Big East Tournament

So while we were in Orlando, we realized that this was going to be the last year that the Big East basketball tournament (BET) would be a really big deal. So we decided, along with j's parents, to go to NYC for the final BET in this current form. j and I being a little crazy, naturally thought we would take the kids of course.

This first made for the challenge of logistics of getting and staying in Manhattan for 5 days with 4 adults and 2 small children. We looked into taking a train from Chicago, but this would involve an overnight train trip with children, so that was shot down. So we decided to fly.

Then finding 2 hotel rooms in Manhattan for a reasonable price was looking increasingly difficult. So I tried airbnb for the first time. Found a 2 BR apartment not far from Madison Square Garden (MSG) and booked it. I was a little worried having never used airbnb before, but it was actually quite painless, but I found out while I was there, it may actually be illegal in NYC (for the host, not really for us).

So we flew to Newark, took a train into Manhattan, stayed within walking distance of MSG all week, made all 7 sessions with 2 little kids (didn't necessarily stay for the whole time, unless UL was playing), did some touristy things, visited with some friends, took a van back to Newark, and flew home. Even though we spent the majority of the time watching basketball at MSG, cmb mostly remembers the plane, train, escalators, elevators, revolving doors, and van that we used to travel on our adventure. Luckily, he does know to cheer for the "Go Cards!" and he remembers 'the needle building' otherwise known as the Empire State Building.

during the layover, cmb likes planes

 mab's hair is finally getting long enough to put it in a bow... kinda

 On top of 'the needle building'

 We had good seats

 She did the hand thing on her own...

 ...no really, we're not posing her.

When we told cmb to put his arm around her, it quickly turned in to a headlock...

Dikembe. No, no, no.

All in all, the kids were incredible. They held up well even though we messed with nap/sleeping schedules, dragged them to a loud and increasingly rambunctious arena (especially with 'Cuse making it to the finals), and spent a lot of time walking around in some pretty cold and windy weather. In the end, UL won the tournament, which just made it that much more fun. Go Cards!

 before the final game

after the final game

Christmastime

NOTE: I wrote this post around the time of the Newtown shootings that I never published for some reason...

Up early, trying to avoid very depressing news broadcasts, so I thought I would blog a bit.

First, neighbors and friends were a fan of Stay Puft, so we decided to add to our Christmas display with a new inflatable Santa + reindeer.

Santa's pretty big, about 14 ft long, and the reindeer are probably a little over 3 ft tall at the antlers. One neighbor has already said that it makes it easy for her to give directions to her house, it's the one across the street from the inflatable decorations (be it Halloween or Christmas).

2. Finished teaching my first college course. It was strange because it was a capstone course (project class) without the standard lectures and tests and the like. It was all reports and presentations. So I can't say yet whether I'm really into teaching college classes. This one was a little weird, plus being a mid-semester reliever, made it a little less than ideal. I'd be willing to try it again, but I would prefer a lecture course.

3. Went to Orlando with the whole family after Thanksgiving and went to Disney World...

 

 

... and Sea World.