The Grand Holiday Finale

There are certain things that are of the utmost importance to share with your family. These things become family tradition as they say, or simply put, a happy ritual that makes you feel all giddy inside. For example, all these crazy holiday traditions that we have adopted. Well, it would be apropo that we finish our holiday trip introducing our son to our yearly indulgence to Joe and Pat's Pizza in Staten Island.

There is no pizza that compares to this tasty, thin crust treat, according to Momma who grew up eating this heavenly pie. Ezra has heard about this pie since the day he was born. In fact, if you ask Ezra who makes the pizza, he will tell you, "Joe and Pat." E already knows that a saucy, bready pie just isn't a pizza at all. The only pizza that suffices here in SF is at Delfina. And, there we shirk all tradition and order the ricotta and broccoli rabe pie so E gets his greens.

Anyway, making our way back to NYC from Asheville, Grandpa Oscar picked us up from the airport. It was nice to see him again, and since we only had this day left of our vacation, we wanted to make the best of it.
After relaxing a little at his apartment, we set out for the park. It was very cold that day, so we had to do some extra bundling up.

The sun sets, while E takes a swing. Grandpa watched while Momma had images of pizzas dancing in her head.

Finally we have THE pizza. Look how serious they are. This IS very serious stuff.














As Ezra says goodbye to everyone at the restaurant, we meet Joe. You know, Joe and Pat Joe....Of course, he asks, "Who makes the pizza?" to which E replies,"Joe and Pat!" Momma is so proud.

And, what a great ending to our trip. The following morning we catch a cab back to the airport. The cab driver has two kids, so we teach him the taxi song (Taxi, Taxi, riding in the back seat.....)And, he draws a picture of a dog for Ezra. Ezra named it Joe....


Just kidding...he named it Archie.



So happy to be home, but we miss everyone a lot.

Holiday in Asheville-Part2

Well, After Grandma E outlasted all of us on New Years Eve, we brought in the New Year quietly and cozy. E woke up early and we watched the sunrise. On New Years Day we got to see an old friend from SF who now lives not far from Asheville. Jeff and Regina immediately bonded with E and Jeff and E played a little catch.
And, of course, Ezra maintained his oral hygeine while in Asheville....
And, we visited Asheville's Family Health and Science Museum where Ezra got to crawl through the Tunnel of Blood...now not many boys and girls can say they have crawled through a tunnel of blood.
And, sadly we said goodbye to Asheville and Grandma and made our way back to NYC to say our final goodbyes.

Holiday in Asheville-Part1

We made it to Asheville on a little commuter plane the day before New Years Eve. E was on our laps the whole hour and a half and, again, was a trooper. It was rather surreal to come from a very crowded city, standing in hour long lines at the airport, and then arriving at this beautiful little airport where it was so quiet and still. I think we were still a little frenzied when grandma met us at the end of the escalator.

Then she drove us to her beautiful big house with a beautiful big yard in a beautiful little area in Asheville. Did I mention it was big and beautiful? When she pulled in her driveway, I think we all finally took a deep breath.

E fell asleep in the car and woke up on Grandma's bed. He was a little disoriented, but that all ended when lots of presents ended up on his lap. Grandma E was very generous.

E and Grandma spent a lot of time together. She read to him.

They played Leggos together.

They took a walk together.

They even played drums together.










Grandma was such a good sport about having E's new toys everywhere. He really enjoyed himself having lots of space to run around in. Grandma made us feel like we never wanted to leave. We all played a lot in the day and always had a nice meal together in the evening. Then when E was sleeping after a busy day, Grandma and the Moms pulled out the Boggle and played for a few hours before we all crashed. It was such a nice visit.

But wait, there is a Part 2 of this trip.

Stay tuned.

Holiday in NYC-Part 3

NY wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Petrillo's. We were fortunate enough to see them a couple of times before we flew off to North Carolina. They made a lovely meal with some excellent apple crisp at their cozy abode and we met Thay for the first time, as did Thay, Aswad, De La and Maya meet Ezra for the first time.




Ezra took this cute pic of Thay and Aswad.



We saw them in the park the following cold day in the East Village. Thay and E were pretty darn cute together. We kicked around a ball or two with De La and hung out with the lovely Tiny and Maya who have grown into such amazing women. In the summer we all usually treat ourselves to a De Roberti's Ice, but our treat this winter was just to be together.


Look at this cute family all bundled and cozy. Momma and E both had fevers that day

Now, we are off to Asheville, North Carolina to see Grandma Elizabeth. Ezra hails us a taxi!

Holiday in NYC-Part 2

It was an oddly festive morning as we entered SFO in a cab blaring Handel's Messiah, passing many colored lights and decorations. It felt like Christmas. E was so happy to be in his first cab. And, we moms were looking forward to a stiff cup of airport coffee to help us awake after a sleepless night. We were too excited to sleep.

It was getting close to 7am and E was in heaven watching all the planes land and take off. If he remembers this trip, he will remember the cab rides, the airplanes and the NYC fire trucks screaming down the road. He wasn't used to fire trucks actually in action. He was used to his neighborhood firefighters returning videos at the neighborhood video store and picking up a cup of joe at the neigborhood cafe. It was pretty startling for him to see his first fire truck turn a corner, honking its horn with sirens blaring and lights flashing. Now when he hears a siren he mimmicks it by saying, Nee Nah Nee Nah.

After a fairly uneventful flight, we arrived in NYC around 4pm on Christmas Eve. We completely missed the sun that day and bundled ourselves for what turned out to be some pretty mild New York weather. We hopped into cab #2 and found our way into Manhattan singing the Taxi song we learned from E's friend Lily.

E's Uncle E and Aunt H and cousins V &G were so kind to open up their space for us. There is no such thing as a large apartment in NYC, so letting a family of three stay with them for almost a week was pretty great, and we hope to repay the hospitality one day.

When we arrived, we settled in and decided to go out for a Christmas Eve walk. We ended up at this great light show in Union Sqare called Bright Lights by the artist Tord Boontje. Signature Boontje shapes were projected onto the ground, and when you stepped into a lit square, the images moved away from you. I have never seen E laugh so hard. He was making other people laugh because he was giggling so hard. He would run from lit square to lit square, and the images would scatter. Music played and created such a great ambience. It was a nice introduction to NYC for Ezra.

Christmas morning was beautiful, and E was overwhelmed by all the excitement. He adored his cousins and watched their every move. He also met his Grandpa Oscar for the first time. The entire day was very cozy and super fun for him. So many toys to play with. Yet, he only wanted to play catch with a balloon and pretend various stick-like objects were flutes. Easily entertained, our boy is.




Of course, like every other parent in NYC, we decided to take E to the Museum of Natural History the day after Christmas. Although it is was a grand mob scene, it was so much fun to watch E inspect the bones of dinosaurs and point to the birds in some diorama of some prehistoric creature. I think he thought the scenes were real. The crowds were worth it because we got to hang out a little with E's Aunt Cassie and his Uncle Noah.


NYC wouldn't be complete without a little New York style pizza. If this boy is particular about anything in his life, it will probably be his taste for pizza, instilled in him by his Momma. Thin crispy crust, fresh sauce, lightly seasoned with quality cheese. Oh, light on the cheese. Heck, he already practically orders his own bagel at the cafe. I am sure it will be pizza next.

More NYC later....