jimsjournal
Saturday in Manhattan -- 12/15/03
Friday after work (after classes/exams for Jeremy and Jill) we packed up Nancy's Camry and headed off for New York State with plans to travel into New York City on Saturday to see Samuel and Adam and Leah during the day and to attend Nancy's sister Karen's Christmas party Saturday night.

Jeremy drove the entire distance (around 160 miles) -- and it was a very enjoyable trip, listening to a variety of music on CDs the kids kept swapping in and out, but mostly the four of us talking, bantering, laughing, having a good time all being together with no other demands on our time -- it was rather amazing how quickly the time and the miles zipped by.

We stayed in the Yorktown Heights area of Westchester county with Nancy's sister Clara and her husband Paul. We had stopped at a Subway halfway through Connecticut, but Clara had baked a large cheese and broccoli calzone that she cut into squares and the six of us sat around munching on that and talking for two or three hours until around eleven o'clock, at which point we were all tired and headed for bed (I'd been in my office before 7:30 a.m. -- hadn't even had time for lunch until 3 o'clock)
Adam and Samuel
Adam, Samuel and me
Samuel and Gillian
Jeremy and Samuel
Opening presents
(Poor Jill had trouble sleeping -- at least she had brought her laptop with her so she was able to occupy herself, but I think she only got an hour or two of sleep.)

Up in the morning -- Clara made pancakes -- and then off to the train station. Two brothers-in-law met us at the train station, bringing their teenaged kids in to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and to wander around enjoying Christmas in New York. Clara and Paul were also coming into the city, along with their teenaged daughter and one of her friends.

The train ride was longer than I had been anticipating -- we weren't that far from New York but we weren't zipping along on an Amtrak intercity train, this was local train (the MetroNorth commuter line) that made many stops. However, I ended up deep in a technical discussion of systems architecture and design with one of my brothers-in-law, so that made the time pass.

Clara and Paul came with us (subway: take the 6 train downtown to Bleeker St., transfer to the F train to Delancy St., then walk a lot of blocks) because they wanted to see Samuel, then they grabbed the F train back uptown to Times Square to meet up with everyone else.

It's amazing how fast Samuel is growing. He'll be five months old in a few more days! Well... just look at the pictures. Jeremy was absolutely captivated by Samuel. (This was the first time they had met! All of our other trips to N.Y. have been Nancy and me, or Nancy and me and Jill, or me and Jill.) Now he's talking about making a trip into NY on his own or with Jill sometime.

The last time Jill had been there, we had gone to a German restaurant in the neighborhood, sat at outdoor tables and had potato pancakes. She had really enjoyed that and kept suggesting that we should go there this time. However, it was too cold to sit at an outdoor table and Leah thought the restaurant didn't have room to park Samuel's stroller inside -- so Adam and Jeremy and I went out and brought back pizzas (one mushroom and one spinach) and Jill will have to wait for a future visit to eat at the German restaurant.

Samuel was able to tear off part of the wrapping on one of his Christmas presents. (You don't think grandparents can make a trip empty-handed, do you? Nancy is having such a good time being a grandmother!)

Adam and Leah and Samuel definitely live in the Big City... glance at the picture below on the left... the view out the window of a neighborhood of twenty story (or slightly more) apartment buildings.
Below... Samuel holding Jeremy's finger...
I call the picture on the left "All my children" -- Jeremy, Gillian, Adam, and, of course, my grandson Samuel.




previous entry

next entry

To list of entries for 2003

To Home (Index) page