{A LEGOxtravaganza}

Early in the summer a friend asked me if Joshua and I wanted to go to a Brick Fair in the Washington DC area with her and her son in August. I was THRILLED to go hang out with my son AND my friend, thrilled for Joshua to get to go to a 'LEGO convention' and hang out with his friend. AND, my sweet sister Shannon lives in DC, so we got to see her, too. THIS was the "EPIC weekend of the summer" (according to Joshua) but I've already used the word "epic" in a recent post title, so I decided not to go there again.

The simple way to do this post is to just DO IT---this has been sitting here for WEEKS, so I'll just put up the pictures and tell you what was up. It was truly a fabulous weekend!

 

We got to the brick fair about 10 minutes before the door opened and there were HUNDREDS of people already there. Fortunately when the doors opened we moved pretty quickly.

One of the reasons the boys were so excited about this was the opportunity to buy

BrickArms products. BrickArms  is a company that creates cool weapons to fit LEGO brand products. The line was INSANE~

Here the boys are looking through little cups of tiny little guns and helmets for their mini figures---did I mention they were tiny?

Here's Astronaut Josh! 

Astronaut Justin

I LOVE this idea. It looks like they are in the newspaper.

Here are some of the creations we were able to see at the Brick Fair. Some of them were so creative. My favorite of the day was the Apocalego area.

 WOW---

Look at this---if you've never built a lego set, you may not appreciate this---I REALLY appreciate it---;D I've helped build a few and I can't imagine doing this---it's really cool.

We also went to a couple museums while we were in town---I'll put that post up tomorrow! This trip was so fun---really, it was one of the most enjoyable weekends I've had in a long time! I'd love to make it an annual affair---

{I heart NYC!!!}

There is so much to love about New York---the shows, the art, the museums, the numerous languages you hear as you walk down a street, the busy streets and sidewalks....and so much more. But this post is about food! NEW YORK HAS GREAT FOOD!!! I didn't even get pictures of everything because I didn't want to totally embarrass my family. I would have taken pictures of every bit of food that each one of us had---but I used some restraint! Here are some pictures of SOME of the food we ate and some SERIOUS endorsements of our restaurants!

After we picked up Hannah, we went back to the hotel and dropped her luggage off and then headed out for a walk and an early lunch. We went to Ray's pizza for lunch....we had heard about Rays---we prefer John's, but we were hungry and the sign said, "75 cents a slice"---so we thought, "SCORE"----yeah, we're suckers that way. Don't get me wrong---the pizza was good and HUGE slices---BUT, it cost us $69....and no, we didn't eat 92 pieces of pizza between the 6 of us!!!! Uh, some of our pieces apparently cost $5....so that "75 cent" thing---it worked for Ray that day! Oh well, it's New York and Hannah was with us and we just didn't care.  Can I just say, one piece of Ray's pizza is probably enough, or one and a half at most---here, Joshua is living with the reality of two pieces of Ray's pizza....

We had to have Starbucks break after our pizza....I think there is a Starbucks ON EVERY CORNER in New York, so  you sort of feel obligated to go to at least ONE! Yeah, this picture isn't great----but it does show that we went there....it was raining and we were waiting inside while David and Joshua hailed a cab for us....I promise Caitlin and Carson really aren't mad at me....or I didn't think so!

Friday night we went to a little Italian Restaurant near our hotel---we wanted something affordable, but not fast food. Our concierge recommended a family friendly little place around the corner called Amarone. We had a good meal in a quaint little place--linen table cloths, but not linen prices!  David had mussels. He really likes them and these were good. This is one place where I only got one picture and it's this one.....yes, next time I'll just take whatever pictures I want....yeah, I probably won't, but I like to talk tough!

Saturday morning we went to my favorite little place in NYC for breakfast: Le Pain Quotidian! They have the BEST CAPPUCCINO in NYC! And, I must add, I think they have the best oatmeal I have EVER eaten, too. David loves their bread and meat plate....he's not a breakfast fan, so this is right up his alley. There are others around the country, you should try it if you ever find one.....honestly......LOVE the cappuccino! Everything is organic and fresh---it's really a great breakfast (and they serve other meals as well, we just love their breakfast)! They have a communal table where you sit right next to someone you've never seen---there's something wonderful about that! It's a HAVE to for me when I go to New York!

We went to a show Saturday night, so we ate dinner really late. We just went to a little restaurant on the corner of 48th right in the middle of the theater district, Sombrero.  The Nelson's will always try a mexican food place---and it was pretty good. 

Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast in the room and then headed out for an early lunch. We went to my favorite deli in New York-- Carnegie Deli. The Pastrami is A.MAZ.ING! Honestly, it's so good. Hannah LOVES a turkey sandwich----and THIS is a turkey sandwich!

She took half of the meat out so she could get her mouth around the sandwich, and still took half of the sandwich back to the hotel and had it for dinner that night! 

This is a picture of the pastrami sandwich, (photo courtesy of Carnegie Deli website) but we had it  made with swiss on rye bread. David and I split it and there was still pastrami on both of our plates when we finished. Caitlin and Carson had a roast beef sandwich, but I didn't get a picture of it.

Joshua is not a deli sandwich fan, so he ordered a hamburger----OH.MY.GOSH!!!

I couldn't resist taking several pictures of this burger and the progress he made. 

I did use my phone instead of my big camera....just to keep my family happy!

And finally---as if you aren't FULL ENOUGH after that sandwich, you HAVE to at least try a bite of their world famous cheesecake! We only got one piece to share because we were just too full. They actually have their Cheesecake recipe on their website if you are interested.

So, there it is---the food we had in New York on this trip. We really didn't plan our meals for this trip because we knew we just wanted to hang out and didn't really care where we ate....but we still were able to get to two of our favorites while we were there. 

So, what are your favorite places to eat in New York? I'd love to know so I can try them the next time I'm there! More NYC stuff to come......thanks for stopping by!