Christmas in the City

Christmas in NYC is pretty magical with the decorations being over the top and everywhere you turn.

We walked Fifth Ave. again this year to take a peek at the department store windows.

It was much easier this year with the crowds being lighter (perhaps because it was a weeknight?) and with Freddie on foot.  Not having to navigate crowds in the double stroller was nice, but sometimes the walks in the city can be a little much for Freddie.  My city boy easily logs a mile or more at a time, but he's always thankful for a lift onto Dada's shoulders.

The window displays are fabulous and do not disappoint.  What an awesome job it would be to create windows in the city especially during the holidays.  I really loved the windows at Bloomingdale's this year (sorry, no pictures!) but it was fun to have our picture snapped outside of Lord & Taylor as part of their holiday display, and then have it texted to us.

We also were able to catch the display projected onto the side of Saks.  Last year it was just too crowded to find a spot to watch.

The countdown until it begins…15 seconds

Walking through midtown meant stopping in to see THE tree!

It is so amazing to see.  Freddie, of course, requested that we skate at Rockefeller Center below the tree.  Maybe after Christmas when it's not so crowded, my dear.

A fun Christmas tradition for us, and perhaps one of my favorite things we do in the city.

The Christmas Train

Every Sunday in December the MTA rolls out old subway cars and buses and puts them back into use for the day.

This year we happened upon the train one Sunday but it was on the opposite platform so we weren't able to hop on.  After getting a glimpse of the 1930s train cars we decided we'd find the train and go for a ride the following Sunday.

The train cars are each from a different year spanning the 30s and 40s with the oldest being from 1930.

I tried to put the ages in perspective for Freddie by explaining that if Papi were a boy in NYC these would have been the subway cars he would've ridden on.

The train runs on the M line from Queens to downtown Manhattan, making all of the popular holiday shopping stops.

It was neat to see the old advertisements.

I especially liked the ceiling fans and exposed bulbs.

Maybe next year we'll find the old buses.

Christmas Cheer

The cheer has been slow the last few days with a stomach bug in the house.  We're hopeful it has run its course and is out of the way before Christmas.

We're still enjoying the season with little boys.  We've got a few new ornaments for the tree which they are so proud of.

The Christmas countdown is in the home stretch and there's been lots of talk about Santa and visiting family and friends.  Love the excitement!

Visiting Santa at Macy's Santaland

In our house Macy's = Santa.  There's no concept of shoes or the cellar or dressing rooms.  Macy's is where Santa stops after arriving at the Thanksgiving Day Parade and making a short stop at Radio City Music Hall.

We went on a rainy Friday morning and got there not long after opening, right around 9am.  There was a little bit of a line, longer than we expected, but nothing crazy.  Ir was just enough waiting for us to spend some time in Santaland looking at the displays.

Freddie remembered a lot from last year.  That makes me happy.  I am fairly certain Hans will remember the trains next year.

One of Santa's elves leading us to Santa

When it was out turn to see Santa his elves made sure to quickly brief Santa so he could call them in by name.  Before he noticed the boys waiting in the doorway he asked the elves if Freddie and Hans were going to stop by, and then there they were walking up to his chair.  Magical!

The boys settled in to Santa's lap and listened to his recollection of seeing their names on the "good list" and he told them how proud he is of their hard work to be good boys.  Being on the good list stuck with Freddie, as he's mentioned it several times since seeing Santa.

Freddie asked for a remote control submarine and Hans asked for a train.  The elves need to get cracking and figure that out.  I know Freddie saw that submarine in one of the 100+ catalogs that has come into the house over the last few weeks.  And we have trains and tracks for days, but Santa is all about saying "yes" so another train it will be for Hans.

Waiting for the puppet show

After saying thank you to Santa and picking up our pictures, we went to the Macy's Puppet Theater and saw "Yes, Virginia: The Musical."  This was out first time seeing the seasonal puppet show.

I explained to Freddie the story of Virgina and clarified during the show that "The Sun" was the name of the newspaper, so I think he followed the story pretty well.  I thought Hans was just enjoying the puppets but after the show he told me "The girl was sad," so he picked up more than I realized.

We got to see Mrs. Claus before leaving, which was a treat, and added a new dimension of wonder to Christmas.  We haven't talked about Mrs. Claus very much, but she's got a place in our Christmas story now.

I love our Santaland tradition.