New York Part 2

You saw my first post, about NY as a girl's trip and all the touristy stuff. But there was a whole other side to the trip too!!! Ann Marie and I stayed with one of my college friends, Melissa, who lives on the upper west side in the most PRECIOUS apartment. In fact, the lobby of her place was used in a Sex and the City shoot as Miranda's place. She has the sweetest elevator men who know all the scoop in the building which provided great entertainment on our way up to the 8th floor. Below her apartment is a Victoria Secret and across the street is an adorable little grocery store with fresh flowers along the outside. It's just adorable! Melissa was a wonderful hostess and met up with us in between shopping sprees and our day of touring. We helped Melissa celebrate her birthday with a fun night of dancing...in fact it was all night. We were up till 4am, can't remember the last time I did that. I'm usually up at 4am, but for a different reason, Davis! Speaking of Davis, I missed him terribly. This was my first big trip away from him. Forrest and him got to have guy time and really bond. I think it was good for both of them to know they can survive without mommy. I made it through with multiple phone conversations and even a video chat!

On our way to the play!

After a wonderful dinner at Extra Virgin!

The way to hail a cab!

Melissa Dancing on stage!

The band gave Melissa a shirt!

My cousin-in-laws, Blaine and Eva, both live in New York, so they met up with us!

Empire State of Mind

Thank you Alicia and Jay-Z, that song has been in my head all weekend!

I just got back from a fabulous girls trip to New York. Annie had NEVER been so my Mom surprised her with a trip for her birthday. We felt like we did it all, but of course there is so much to do in NY, I don't think any amount of time there is enough. The first day we spent shopping, went to the top of the Rock for a view of the city, ate delicious Italian cuisine, and saw West Side Story. The second day we took a 5 hour bus tour through the city, seeing John Lennon's home, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, plans for Freedom Tower, and so much more. I think one of my favorite spots on the tour was the Soup Kitchen restaurant from Seinfeld. No soup for you!

Brooklyn Bridge

The 4th most photographed building in NY, the Apple Store

Annie and Mom and Miss Liberty

American Girl Doll Hair Salon...Crazy...I know!

Top of the Rock, view of the Empire State Building

Shopping!

Resting on a stoop in the West Side

Most amazing tulips!

Plane Ride

I just got back from New York! It was a wonderful trip with family and I got to spend some much needed time with my best friend Melissa. More posts and pictures about that to come...

But first...the plane ride. Mom and Annie came from Houston, Ann Marie from Austin, and me from San Antonio. We all met in Dallas so we could fly together into the big apple. It was such a fun flight too, we were enjoying our bloody mary's, reading the gossip magazines, and taking plenty of pictures. As we started our decent into the city, out of nowhere, a bolt of lightening hit our plane!!!!! Has anyone experienced that before? I hadn't, so at first I wasn't even sure what it was. There was a huge flash, a spark, and a big popping sound like a firework. My first thought was that a bird had hit our engine, somehow igniting it, and we were headed for the Hudson. I didn't even know there was a storm outside. Ann Marie and I were instantly holding hands and I look over and can tell my Mom is saying the Hail Mary. I have never been so scared in my life. Everyone on the plane was silent and I think we were all waiting for the pilot to say something over the intercom, but he was silent too. Thankfully, we were safely on the ground in 30 minutes.

Google is lovely. When you type in "lightening strikes plane" you will find all sorts of scary pictures of HOLES and burn marks.

Go Tough Cookies!

The MS150 riders crossed the finish line a week ago Sunday after 195 miles trekking it from Houston to Austin. Come rain or shine they rode and they rode and we were there to cheer them on at the finish. Way to go Mom, Aunt Robin, and the many other riders who helped raise $18 million for MS. I'm tempted to sign up for next year, but don't hold me to that just yet. I was just so inspired!

My Mom is a member of a training group called Tough Cookies. They have been training for months to get ready for this race. At about three miles from the finish line they met up so that they could ride into Austin all together, all dressed head to toe in pink. The outfits and gear are pretty impressive. We were ready and waiting with our signs!

Davis wore his Mellow Johnny's onesie!

Playtime Pictures

Crazy Eggs

We have an Easter tradition...it all started when Ann Marie and I were kids. Our Uncle John would come over and decorate eggs with us while our parents went out on a date. The normal dyes and stickers just weren't exciting enough for us. Instead, we would go out into the yard and collect sticks, berries, grass, feathers, etc. Basically, anything out of the norm was considered fabulous for egg decor! We would even borrow hair from our dogs and cats. Now we were in business! We have continued this tradition with John's girls, Camille and Catherine. And this year, Davis joined in!

My egg is in the top right corner. He's in camo -- so you probably can't see him!

Remember the Alamo!

We had a Francese cousin weekend and spent it in San Antonio! Forrest grilled up some super delicious steaks Saturday night, we played our favorite catchphrase, and we celebrated Michael's birthday. Sunday we headed to Mi Tierras for lunch, shopped the market, and went to the Alamo. It was Davis' first visit to the Alamo and it was also Nick's (our visitor from England!!). I have to say, I was really excited about going to see the Alamo. The last time I went was a field-trip in 4th grade. I can't believe I hadn't been back, especially after living in SA for the past 2 years. I even rented the classic John Wayne Alamo movie to help us all reconnect and remember the story, haha! By the way, that movie is more than 3 hours long, we had to fast-forward to key parts.

Lunch at Mi Tierra's! This place is delicious and I highly recommend it if you're downtown SA. There was so much going on, Davis was well entertained. They have a mariachi band playing favorites like La Bamba. Colorful flowers, lights, and banners hang from the ceiling, providing a ton of distractions for kiddos!

We'll Follow the Old Man...

Anyone a fan of White Christmas? Our family watches it every Christmas. It's an oldie, but a goodie. In one part of the movie, old army friends come back to honor their general with a tribute song. My uncles decided to re-create the moment at my Dad's birthday bash...

Old Man from Christina Thompson on Vimeo.

They also had some fun with the Marines...

Marine Corp Hymn from Christina Thompson on Vimeo.

And here are some more pictures from our fun night!

Tony Parker

I just love love love Tony Parker. And the best is when you say his name with a French accent. There are so many reasons he's one of my favorite Spurs players. Just to name two:

1) He plays the same position I used to play (I know what you're thinking, Christina played basketball, yes I did) and 2) When we go to Spurs games, Eva Longoria is usually there cheering on her hubby.

Anyways, a while back, Forrest and I were having lunch at Piatti and he was there! I begged Forrest to take his picture. See him? He's under that umbrella!

It's not the best quality due to the fact Forrest took this with his cell phone and I had to zoom in a ton...

Boo Boo Bunny

Waiting in line to see Santa or the Easter Bunny is not my cup of tea. We did it with Davis at Christmas time, on a weekday, and it was super easy. It was a rip-off, but well worth it. We now have a precious Christmas ornament with a picture of Davis and Santa. But Easter was a different story. We realized last minute (after seeing a couple friend's blog posts about visiting the Easter bunny) that we needed to get pictures of Davis with the bunny. Now that I'm back to work, we had to go on Saturday. The Saturday before Easter Sunday! It was such a long line that Forrest, yes Forrest - not me - had time to go shopping while Davis and I entertained ourselves in the bunny line. We watched other kids throw fits, change into their Easter dresses, be bribed with candy and toys, practice their smiles, and even have their diapers changed. When we made it to the front of the line, we realized we were about to pay $35 dollars for a bad quality picture and a flash drive. Worth it? Yes, because it's Davis' first Easter, but it's not my favorite picture. I took Davis up to the bunny and politely introduced ourselves. The bunny didn't make a peep. Then I tried to tell the bunny he was covering the cute monogram on Davis' outfit. Hmm, the bunny didn't seem to hear me or care. Oh well. Then onto Forrest and I acting like complete goof-balls trying to get Davis to smile and look at the camera. We were kind of successful...see for yourselves...

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on its way!

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. Forrest and I had our family over this year for Easter lunch. Forrest's parents, my parents, my sister, and my cousin Nicole and her family came. We didn't have the blue skies the weatherman predicted, but there was a nice cool breeze and we were able to enjoy sitting outside while we ate!

We started our morning by giving Davis his basket full of eggs! He would throw the egg across the room and Duke would chase after it. We also put bunny ears on both Duke and Davis. Too cute! We spent the rest of the morning getting our house ready for lunch and ourselves ready for Church. Our mass is at 10:30am, which is always a difficult time for Davis. On Sundays we barely make it home in time for him to take his morning nap. Here is our attempt at a family photo, as you can see, Davis is super sleepy.

There is a beautiful bluebonnet patch right around the corner from our house, so after lunch we walked over to take a few photos. Unfortunately, Forrest was called into surgery and missed lunch and bluebonnet photos.

Here is Davis with Drew, Tim and Nicole's 6 month old. He's two months younger but has way more hair and teeth! Haha!

Open Wide!

Cousin Catherine feeding Davis pears

Oh my goodness, these are just sooo delicious!