Thanksgiving, Big City Style

We did it. We actually did it! We created our very own Thanksgiving Day memories with brand new traditions this year. Everything we experienced yesterday were firsts for both of us. Never will we look back on Thanksgiving 2009 as a holiday that we did not spend with family back home. In fact, we will fondly look back on Thanksgiving 2009 as a day where we broke the mold and stepped out to experience things so contrary to what we've always done. So hang on; you're in for a real treat to the visual senses. I will do my best to cut down on how many pictures I post. I took 118 pictures yesterday, and it is going to be hard for me to narrow down to only a few favorites!

The day started at 4:45am, with yawning, showers, yawning, breakfast, yawning, primping (I mean, c'mon. You didn't expect me to go NYC without doing my hair, now did you??), and finally loading the car at promptly 6:15, with a few more yawns in between. I tell you what; when you already get up a few times in the middle of the night to be with the baby, and then by choice, wake up at 4:45, you are tired!! But the adrenaline was definitely present and helped fuel us along.

We made it to the train station and caught the 6:44 train, heading for Penn Station, New York City. Our friends and neighbors here, joined us for the big day. It was so much fun (and so less stressful) going with another family, particularly one that has been to the parade two times before. They are also from Oregon and have 2 kids, a 7-year old and a 2-year old. We were all bundled up with layers, hats, gloves, anything to assure that we would not be cold at the parade. Much to our surprise, the weather cleared to sunny skies, and 57 degrees. Perfect!

I have never been on a subway before. As I said at the beginning, this was to be a day full of new memories! We were waiting for the subway among a mass amount of people. Penn Station is located directly below Herald Square, which is the main hub for the parade and the place where they broadcast all of the acts for the TV audience. Needless to say, the amount of people down there at 7:45am was insane. Our train came and we proceeded to board. There was a lot of pushing, shoving, shouting and frantic-ness surrounding us. Brant was the last one of our group to board, among several other individuals. We were slammed in that train like a bunch of sardines. Brant was holding the folded-up stroller and our backpack. I had Maddie in my arms and was in the center of a crowd of people, about 4 people away from Brant. The train announcer was on the loud speaker saying that the train was about to depart. Brant was still not on board and people were shouting at him that there was no more room. Truth be told, there really was no more room. We had reached capacity probably 50 people earlier, but there was no way my husband was not going to get on the same train as me. I started reaching for him as he was fiercely pushing his way on board, saying, "My wife and child are on this train. I have to get on." Now that you've broken into a cold sweat with fear that he didn't make it, let me assure you, he made it on and we all were successfully in one piece. Maddie was in tears, but it is not like anyone noticed because there was so much noise on board! The train would start and stop and the whole mass of people would sway to one side or the other all together. After our little drama of Brant almost missing the train, it was quite humorous and fun to be on a stereotypical "NYC subway ride". :)

We found a spot to watch the parade on 53rd and 7th. This means nothing to a lot of you, but to give you some perspective, we were a street away from The Ed Sullivan Theater, and across the street from the Sheraton New York Hotel. If you looked to the left on 7th, a few blocks up was Central Park. To the right, several blocks down, was Times Square. We had roughly 20 rows of people in front of us and another 30+ behind. Pictured here: Andrew, Kristina, Brant, and the kids - Maddie, Evan and Anna.We are so excited to be here!
Maddie is ready for her morning nap!
Kristina and her daughter, Anna.
There is a marching band out there, telling us the parade is about to begin. Look at all the people!
Here we go...
It was amazing how much of the parade we didn't see - we were lucky if we heard a band playing, but we couldn't see them at all. The balloons were by far the coolest thing ever. They are MUCH bigger in person than the TV ever makes them appear. We saw floats with famous people on them...but none of us really knew who the famous people were. At one point, there was a group of guys on a float and you could hear girls screaming all over the street. I casually said, quite loudly, "Does anyone know who these guys are?" (silence.) "Are there any teenage girls nearby? Surely they would know." That got a few laughs. :)

Here are some of my favorite big balloon shots...
Spiderman was enormous!
Kermit the Frog
Shrek
Ronald McDonald
Yay, Mickey!!
Evan, with Sponge Bob Squarepants
Snoopy
Horton
Buzz Lightyear
Brant and Maddie, with Buzz flying away
Smurf
Pillsbury Doughboy
Me, Maddie and Hello Kitty
Cute little family, and a big candy cane
The elves are here. Santa Clause must be coming!
He's here! He's here! Look at how excited the crowd gets - the cameras are going wild! I'll admit...I was pretty excited, too!
Doesn't she just look thrilled?! :)
After the parade, we walked out onto 7th; it was closed and you could look straight down into Times Square, where the parade was still going. It was pretty cool!
We walked a few blocks to Central Park. On the way, we passed Carnegie Hall.
Central Park, in all its pre-winter, post-parade glory! Only in NYC would there be a line at the park to go up the slide and swing on the swings...

After we walked through a few blocks of the park, we went to Ollie's Chinese Restaurant for lunch. Talk about breaking out of the traditional Thanksgiving Day mold, huh? It was really good food, especially after not eating anything for 7 1/2 hours! After lunch, we hopped on the subway (because we were pros by this point :) ), and headed to Times Square.
It was amazing to be walking along the crowded streets, reminding yourself that today was Thanksgiving Day, and all of these people were not sitting around a table with family, but out and about in the grand city!
Baby sleeping in the middle of a typically busy street...too funny!
Hard Rock Cafe
I do love my chocolate...
The New Year's Eve Ball, in all its glory!
We're in New York City!
We also went in to the Toys R Us. It is 3 story's high and get this...it has a ferris wheel inside. What?! Seriously, here is the proof.
To end our day in the Big City, we made it to Rockefeller Center, home to NBC studios and of course, The Today Show! If you know me at all, you know that I love the Today Show and that I have high hopes (well, high expectations, really), of making it to the plaza sometime during a show this year. I was really excited when we came up to the studio!! I looked inside the window and could visualize all of my favorite TV news personalities sitting at their chairs. My heart was very happy! The plaza is significantly smaller than I imagined, too. Across the street, we saw the big Christmas Tree that will be lit next week. They actually have security guards standing by! There were several people out ice skating, too. What fun!
We made it back on the subway to Penn Station, where we caught the 3:45 train back to Princeton. We walked in the door about 5:15pm. Whew! What an exciting day, to say the least! We made our special dinner, of individual beef wellingtons, strawberry spinach salad with glazed walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette, creamy white potatoes, and cherry pie (completely made by Brant) for dessert. Maddie went to bed just in time for us to eat dinner by candlelight, with Christmas music playing in the background. We ended the evening putting up our Christmas tree and watching, It's A Wonderful Life. And it truly is a wonderful life. We had such a special, memorable day yesterday and are more grateful for our love and our life than ever before.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!