The Fairytale Wedding of Ana and Brent!

The whole reason we took a trip to NYC was because my cousin Ana was getting married nearby in Connecticut.  On Saturday morning, we left Manhattan and drove an hour north.  On our way, we admired all the colors of fall and then we had arrived at Hotel Delamar.

Old style charm.  After lunch across the street, our rooms were ready.

By 3:30 we had all transformed into wedding guests for a black tie wedding, none the less!

I love seeing my girls all dressed up, but my favorite may have been seeing Jackson in a tux. 
He looked so handsome!

It's so fun to get fancy every now and then!

Our party of 8 wasn't even late for the bus that came to take all the wedding guests to the event. Now that's noteworthy!

We arrived at Le Chateau before the sun had set.  It was gorgeous. Beyond gorgeous.

The wind was really blowing hard, though, so the bride opted to move the wedding indoors.  This little lady was very happy she didn't have to sit out in the cold, but even more thrilled she was wearing a little make-up with her beautiful gold dress.

Ana and Brent looked stunning...and so very happy!

Le Chateau did a fantastic job of creating a fabulous indoor wedding venue at the last minute!

There were over 30 people in Ana's family who traveled to the wedding from Texas, including our family and Gloria's fam.

Gail, Gloria, Gerald and my mom's families.  We roll deep!

My kids got to hang out with their Amarillo cousins, too. Such nice kids!

Don't my parents just look amazing?!

Right after the ceremony, we caught up with the bride for a second. 
She was a princess in the eyes of Cameron!

During the cocktail hour, we found our table assignments etched in glass.  So cool!

If it hadn't of been so cold, we would have hung out much longer on this veranda.  Loved it.

Next, we entered the ballroom and found our table. 
I loved my date!  And those chandeliers were so amazing!

Party of 8!  We had a whole table to ourselves.

As the band played, the four-course meal began to be served.

After that, it was time to bust a move on the dance floor.  Although blurry, this is one of my favorite photos of the night--Mom dancing with Cami, Jared dancing with Lila and Dad dancing with Madison.  Love, love, love.  I even got Jackson out there a little while later!

You would never have known that this was Cami's first wedding.  She loved every single second of it, and was the number one fan of the dance floor!  She entertained all night long and danced her little heart out.  We had people coming up to us throughout the evening, telling us how much they enjoyed watching her dance!

Since Brent is jewish, they did a really fun dance at the end of the night.  We made multiple circles around the couple, as they were hoisted into the air on their chairs!  It was so great!

Cheers to such a fun night!

And congratulations so such a wonderful couple!

We had a blast, from the dancing at the beginning, to the ice cream bar at the end!

NYC - Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, Top of the Rock and Tavern on the Green!

When we laid our heads on our pillows the night before, we were fully expecting to wake up to rain.  In fact, the local weather forecast called for 100% chance of rain all day long.  Ugh!  We were hoping against hope that it somehow wouldn't be so.  We had planned this trip to NYC almost a year ago, and this was our big day in the city to try and see as much as possible.

We had already bought tickets for the Statue of Liberty, so I set my alarm for 6:30 am.  When I looked outside, I saw no rain.  No rain!  And the sun was even trying to peek out!  We roused the troops, got everyone ready and onto the Subway in record time.

A little while later we were on our ferry boat, bound for Lady Liberty.

The view back towards Manhattan was fantastic...

and it was so great to be this close to the Statue of Liberty.  Cami kept remarking about how amazing it was that "this came from France!"  I shared in her amazement.

Sight #2 was to see One World Trade Center.

The 9/11 Memorial was somber, but respectfully done.  

This is where the second Trade Center building used to be.

After a tasty lunch at the Shake Shack, we hopped back on the Subway and headed towards the center of the city.

Rockefeller Center had so much going on, including this larger-than-life promotion for How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  So cool!

We played in the Nintendo store for a half hour and then made our way over to the NBC Studios.  Little sister was starting to get tired...

thank goodness for her big brother!

Sight #3 was amazing--67 stories above NYC...we could see all the way to the Statue of Liberty, and then all the way across Central Park!

A few hours later we were all ready for our night at Tavern on the Green.

We took a cab to dinner and were there in no time at all.

The entrance was beautiful...

but our table on the patio was even more spectacular.

We were even treated to a fireworks show right behind me because it was the kick-off party for the NYC marathon!

Unfortunately our luck ran out and the rain started coming down.  We moved inside for dinner...but then enjoyed a fun walk back towards our hotel.

These two in their "Komono Dragon" poncho cracked us all up!

We tried to take the kids ice skating in Central Park, but it just wasn't meant to be.  Oh well!
We've got something on our list for the next time we make it to NYC!

All in all, a fantastic day, full of so many memories.

NYC!

The morning after Halloween, we were at DFW airport boarding a plane bound for NYC.  We didn't have any travel hiccups and by mid-afternoon, we were finally in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis.

This hotel was massive, with around 50 floors. 
Somehow it still took them a half hour to find us two rooms with a view!

The wait was worth it, though--we had two corner rooms for our party of 8, and loved our view of Times Square!

No need to just admire it from afar, though.  Let's get down with the people!

The kids did a good job of holding hands, especially when we crossed the street.  So nerve wracking for this mama.

We made a pit-stop for some food at a hot dog stand.  All but the little one were happy to go with the flow.  I'm sure she wanted a grilled cheese or something that wasn't on the menu:)

We made our way over to Rockefeller Center to see the ice skaters...

and we tried to get tickets to go to the Top of the Rock, but they were all sold out for the day...so we settled for this view!

We admired some stores like Kate Spade and the LEGO store...

as we made our way over to St. Patrick's Cathedral.

It's beautiful from afar, up close...

and especially inside.  This magnificent church is just breathtaking.

Gorgeous from the back of the church...

to the front...

and all along the sides as well.

I'm so glad that we went to see it.

We passed by the famed M&M store on our way back to our hotel.

Happiness is three girls in the this city!

We kept having to pinch ourselves that we were really there!

A short time later we were in the theater for our shows.  Jared and I took Jackson and Cami to see Aladdin, while my parents took Lila and Maddie to see Wicked.

Everyone was all smiles after the shows!  Ours was amazing and the other group said that Wicked was as well.  There's just SO much crazy-good talent in NY.

We ended our night with hot chocolate on the patio outside at Junior's.  Our NYC trip was off to a fabulous start.  Now we were praying hard for the rain to miss Manhattan!

Stay tuned for Day Two!