The Munce Family: Our apple had a worm!

We learned that Dave would have some extra vacation time in September. We immediately started brainstorming about what we could do with the week since Sullivan would be just over 6 months and still immobile. We thought we would take advantage of the time and go somewhere. We chose New York City, why not? It would be fun to celebrate the season with a view of The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center, a few shows, etc. We immediately contacted our nieces, Lauren and Sarah to see if they were up for a quick weekend get away and to help with Sully so we could take in a couple of shows (they could take turns coming along). They were more than willing and very excited to come. We booked an apartment in The East Village via VRBO, booked play tickets and we were set...off to NYC! It would go smooth as silk, just like the previous adventures with Sullivan. Boy was I wrong...

Upon landing at La Guardia I received an e mail from the man we worked (Chris) with saying "the apartment you had booked had a plumbing issue and we are working on relocating you for the night." I kept my cool, assuming everything would work out ok and called him to find out the status. He informed me that he had booked us a room at the Holiday Inn. I reminded him that our group consisted of four adults and a baby and that I hoped the room was an adequate size. He reassured me that it would be up to snuff. This was hardly the truth. The room was tiny, and there is no way a pack and play would fit, so I called him to inform him of this. Fortunately, he had good news for me. Another apartment became available for us for the night. So, we packed everything back up and headed to the street to hail a cab, with no luck. It was rainy and cold, we had all of our luggage and poor Sully in the car seat (being an absolute trooper). While working on the taxi situation, he called me again to say the new apartment was occupied and he would call us soon with an update. I then lost my cool and informed him that we were running around with all of our belongings and a six month old and it was unacceptable. He told me to find a coffee shop and he would connect soon. In fear that we would end up without a place to stay, we took matters in to our own hands and booked a room in Times Square for the night, which nearly costed us an arm and a leg. We took the subway, lugging all of our belongings and ran 6 blocks in the rain before settling into our room. Chris finally called back (an hour and a half later) saying he had no options for us. The phone call was less than pleasant as he told me he didn't want us staying in Times Square as the rooms are top dollar (and he knew he would be responsible for paying). I told him our hands were tied as we had play tickets for that night and time was becoming an issue. They were able to get us into an apartment the following morning, by this time Sully had come down with a cold and seemed to be teething. He compensated us by providing us a free night, which was ultimately a wash considering how much the hotel room had been the night before. Ugh. What a pain. But, we were settled and had a warm apartment and plenty of beds to sleep in.

We let Sully nap and then went out for some excellent pizza and ventured to Rockefeller Center where we fought what felt like was thousands of people. I have never encountered a walking jam. It was worse than a car jam as we had Sully. I felt extreme guilt as we lugged him around the city like a sack of potatoes. We returned to the apartment after a few photos and enjoyed a bit of peace and quiet (as much as you can expect in a city of that size on the second floor). I couldn't believe the noise level everywhere we went.

Lauren and Sarah returned on Sunday and Dave and I were able to meet a good friend of mine who was visiting from Boston for lunch. After lunch we took Sully back for a nap and Dave watched some football. We dedicated the entire afternoon to Sullivan and his need for sleep. Upon his awakening, we went to Macy's and waited in line for over an hour so he could meet Santa. He was such a good boy and I look forward to telling him the story of his first Santa encounter when he is older.

Monday was a much better day. Sullivan slept like a rock star on Sunday evening, so we were all feeling a lightness in our step by the time we left the apartment. We fulfilled one of Dave's requests by going to the Museum of Natural History where he and Sullivan walked around wide eyed. Dave has a specific memory of visiting the Whale Exhibit with his father when he was young, so that was our first stop. Unfortunately, the exhibit was closed! We didn't let that stop us, we found a really helpful employee who was able to sneak us in for a quick photo op. After that we took our 3rd annual walk through Central Park, the weather couldn't have been more gloomy, however, it was not raining and it was extremely mild (60 degrees). We talked and walked for nearly an hour. It was peaceful and just what we needed on our final day. We found ourselves at FAO Schwartz where we purchased some sox for Sullivan and then walked him down 5th Avenue so he could see the lights. He was all eyes, and loved looking around at all of the twinkling lights.

Although there was a lot of frustration over the weekend, we enjoyed some good take out and two great shows (Newsies and Chicago). Lauren and Sarah were ultimate travel companions and were great with Sully. This was our last big family trip as Sullivan will soon be mobile and a lot more difficult to travel with. I think it is safe to say we may have bit off more than we could chew. We were so happy to get home to our quiet house on our quiet street in our quiet city, and I am happy to be home for awhile.