Christmas in NYC

This month has been so crazy that blogging hasn't come anywhere near the top of my to-do list in the past few weeks. We've been home from our trip to NY for 2 weeks, but it was such a great trip that I just can't skip it. I've always wanted to visit NYC during Christmas time and now that my sister Whitney and her husband Matt are living there the timing was perfect. We enjoyed visiting with them for week and got to do all of the Christmas things I've always wanted to.


It was freezing, but checking out the tree at Rockefeller Plaza was worth it.


I knew it was cold when Max stopped trying to take his gloves off.


The subway actually worked out great for getting us everywhere we wanted to go. Reed loved it and attempted to make friends of strangers on every ride. A combination of invading personal space and using sign language worked pretty well for him and kept him happy and busy while we traveled.

Matt and Whitney took us to Max Brenner's, a restaurant where chocolate is used in pretty much every dish and dessert. The kid's menu actually featured a syringe of chocolate as one of the options. Reed was in heaven.


Ice Skating at Bryant Park with Reed was one of the highlights. As this blurry picture shows, Sam and Reed flew around the rink together.


Being out in the city was wonderful, but so was staying inside. One evening we made a gingerbread house. Reed was so proud of our messy work.



This is not a wonderful picture of us, but the view from their apartment was too beautiful to not include.

Reed Dickson, Attorney at Law

We're currently trying to figure out what Christmas in New York is all about, so pictures will be forthcoming, but before we get to that I thought I'd share a quick story about Reed.

The story starts with an evil police officer giving Lindsay a speeding ticket even though she had done nothing wrong (the details of the speeding ticket are unimportant, but if you must know she was driving at about the speed limit for the rest of the road but a police officer was lying in wait about a half a mile up the road clocking people coming out of a curve where the speed limit is 10 mph lower).

We have learned that it is always best to go to court when you get a ticket since they will usually reduce the penalty if you do, even if you don't have any representation.  Lindsay brought Reed to represent her (Max was there too, but she only brought him in order to be able to discreetly work out her arm muscles).

Reed was fascinated by the whole experience.  When they were inside the courtroom he kept asking Lindsay which one was the judge, and she pointed out to him a youngish black woman seated at the highest seat with a black robe on.  She described her to me as a nice lady with a no nonsense attitude--she didn't hesitate to tell people exactly what she thought of them or the situation they had created for themselves.

When it was finally their turn to appear before the judge, Reed grabbed the citation and ran up to the bench waving it.  The judge took the ticket and asked, "What's this?"  Lindsay said, "It's the ticket.  I'm sorry."  After she looked at the ticket, it was returned to Reed and he turned to run back to Lindsay, but tripped.  People throughout the courtroom chuckled and Reed dashed behind the podium where Lindsay was standing.

The judge then asked Lindsay, "How do you plead?" and Lindsay told her, "Guilty." Then the judge smiled at Reed and asked, "Are you Mom's helper today?" Reed nodded and said, "Yes." She was very nice to Reed, and I hope he broke up the tedium of the day for her.  After a brief pause she told Lindsay, "Oh just go." Lindsay thanked her profusely then took the kids and left the courtroom before the judge could change her mind. The case was dismissed thanks to the help of our little lawyer.

If anyone needs legal help, Reed has plenty of availability, except for mornings on Mondays and Wednesdays--that's when he has preschool.