Mamas in Manhattan

Wow! Life is still really in full force here, people!  We are moving full speed ahead and I can't believe I have less than 3 weeks left here in this marvelous city!

I'm about 10 blog posts behind all of the crazy excitement the Lord is blessing me with, but will clear the air by sharing about my favorite weekend here: the one when my Mom and her very good friend, Amy, came to visit!  Not only did I get to see familiar faces, but I got to sleep in an AIR-CONDITIONED hotel room for 3 nights!  The attendant in the subway actually asked me if I was running away from home when he saw me lugging my (actually Gabby's) huge suitcase through the narrow gate.  I confidently smiled and responded, "Yes!  Actually, I am!"  (Seriously, I praise the Lord for AC every time I get to experience it...)

Anyway, they actually visited almost two weeks ago now, so I'm just going to put some pics up, which hopefully be pretty self-explanatory.  The 3 of us packed a pretty full schedule in that 3 day weekend and literally danced around my dance schedule to explore the greatness of New York together. 

We saw two Broadway musicals including Mary Poppins and....

Newsies!

Seriously....don't even get me started on my interpretation of the spiritual message behind this BRILLIANT show.  I was crying during just about every song and was truly reminded of the empowerment we should all feel as chosen members of God's kingdom!  Arise and seize the day!

Saturday afternoon, we managed to get some cloud coverage and escape a little bit from the sweltering heat.  The day only got even more refreshing while on our affordable and informative Water Taxi tour!  We hopped on a little yellow boat (literally looks like a taxi...on the water- hence the name) off a pier on the Hudson River and rode all the way down the coast of the island of Manhattan, snapping beautiful pics along the way:

Beautiful Mamas
sporting the "wind-blown look" on the boat!





An alternate view of "My Backyard"



Brooklyn Bridge!




"She's beauty and she's grace...

...She's Miss United States!"



A couple of strong women!
(Mom thought this pose was hilarious!)

As with any moment spent with my mother, there was a lot of laughing... One moment in particular was during one of our dinners out.  I'm sure we've all heard that New Yorkers have a pretty bad rap for not being very nice people, but I really haven't experienced too many locals trying to bite my head off.  At this particular meal, however, I was ready to bite our waiter's head right off...as well as this guy's:

This mac'n cheese
with a lobster in the shell
 really had me in a pinch!
(Get it?)

So despite my corny jokes, this meal choice was not my best.  I tried to be adventurous by ordering the "Lobster Mac'n Cheese,"  but I didn't expect Sebastian to come in the shell!  I would not be surprised if I burned more calories in preparing the food than I did with each bite.  On the plus side, Mom and Amy were laughing their fishtails off!  Amy even asked, "Do you think the cook got tired?" And when the waiter told her that this is how the Lobster Mac'n Cheese Pizza is served too, she got so riled up about it that she demanded he take it off the menu.  Sea-riously....



 Of course His mercies are new every morning, and we all enjoyed a beautiful service together at Hillsong:

God knew mom was requesting this song: 10,000 reasons

And just like that...the weekend flew by.  



My mom and I snapped one more picture together in Times Square before saying goodbye, and within minutes were both sending "Miss you already!" texts to each other. 

Since then, a lot of other exciting things have happened including me getting my hair cut (I told you I'm behind in my posts!).  But the other night I received a picture text from my mom displaying her new do...surprisingly similar to mine!

Hmm, do you think she misses me?!  I guess the Big Apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Love you, Mama!