Illini at Madison Square Garden

The initial reason for our NYC trip (except who needs a reason to visit NYC?) was the fact that our Illini boys would be traveling there to play in the Coaches vs. Cancer Sports Classic. Since we wanted to make it to a game this year anyway, Ryan made the suggestion, and I jumped right on board. And Sissy was happy about an official reason to wear her cheerleader uniform in public.

All week it was fun to pick out the others in bright orange, walking along the Manhattan streets. Ryan would always strike up a conversation with his fellow Illini fans; it was like they were all one big family.

Ryan went to the first round of games on Thursday night by himself, but unfortunately Texas beat us in overtime. We played Maryland for 3rd place the next night.

The kids enjoyed seeing these guys they are so familiar with, while on vacation in New York. Dash really wanted to know how they got there.

The score at half-time...we had great seats because they were the first row of a new section (picked on purpose). The kids loved being able to lean against the half wall, and we loved that they weren't bumping into anyone in front of them.

You can't really tell, but Sissy was in serious dance mode. She wasn't even really smiling because she was so focused on her "moves." As usual, she sort of daydreamed through the game until the dancers or cheerleaders came out, then she stood up at full attention.

the adorable Demetri McCamey and 7'1" Mike Davis

Brandon Paul and Tyler Griffey...Tyler (it doesn't really feel natural for me to call guys by their last names...it doesn't naturally roll off my tongue, but I'll try to work on that) has an entertaining blog; he's a funny guy.

Coach Weber

We won! I think the final score was 80-76. This was the first real game we had attended as a family. Ryan said it was a life-long dream come true for him to be sitting with his family in orange, watching his favorite team.

This story may seem off topic, but I'll eventually bring it back around to basketball. I have not written about our pre-NYC visit to Gettysburg yet. This was sort of the way my kids were introduced to the Civil War. I checked out some basic books at the library to start the discussion, therefore they would have some background knowledge. They were very intrigued by the whole subject, and I'm sure they were also a little confused. It's hard to introduce your children to ideas of fighting and death. Anyway, I say all of that to say this: the Civil War is a new subject for my 5 year old, so to him, it's like we just won the war. (They were really into knowing which side won, which side we were on, and obviously, we told them we were on the North side because we would have been vehemently against slavery.)

Well, a couple of days after the basketball game, I guess he'd been thinking about it all again. He said to me excitedly,

"Hey, Mom, this is great! Our side won the Civil War...and our side won in basketball...you know, the Illinois game!"

He was clearly feeling like a champion all around, with a bright smile on his face.

Field Trip Friday: Herr's Potato Chip Factory Tour

I have posted about our vacation in bits and pieces, so far. For those of you just joining in, my husband and I took our 3 kids on a 16 day road trip from Arkansas to New York City. We wanted this to be not only about family fun and together-time but also one super-duper field trip (made up of lots of little field trips).

Our first field trip took place in the small town of Nottingham, Pennsyvlania at the Herr's Snack Factory.

We were in the area, staying with my blogging friend, Annette. (That's her in the picture with her daughter and son and my kids and husband.) Some of you will recognize her from Live, Love, Learn and Net's Notes. Her daughter and my daughter were blog swap partners the summer before last, and we stayed in touch. I'll write more about that later.

Anyway, I really wanted to go on a factory tour because my boys will occasionally see them on a PBS program or Discovery Channel show, etc. and request it. There happened to be one just a few minutes from Annette's house, and she made us an appointment.

You are not allowed to take pictures inside the factory, which is always a bummer for a blogger. This is a picture from Herr's website.

The tour starts with a video of the history of Herr's and information on the Herr's family. I thought it was cute.

I think it's fun to get an inside peek into anything, especially food production. It was quite an operation. The factory is set up with glass windowed viewing areas at the top of each large factory room. They not only make potato chips but corn chips, popcorn, and pretzels. You get to see the whole process from the big balls of pretzel dough on the conveyor belt to the final baked product, including the application of the salt.

Here are a couple of fun facts/points of interest to me:

The chip bags actually come on a long roll, and a computerized machine cuts them off at the appropriate length and seals up the bag.

Herr's is committed to reusing and recycling. We saw the warehouse where the boxes of chips are kept before they are shipped out. The lady said the boxes are used 7 or 8 times (until they fall apart) before they are recycled. They also use seemingly every bit of their "leftovers." We saw a pipe with the starchy water draining out. This starch is collected to make magazine pages. The potato peels are composted as fertilizer. And I guess they even sweep up the chip debris from the factory floor to feed to the company cows. (Not sure how I feel about that one, but I suppose chips are as healthy for cows as they are for us.)

I'm sure the kids' faaaavorite part was toward the end when she brought out a fresh, WARM bowl of potato chips for everyone to eat. (This finally shushed my 3 year old who whined, "I'm hungry" into my ear the entire tour, the only downside of the morning. This is her new, infuriatingly impatient thing that she does.) Warm potato chips are good! Everyone also got a bag of potato chips as a parting gift. There is a gift shop in the lobby for any other Herr's paraphernalia you need.

The tours are free, and I highly recommend them! I think it all looks pretty grand to a child's young eyes, and it was entertaining to the adults, as well.

Linking up to Field Trip Friday at Traveling with the Praters.

Consider sharing a field trip you've recently went on by linking up, as well.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

We have returned from our 16 day Road Trip Extravaganza. That's what I'm calling it. Our ultimate destination was New York City, where we spent 9 nights. On the line-up was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, something that I have always wanted to see in real life.

The night before the parade, we joined hundreds (thousands?) of others (seriously) to catch glimpses of the parade preparation. I'd read on several sites and in books that this is a great way to feel a part of the parade, even if the parade itself is overcrowded and too much for young children. I have to say, though, the crowds were worse than at the parade (because it was more centralized, rather than dispersed over an entire parade route). The lines out of the subway (which we somehow avoided because we were already in the area earlier) were crazy unreal.

There were so many people walking around this whole square block, we were just inching along. It WAS cool to see the balloons take shape, and I do appreciate the experience. I don't think I would do that again, though. Unless my kids really, really wanted to go.

I do think Tornado enjoyed it. He understood what was going on, and this is his kind of "thing." He liked trying to figure out what each character was as it was being inflated.

It was really warm (well, warm enough) our first part of the trip. Then the day before the parade, it turned cold. I didn't even know if we should 100% commit ourselves to going to the parade. We just decided we couldn't worry about getting up at the crack of dawn to ensure a good viewing spot. We'd go when we got up, no pressure, and at the very least, we'd still be able to see the balloons from far away.

However, everyone woke up reasonably early, and our apartment was in walking distance to the parade route. I think we got there around 7:40 a.m. (The parade is 9-12, although we were further up on the route, so it was over for us well before 12.) There were already crowds of people, but we found a spot we were happy enough with. We were against a barricade, right on the curb, not ON the parade street but on an intersecting street just a few feet away from the parade street. Ryan and I kept smiling at each other as we listened to the intermittent arguments that would break out among the crowd members. One of them was between Dash and a 10 year old girl who was tired of listening to him say he couldn't see over and over again.

Kylie Minogue

Spider-Man

Kanye West

Uncle Sam

Sissy's excitement whenever there was a "girly" float or cheerleader

Shrek

Gladys Knight

Jessica Simpson

Santa Claus!

My final thoughts on the parade experience? Well...just look at the people. Mashed all together, trying to get even a peek. Ryan and I kept looking at each other, like, "Why?" I mean, I can't question why everyone was there - WE were there. It just felt very surreal; we agreed that it didn't feel like we were in attendance at anything any more spectacular than the Springfield Christmas Parade or whatever. Without the quick moving aerial shots that are provided on t.v., it all just felt a little flat and dull.

I think the parade transmits onto television looking brighter and cleaner and more spectacular, in general. Some of the bands were playing, but unless you're in that exact televised spot, I don't know that you even get to see anyone perform. And the "celebrities" look so tiny on the floats, it was hard to tell who was who. I assumed it would be written on the float or announced or something. I don't remember if I even saw Macy Gray, and I'm pretty sure I saw Jimmy Fallon - but I can't be sure.

I hate that it didn't live up to my "dreams." So many people seemed excited that we were going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I hate to shatter anyone's fantasy. It WAS an EXPERIENCE, and I can check it off my "bucket list." Whenever the kids see it on television now, they will be able to say, "We saw that!" which is fun. And I'd probably go again if I happened to already be in town.

After the parade, we headed back to our apartment for a quick bite to eat and naps. We had dinner reservations at 4:30, and we thoroughly enjoyed our delicious vegan Thanksgiving meal, sans preparation and clean up.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving, everyone!

More Postcards from NYC

Havin' a good time in NYC! Lots to do!

Love,

Us

Postcards from NYC

Miss you! Wish you were here!

Love from NYC...