The Big Apple

Luckily the snow didn't slow us down last weekend! Friday afternoon we hopped on a plane and headed up to NYC to see my sister's tap show. This was her first (solo) full length evening of dance at St. Mark's Church in the Bowery. A very cool venue, and she sold out all three nights of her show! 

After we landed, we headed over to our hotel to get settled in. Here is a view from our hotel. We ended up at a pretty nice hotel in Chinatown. 

Finley decided he needed to unpack all of his things immediately :). 

And in case you were wondering, this is what unpacked looks like in his mind. 

Our first venture out in the city was to  my favorite Ukrainian restaurant down near the Church venue. 

We went to Veselka's to get some amazing pierogies complete with sour cream, sauteed onions, and homemade applesauce on the side. I can't tell you how good these combinations were! 

Donovan was brave and went for the pierogies too. 

Mimi had the first of her 'three breakfasts' in a row starting with french toast. 

Finley had some delicious homemade chicken noodle soup (he wasn't feeling too good, but luckily he did eat some). And David had the french toast as well! 

After walking around the Bowery and checking out St. Mark's bookstore, we headed over to the church to see the performance. I decided to get a ticket for Finley to see the show that first night we were there. Poor little man was so sick though he only saw about half of the show. He passed out before it started, and then woke up and was pretty groggy through the rest of it. 

(photo courtesy of NY times)

But can I tell you it was amazing? And I am not just saying that! My own words can't really describe just how awesome the show was. Because of the pristine wooden floors in the church there is a no 'tapping' rule. Michelle cleverly came up with several ways to 'dance around' that. They used jazz shoes without taps at all, socks, bare feet, and wooden taps to make some amazing sounds and movements. Here is a review in the NY Times that does her show some justice. And here is another write up from a famous dance writer with some more photos. 

After a long and late night of worry about poor Fin man who had a fever as high as who knows what we had a leisurely morning. After breakfast in the hotel we hopped on the subway and headed up to times square. 

Subway portrait of Deez. 

Finley really enjoyed riding on the subway! 

But he was most excited to see all the characters in time square. After taking a picture with these two friends we gave them a couple of bucks. Finley asked 'Why does Elmo and Mickey Mouse need money?". It was pretty funny.  

We then ran into about 10 more Elmo's on the way to Toys R Us. Fin wanted to stop and talk to each one. It was pretty cute.

The Toys R Us in times square is pretty awesome. I know NYC is known for FAO Schwarz, but Toys R Us had a lot more things that I though Finley would enjoy. Like taking a ride on the indoor Ferris wheel. 

Luckily we got a gender neutral little tykes car to ride in. 

The store is filled with all types of characters hanging from the ceiling. Finley was very excited to see Superman and Spider Man. 

They have about five or six huge Lego displays. This Hulk was a new one. And I think this building was a model of the Empire State building. Very impressive. 

There was also a 20 foot replica of the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. It even moves and makes noise. I was glad that it didn't scare Finley. Maybe the recent visit of moving dinosaurs to our zoo prepared him. 

There was a candy store section that was decked out with Candy Land characters. And Finley was excited to see a whole Wonka section as well. Oompa Loompa dompity doo! 

Mimi with David's favorite candy. 

After we wore ourselves out at Toys R Us we ventured back out on the streets. Donovan ran into Alien and Predator and just had to have his picture taken with Alien. 

We were also all happy to see the Mo's being represented in Times Square. By this point we were pretty hungry. We headed back to the East Village to meet up with Michelle and Mishay for lunch. 

After lunch we headed over to see Michelle's rehearsal space. 

Finley and Michelle worked on a little stomp routine with the brooms. 

He was really getting into slamming the broom on the floor. 

We also played with the drums a bit. 

Our time with the girlies was so limited that I thought now would be a good time for some family portraits. 

Michelle showed how they had been making their own wooden taps for the show. 

She and Mishay had to make some replacement ones while we were there because some of their wooden taps were already getting worn out or broken. 

After a 'nap' at the hotel we met up with my Aunt Chantal, Uncle Bruce, and their friend Peter. We had some delicious Indian food very close to the church. Finley and David headed back to the hotel to try to get to bed on time and the rest of us went to go see the show again. It was even better the second time! 

Here is one of the awesome dancers in Michelle's company, Elizabeth, and her mom Amy. Amy and I use to tap together in Gene's adult tap class once a week before Finley was born. I miss my tapping days and hanging out with my tap friends! 

After the show we visited for a little bit before heading back to the hotel. 

Before we knew it Sunday morning arrived and we hopped back on the plane to NC. I hated leaving so soon and so did Finley. He even said "I don't want to leave New York. Michelle and Mishay live here and they love me, and they want me to stay here with them." It just broke my heart! It was a short visit, but well worth it to go and support my sister. Her dance and choreography career have really taken off the past few years. We are so proud of her! Hopefully it won't be too long before we can head back up there again for another fun trip.