Family Night at The Club

Last night we took our annual trip up to The Club for "Family Night".  This event is truly one of my favorite nights of the year because the kids can run wild, dance to the music, visit with Santa, and just laugh and have fun.  

We arrived at 5:00 and got in line to see Santa.  The Butlers were perfect angels in line for Santa and were very excited!

We asked Daniel what he wanted from Santa and he said "To make Jack feel better".  So sweet!  Jack heard him and went over and hugged him.  I mean, can I say my heart was melting.  The Butlers have been sick for 2 weeks and we were afraid Jack was getting sick again on Monday, but he pulled it together for the big night. 

Georgia Anne went first  and took up a very long time with Santa.  We tried to get her to tell us what she was talking about, but she never would.

The conversation went on and on....

Next Jack went up to him.  Here Santa asked him what he wanted him to bring and Jack replied "You can bring me whatever you want.  I will like anything"    (again, heart melting).

Daniel went right to business.  He got in his lap, talked a minute, and left.  

Then the moment of truth...BANKS' turn!

And guess what? NO TEARS!  

I am almost sure he told Santa that he wanted a firetruck and a train table, but who knows....

Next, the ever so daunting family portrait.....

Take 1....

Take 2....

and we are D.O.N.E.

Mama and Daddy wanted a picture with the grandchildren and I know of a little Sir who was not cooperating.

Next, into the ball room for dinner and dancing. 

Everyone took their seats and waited patiently for the food.

The kids had a great time running around and keeping us out of breath.  

Sorry no pictures.  It was actually the time when we got to eat our meal and just relax.

Do these 2 look alike or WHAT??!!

We always love going outside and enjoying the magnificent view of Birmingham.

And here we go again....trying another photo.  What were we thinking?

We had a GREAT time and the kids did too.   It's crazy to think that next year, we will have 2 little boys visiting Santa.  

New York Trip

Bryan and I just returned from a long weekend trip to New York City.  We had a fabulous time visiting our friends, Margot and Joe and letting Bryan tour NYC for the very first time!  

We landed on Thursday morning and went to Margot's apartment.  We grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby pub and headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the afternoon.  

Margot gave us a fun fact about the enormous size of the Met.  If you looked at every single piece of art in the museum, spending 1 minute on each, never slept or took bathroom or food breaks, you would be in the museum for 11 years.  Wow!  That is amazing!

We had to visit the American Wing to see this secretary that my Daddy "copied".  It is the single most expensive piece of furniture ever sold at an auction.  It sold for 12 million dollars and now is rests in the Met.

Here is my Daddy with his hand carved mahogany chest in our living room in Tallassee.  Yes, that is correct, he made this and hand carved every inch of it.

Precious Avery came along with us and was an absolute angel.

Thursday afternoon, we picked up Carter from Kindergarten and rested for a bit before heading out to dinner at to see The Lion King.

It was SO good.  The costumes were spectacular and the music beautiful.

Friday morning, we got up and had brunch with Margot's Mom, Dolores. We had a nice LONG visit and meal at Norma's in the Park Meridian Hotel.

We then headed to midtown and made our way down 5th Avenue.

We strolled in Trump Tower

and FAO Swartz.  Man oh man, was that place a nightmare!  SO many people.  I can not imagine doing my shopping in there.

We did get a kick out of the piano from the movie Big.....and the price tag.

I love Rockefeller Center at Christmas.  The skaters were on a break due to some light rain but we still got some decent pics.

We went to the "Top of the Rock" to get a view of the city.  The weather limited our views of Central Park, but it was still an incredible view.

The Lion King is celebrating 15 years on Broadway and there is this free behind the scenes exhibit of the show, allowing you to see the costumes up close and get a guided tour of how the show comes together.  We went the day after the saw it and that was great because we had the costumes fresh on our minds.

Friday night we had dinner at Babbo, one of Mario Bitali's restaurants.  It was a good thing Bryan and I walked a bunch on Friday, because our meal was generous to say the least.

Satruday morning, we decided to brunch at Pastis, one of my favorite spots in the city.  On the cab down, I snapped a pretty good pic of the Plaza Hotel, which is now condos.

Margot took us to Chelsea Market, which was so cool.  We had the best time window shopping at the stores (mainly specialty food stores).  I got a kick out of the cupcake displays.

Saturday afternoon, Bryan and I went to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockette's Chirstmas Spectacular.  It was indeed spectacualar.  They are just amazing and I swear, they NEVER miss a step.

One of my favorite scenes is the Living Nativity, with live Camels, sheep, and mules.

We decided again to walk off some of our meals, walking from midtown to the upper east side back to Margot's.  We stopped at the Beretta store for Bryan to drool and check out the guns in there.

Saturday night, we stayed up town and had dinner in the Time-Warner plaza at A Voce and it had a great hip atmosphere and wonderful food.

Sunday morning, we walked to Central Park and had brunch at the Boathouse Restaurant.  Yummy food again!  

Afterwards, we had the best time exploring the park.

We watched the skaters and went to The Central Park Zoo.

Well, then the time came for us to head back to airport.  It was a great trip to say the least.

I must give a HUGE shout out to my parents for keeping Banks for the weekend.  This is our last trip before the baby comes and I am sure the last one for a while, so their help was MUCH appreciated!!

Tallassee Christmas Parade

A couple of Saturdays ago, Banks and I headed to Tallassee for the Annual Christmas Parade.

We went with the Butlers, of course, and the kids had a blast.

Daniel, Georgia Anne, and Jack were patiently waiting for the beginning of the parade.

Mama came with us too!

Banks was thrilled to see "real" firetrucks.

We were in East Tallassee, where the parade started, so naturally, everyone had huge piles of candy to throw and this crew did not let any piece of candy go to waste!

Banks LOVED picking up the candy!

The kids had so much fun (and candy).

Banks wasted no time digging in to a lollipop.  Poor Virginia Kate was eyeing it and was so sad not to have one.