The Adventures of Jake and Allie

Happy July! We started off with a very happy occasion...celebrating Zayde's birthday!

Then on July 4th, we were off to New York City! Our now 2nd annual trip with Allie while Jake is at camp! NYC was the perfect place to take our sweet drama queen! She loved it!

The perfect start to the trip was getting her very own suitcase. It was pink, of course!

"Waiting for our Lyft" selfie!

We stayed near Times Square and started exploring the 'hood right after we checked in!

First stop: Ellen's Stardust Diner

Singing waiters were very exciting and (once we got a better seat and she could see and stopped melting down) Allie loved it!

Stop 2: One World Observatory

America's tallest skyscraper with a very fast elevator and amazing views of the city!

Afterward, we stopped for a bit of a happy hour before heading back to the hotel for a little rest. After that, we headed out to dinner at Eataly. Eataly is part market, part restaurant, part shops and all delicious!

In the Lyft after dinner we saw fireworks and headed to Serendipity3 for the frozen hot chocolate. Alex and I have a soft spot for this movie so it was fun to visit this spot that was featured in the film.

We started day 2 at the American Museum of Natural History and some dinosaur friends.

Alex's only real request for the trip was to have proper deli! So we headed to Barney Greengrass and we were not disappointed!

After lunch, we headed downtown to the New York Children's Museum. I was surprised how much Allie loved it and how much time she was happy to spend there!

Next, we headed out for a boat tour!

Allie was SO excited to see the Statue of Liberty!

That night we had Japanese food at a great place by our hotel. We walked by Rockefeller Center which is really pretty at night!

When Allie is 18 and wants to move to NYC, someone please remind me of this video. It was definitely love and first sight!

Our third day started with my choice, the Guggenheim Museum! I loved watching Allie take in all the art and there is no doubt that her art curriculum with Ms. Leslie in pre-k had a meaningful impact on her!

Allie was so excited to finally meet up with pre-k bestie, Layla. Layla and her family had moved to Syracuse after pre-k. When we decided to go to New York, Allie was excited because we could see Layla. Without having to explain how far the two cities were, Layla and her mom, Krista, decided to come in for the weekend! Allie and I went to meet them for lunch at the adorable Alice's Tea Cup!

Fairy wings and glitter dust are a must!

The ladies who lunch decided to head to the Central Park Zoo following lunch!

We got stuck in the rain but made it to the zoo gift shop and then they decided they were ready to head to the hotel! We had fun exploring the park and the walk was great!

The girls loved this cute fountain leading to a mini-photoshoot.

We headed to dinner at Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beers. The burger and beers were good but OMG the milkshakes! Totally ridiculous!

After that, we needed a walk! We headed to Central Park for a carriage ride which the girls were so excited about!

On our final full day, we started the day off with a subway ride to the High Line.

The High Line is an elevated railway transformed into a public park. It's really so very cool and a wonderful use of unwanted and unused safe. Really loved it!

We walked the High Line to Chelsea Market. Chelsea Market was awesome and we found an amazing creperie for lunch.

After lunch, we headed to the New Amsterdam Theater to see Aladdin on Broadway! As we all know, Alladin is Allie's favorite. Jasmin is definitely her spirit princess! We all loved every second of it and loved watching Allie enjoy it!

After the show, Allie and Layla said bye for now. We had a great time with Layla and Krista and it was so fun to see the city with them.

Missing Jake!

We were super excited to meet up with dear friends, Ilana and Ron, for dinner that night. While both our boys were at camp, I was so excited for Allie and Ava to finally meet. It took them just about until the main dish to then become fast friends.

Back home and ready for our second week of Kids Acting Camp and Trolls! The very rare and elusive Uni-kitty came home one afternoon from camp!

The absolute cutest productions of Trolls ever!

He's finally home!

We were so excited for him to finally be home! I know he was happy to see us but totally understand that he'd rather be back at camp!

Date night with Jake to see Ant Man!

Date night for us and Counting Crows!

Hot but so fun!

Post-camp haircut for my handsome guy!

The boys headed to Houston for a now annual end of summer trip and Allie and I were happy to have a girls weekend. It was filled with as many of Allie's favorite things as possible. Starting with bike riding and swimming!