The Calak's: June 2013

6.30.2013

The Birthday Boy

Madelyn's cousin, Wee-Me (Liam), turned two this weekend

and we met him for some pre-birthday fun at Chuck E Cheese.

Madelyn would like to thank Wee-Me for the blue cupcake. It was yummy!

And Happy 2nd Birthday!

6.27.2013

6.24.2013

Mommy's Shoes

Yes, they may be on the wrong feet.

Yes, they may be too big, but this girl sure doesn't care!

She even probably got a whole 3 feet across the floor

before deciding tripping all over the place was not much fun.

6.16.2013

Baby or Big Girl?

Who's to say...

If you ask Madelyn she'll probably tell you she's a baby.

The whole "that's for babies" trick doesn't work on her right now.

In a way I'm kind of glad.

She's definitely still my little baby.

I try to tell her paci's are for babies....

Baby food is for babies...

or crying is what babies do, use your words...

Well, Madelyn will pat her little chest and say- Me. Baby.

It really is the sweetest thing.
Then we'll go to the store or be out and about and
she has to point out every baby she sees and all I can do is think to myself,
but you're still a baby...maybe not.a teeny, tiny infant baby,
but you're definitely not a big girl yet...
not in your momma's eyes.

These days she likes to try to dress herself, run (which is pronounced 'wun' in our house), build with blocks, count to ten (she can get to six- needs a little help from there sometimes), sing and dance, tell people to 'watch' or 'chach' (catch) (this includes watching her do something or having a ball flying at your face then hearing the word 'chach'), jump, look for AB's in books, words, at stores, on clothing,
where ever she sees them.

We love you sweet Madelyn and you're growing up too fast!

6.12.2013

5 years = Anniversary = Dinner = New York City

Happy Anniversary to us! I can't believe it has been 5 years since the day we said 'I Do'. We had a delicious dinner at a Mexican type restaurant called Cinco. Matt planned it before realizing the 5 years = Cinco connection. In laws spent the evening with our girl so we could enjoy the evening just us.

Then to go with our yearly tradition of going somewhere for our anniversary we planned a trip for NYC.

We flew up on Friday. Left Madelyn behind with my mom and dad for the weekend. Boy, was that hard. Our flight was early so I woke her up and rocked her back to sleep as I said goodbye. We knew it was a short trip and we had a lot planned, so leaving little one behind was the best for her. She would not have had any fun.

Of course with planning a trip you take the chance of things happening and sure enough little did we know a tropical storm would be coming through. But, we made the most of it! We stayed at The Sheraton Lincoln Harbor in Weekawken, NJ. We were able to take a bus or ferry ride across the Hudson River to get to NYC.

(our view)

(the Ferry to take us across the Hudson)

In the consistent down pouring rain Matt and I walked the streets of NYC. We went to Macy's, lunch at The Heartland Brewery at The Empire State Building (Meghan took us up and showed us her office at Linked In), walked past the UN (which of course didn't have any of the flags up because of the wind and heavy rain), The New York Public Library, Saint Joseph's Cathedral, Grand Central Terminal, FAO Schwarz (had to pick out something for Madelyn), dinner at PJ Clark's (great burgers) and called it a night. We were soaked and exhausted.

(Macy's - we rode the wooden escalators of course)

(It happened to be National Doughnut day, so we stood in line in the rain

for a free Krispy Kreme and it was worth every second)

(Entrance of Empire State Building)

(Getting a tour of the Linked In office in the Empire State Building)

(New York Public Library)

(Inside Grand Central Terminal)

(Inside Saint Joseph's Cathedral)

(FAO Schwarz - we played here a while to escape the rain)

(Rain or Shine - we were still gonna do it all!)

Saturday was a completely new day. The weather was perfect! Couldn't have been any better. And what a busy day we had. My feet are definitely sore. That morning we went to Carlo's Bakery (Cake Boss) in Hoboken, NJ and got cupcakes. We met up with Meghan, ate cupcakes at 10:00 am...a first for us all and boy were they good! We did the 9/11 Memorial, Battery Park, The Staten Island Ferry, Wall Street, ate pizza or lunch, The Brooklyn Bridge, The High Line (this would definitely be my go to place if I lived here), Washington Square Park, sat outside and had a bucket of Sangria, dinner at Piccolo Angolo (delicious Italian), The Flat Iron Building, The Rockefeller Center, Top of the Rock (gorgeous!), Times Square, and thank goodness we called it a night after that. I was sore, exhausted, and grumpy. Sorry, Meghan and Matt!

(Ate our Carlo's Cupcakes and are ready for our busy day)

(Meghan being a great tour guide)

(One of the many subway rides)

(Freedom Tower)

(9/11 Memorial)

(Getting ready to get on the Staten Island Ferry)

(View of NYC from the Staten Island Ferry)

(View of the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry)

(Our walk up the Brooklyn Bridge)

(View from the Brooklyn Bridge)

(Walking the High Line)

(The High Line viewing area - you are over a road,

so you can watch cars drive under and through where you're sitting)

(The giant meatball we ordered as an appetizer to share at dinner)

(The Flat Iron Building)

(Building to Top of the Rock and our view from Top of the Rock)

(Times Square madness)

(Just checking on how to get back to our hotel from all this madness)

Sunday we strolled a bit in Central Park, ate brunch at a diner and said our goodbye's to Meghan.

(Inside Central Park)

(Goodbye NYC, Goodbye view)

What a trip! Definitely a neat experience.
This was a trip of many firsts for me. My first cab ride, ferry ride (I've been on a boat, but technically no ferry ride), subway ride (unless you count Marta), bus ride (unless you count the school bus), first time to NYC period.

Missed my baby girl and so glad to be back home with her. Thanks to her Nana and Papa for watching and taking such good care of her.