Greetings From the Gilleys

"I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!"

Yep, we're home, safe and sound and feeling a little more like accomplished  world travelers :) As you all know, our family jetted off to the City that Never Sleeps for Mingo's big NFL draft.  And it didn't disappoint! I took a billion pictures and some good videos, and I'll TRY to summarize what we did without writing a novel, but you know me....that never seems to happen....

I'll start off by writing that while the week was great, the actual days of travel were NOT.  The girls are NOT exceptional flyers and we had many tantrums and meltdowns and I felt like I was doing nothing but gritting my teeth and apologizing profusely for their horrific behavior on the flights.  When is someone going to come up with "family only flights"?!?! That would be awesome and a win-win for everyone involved!

Ok, so onto the actual trip.  It was SO much fun!  We met up with KeKe, who Lucy just adores!- No one can raise her as high in the air as he can!  She had the time of her life being tossed around by him!  Man, he is one cool kid.  Seriously.  You'd never know that he just made millions overnight because he is the sweetest, most humble guy ever.  He's also hilarious and just an all-around good guy.  For real, I would be proud to be his sister-in-law even without his success. 

The main reason we went to NYC was for Shawn to see KeKe on the biggest night of his life.  Shawn was able to go to his NFL Draft on Thursday, April 25th at Radio City Music Hall where he was picked 6th to go to the Cleveland Browns! Shawn was able to get on an NFL bus and ride from the InterContinental hotel to Radio City Music Hall to watch the draft and while I wasn't able to go (I had to babysit my girls) I was able to watch it live on ESPN and receive detailed texts and pictures from Shawn throughout the event.  Shawn told me that Cleveland was confirmed for KeKe before Mingo even got the call!  It was pretty awesome!  His new football number is 51, and we already have autographed shirts and hats from him that we will be sporting during each and every one of his games!  We are SO proud of him for all that he is and does.  What a stud! Shawn was interviewed by reporters and gave KeKe big hugs immediately following his draft pick.  Bruce, Mary, Christa and Matthew were also there to support KeKe- what a neat family experience it was for them all.  I mean, this is HUGE.  The excitement still hasn't worn off and I don't think it ever will!  We are SO PROUD of him!  Just seriously awesome....

Throughout the week we saw lots of beautiful architecture, walked down to the Pier across from Brooklyn, walked down Wall Street, saw a scene from The Amazing Spiderman 2 being filmed, saw a couple of celebrities, shopped on Canal Street (wanted to also get some "real" shopping done, but that wasn't an option with the girls- oh well- I'll take what I can get!), took a water taxi right up to The Statue of Liberty, play at Toys R' Us and F.A.O. Schwartz (best part was Lucy dancing around on the Big Piano), gawk at the brilliance of Times Square, ride the subway, take cabs, eat at delicious (though pricey!) restaurants (including Dunkin' Donuts every morning, much to my delight- YUMMMMMM!) walk around Central Park, see Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios and Radio City Music Hall, go visit the sobering and beautiful 9/11 Memorial site, and spend time with family.  And much to everyone's delight, the weather was fantastic.  Not too hot, not too cold.  Sunny and warm everyday! While I've been to NY several times, the Gilley's have never been, and I've never roamed the city with 2 babies in tow!  So it was a fun and different experience for us all! Shawn got his NFL fix, and I got my Broadway Play fix when my sister-in-law, Christa, treated Mary and I to Cinderella on Broadway.  It was fun to have a girls night in the city- and we had fantastic seats!  I guess I could say I had 2 girls nights because I was also able to meet up with Jessica Cracolici one night to have some "adult" time and play catch up for a few hours.  It was wonderful to sit and talk in a yummy café and not have to play referee to any kids!  Later in the week we did take the kids to the Central Park Zoo and Lucy thought Abby was just the coolest "big girl" ever.  She held her hand everywhere we went and all the kids were so well behaved!  It was so neat to spend time with Jess and her 2 kids again- Abby and Jonathan are now 6 and 5 and very sweet kiddos.  I miss them when I can't be with them!  I'm so thankful for them in my life!

I didn't mention that our hotel was right one Times Square, so we woke up to the sounds of the city every morning...and in Lucy's case, every night....for at least 2 hours each time she'd wake us up singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and making sounds of cars from the streets below (vrrrroooom vroom, beep beep!)....Besides her wake-up calls in the middle of the night(s) she was an absolute ANGEL the whole week.  I cannot believe how well behaved she was!  Such a relief....Piper was in heaven and happy too, cause she was in a baby carrier all week and felt like she was being held.  Now that we are back home, she still wants to be in my arms 24/7, so it's been a little bit of an adjustment for the 2 of us to get back into the swing of things....

While I would love to continue to sit and reminisce about my time in The Big Apple, those bathrooms aren't gonna clean themselves....So I will go for now, but not before I add my pictures (picture overload coming up- I thought I could get away with making "a couple" collages of the week....yeah, 10 collages later....oops!)

Keke and The Gilleys!

A Little sightseeing in NYC!

My cute family at the Pier!

Times Square, Wall Street, Pier

 

Exploring the City the Never Sleeps

Water Taxi to the Statue of Liberty

9/11 Memorial

Central Park Zoo with the Cracolici's (and Piper found her feet!)

F.A.O. Schwartz- Lucy LOVED the "BIG Piano!"

Mother-Daughter Girl's Night- Cinderella on Broadway!

She couldn't be any cuter!

Sweetest Sisters I know!

Goodbye Everyone!