirrel enjoyed the banana peels Gpa threw...

Madison waves to her fans as she waits patiently for Mommy to finish...

She also had time to brush up on her reading...

Mommy in action...

The finished product...A sneak photo of Anna and her new hairdo...After Mommy was done we headed up town to visit the official Santa at Macy's in Herald Square...

The line looked menacingly long, but we were assured it would only take a half hour...it was then I knew that Macy's must have like twenty secret Santa's and I was RIGHT!!!

They really do a great job of hiding it though...first everyone weaves through Santa's Northpole hideout...
Madison was happy to arrive...it wouldn't last :-)

We weaved through elaborately decorated trees and even Santa's sleigh...

Then it was time to be ushered into our stable like horses getting in the gate...it was smoothly done, not a hint of all the other Santa's that encircled us as we prepared to meet our big red guy...

All it took was one glimpse and even sitting on my lap Madison was a goner...this probably violates some sort of copyright laws, but you pay so much for the pictures we just have to share Madison's first official visit to Santa...
And the aftermath...

Scarred for life...I'm certain!!

After her visit to Santa Madison was ready to say goodbye to NYC...

So we hit the train back to Sunnyside where Gma and Gpa had parked...

And it was off to CT for more Christmas fun!!

Friends in NYC...

While we don't have any visual proof, Sunday we had a great time worshiping and visiting with our old congregation at Springfield Gardens...it was well worth the three trains and taxi ride it took to get there!!

Then on Tuesday Anna and I split up and she visited her old playgroup friends with Madison, while I went and visited old co-workers at my former school and then took out a few of my former players for some fun in the big city...

First Anna's pictures...

Group Shots

PlaytimeMasaki makes his move...

Awwwww...

While Madison was busy with her boyfriend, I had a great visit with my former co-workers and then took three of my former players to Dave and Busters for lunch and some game play...

Of course the first thing I always have to do is break the pop-a-shot record...

Mission accomplished..

Anna and Madison met us at Dave and Busters...

Madison wasted no time winning 150 tickets by picking the right color that a ball bounced into...
She also took the lead when the six of us raced...we came in second...
Time for goodbyes...

Revisiting our old home sweet home.../前住んでいたニューヨークを訪れて...

Over the next few days we will recap our trip back East so as not to overwhelm you all at once...
今日から２、３日間をかけて東海岸へ帰った旅行日記を語る事にしましょう...

NYC PART 1:
ニューヨークパート1:

Twas the first day of vacation and off we would go, back to the Big Apple to visit friends we did know...
ロングビーチを出発してまず最初の目的地はもちろん５ヶ月前まで住んでいたニューヨーク...

Madison waited by the window with care in hopes that our delayed plane would soon be there...
空港で他の子達と一緒に遅れていた飛行機を待っているマディソン...

Madison working on her look for a runway of a different kind...
マディソンだけちょうど良く振り返ってハイポーズの練習中...

While other kids were nestled snug in their beds, Madison and parents posed on the rooftop deck of Dave's former Co-worker Mrs. Ritter as the NYC skyline looks on...
子供達はもうとっくに寝ている遅い時間にやっとニューヨークに到着。その日に泊まらせてもらった友達の住んでいるマンションの屋上で綺麗な光景を後ろに家族写真第一弾...

Okay I can't remember anymore of Twas the night and I'm getting tired, so back to the boring version...

At a Japanese restaurant we asked for a cup with a lid for Madison and they accommodated us the best they could...
ご飯を食べた日本食屋さんでマディソン用にお水をふたのあるカップに入れてくださいと言ったらこれが出て来た...デカイ！

It went good with Madison's favorite snack...Edamame!!
マディソンのお気に入りのえだまめでご機嫌：）

The tree at Rockefeller Center...
ロカフェラセンターのクリスマスツリー...

Our purple girl was snug in her bugaboo...
バガブーの中で観光中のマディソン...

The snowflakes on Sak's 5th Ave...
サクスフィフスアブの有名な雪の結晶...

And the video (this year with bubbles)...
そして雪の結晶とシャボン玉のダンス...

Rockefeller Center Court...
クリスマスツリーを真正面から、天使達に囲まれて...

No words needed...
説明無用...

We always pick the people with the best cameras to take our picture because we figure they take good pictures...this lady did a pretty good job...
いつも高そうなカメラを持っている人に写真を頼むんだけど、やっぱりこの人なかなか上手に撮ってくれました...

Apparently Anna thought this picture of the tree through the angel was cool...
天使の羽の向こう側に見えるツリーが気に入りました...

Bonus Picture: Our friends Chris and Grace were again kind enough to stay at our place and watch Ellie and Coco for us so Anna created this advent calendar for them with clues inside each day to the location of the gifts we hid around the apartment...they had a good time with it!
ボーナス写真：私達の友達夫妻のクリスとグレースがビーンズ達の面倒を見てくれたのでその間にちょっとしたゲームを作りました。こっちでは１２月１日からクリスマスの日まで毎日戸を開けるアドベントカレンダーって言うのがあるんだけど、特別に毎日ヒントを使ってプレゼントを探してもらう事に...２人ともとても楽しんでくれたみたい！

Klein's 3rd Christmas and a trip into the city.../３回目のクリスマスとちょっとマンハッタンまでの巻

The day began with the long awaited arrival of the Iwai Family Christmas Presents from Japan... So we wasted no time ripping into them and beginning our third Christmas. So grab your favorite beverage, pull on your Snuggie and make sure you have at least 10 minutes to enjoy the excitement of a mother and her daughter pulling gifts from a box.
今日、長い事待っていた日本の家族からの荷物が届いたので１分も待たずにクライン家の３回目のクリスマスをする事にしました。ちょっと長めのビデオだから十分時間がある時に何か飲み物を飲みながらママとマディソンがプレゼントを開けるのをお楽しみください。

After we had slept off our excitement we headed into the city to view the Holiday lights. Here we are on the subway platform in case you didn't believe us...
プレゼントを開け終わって家族３人でお昼寝をした後、マンハッタンまで綺麗な飾り付けを見に行って来ました。これは電車を待っている時に撮った写真...

Our first stop was Bryant Park where there is a free skating rink and a bunch of Holiday vendors around the park.
まず最初に行ったのはブライアントパーク、スケートリンクの周りに出ているいろいろなお店/屋台を見物しながらうろうろすることに...

From there we crossed the street to Anna's favorite Japanese bookstore, Kinokuniya, to both enjoy a snack and warm up... After that pit stop we headed toward Rockefeller Center for the grand finale...
そこから通りを渡ってママのお気に入りの紀伊国屋って言う本屋さんに立ち寄ってコーヒーを飲みながら一休み、阻止て目的地のロカフェラーセンターのツリーの向かって出発...

As we approached the Saks 5th Avenue building the snowflakes began to dance...see for yourself.
サクスフィフスアベニューに到着しそうな時にちょうど雪の結晶のダンスが始まりました。

We quickly walked by the holiday windows as well...
そして、窓のクリスマスの展示を見ながら歩いて...

The tree at Rockefeller Center
ロカフェラーセンターのツリー
We just thought these were kind of neat...
大きなクリスマスライト達...
Madison on the bus ride home...all worn out.
いろいろ見て疲れちゃったマディソンは帰りのバスの中で一休み。