Manhattan Weekend

I have been reminded by some (cough cough...GRACIE!) that I have not blogged in almost a month.  So true!  Work has been super busy, which is super great!  Life has just been busy too!  We have had stuff going on most weekends, Molly is in school and our evenings just seem busy.  A few weeks ago, we got to get away for a few days to Manhattan!  I told Joe I would like to make it to one Kstate game this year before Baby#3 comes, so the earlier the better!  Joe was already in Manhattan for 2 days of Young Bankers conferences, so we rode up with Tom and Candy on the RV.  We left Friday afternoon after Molly's cheer camp rehearsal.  I will blog about that later, but it was a 2 day camp that she SPENT the night at.  I think I was more worried than she was!!!  Anyway, we loaded up in the RV and I was hoping for a nap on the 4 hour trip...silly me!  The RV is at the top of my carsickness list...right up there with boats.  I survived better than I thought I would and the comfy couch and bathroom made it all worth it!  Papa Tom would have left me (and Ellie) on the side of the road if he would have had to stop for all of our bathroom trips.  We got to Manhattan in time for a yummy dinner out with Ben, Joe, Tom, Candy and us girls at LongHorn Steak House.  Bath and bed was so needed that night, we were spent.  Thankfully our friend Ken let us have his house while he was out of town!

Saturday morning we went to the Manhattan Farmers Market and got goodies and just walked around.  Grandma Candy went with us and Joe met up with the guys for golfing at Colbert Hills.  I have been to this farmer's market so many times when visiting Gracie or up for footballs games that I was remembered by a few vendors there.  It is really because they remember Cooper (Gracie's dog), then Gracie, who is a Helen Hunt look alike one vendor told me!  Lol  But hey, we got a few free cookies out of the deal

I wanted to take the girls to a park so they could run free before we headed to the tailgate and ballgame.  I had driven past the city park at Poyntz and 11th recently and saw all sorts of fun looking playground equipment.  Now back in the day, when Joe and I were at Kstate this park had a few ball fields, a indoor ice skating rink and the gigantic statue of the man holding a ax or something.  In the last few years they have put in a very nice playground for little kids, a splash park and rose gardens. 


All the toys/equipment there was perfect for the girls size/age.  They just ran free!

Ellie LOVES to swing!!!  I don't think she would ever ask to stop swinging.  She loved this swing.  I saw these swings in the magazines when we picked out equipment for our park.  They are handicap accessible as was many other toys at the park.  I thought that was pretty cool!

Brave little stinker loved this slide

Molly spent a lot of her time "walking" Cooper.  Gracie and her boyfriend Alex met us at the park with Cooper. 

After the park, we had lunch with Grandma Candy at Panera then shopping at Target. Why couldn't we have had a Panera or a Target in Manhattan when I was in school?  Lucky kids now days!  :-)    By this time, I could have used a nap and Ellie got in a little nap since the traffic was so thick getting into the game. 

Aunt Gracie made the girls Kstate tutu's to wear to the game.  I found these cute little jersey's at Target!  I got lots of comments as we went to and from the game and the tailgate.  Oddly enough, most comments were from men joking around that they had tried the tutu look and it didn't work for them.  Lol 

Now that is my little tailgater!  Get a comfy chair and the entire bag of Cheetos!

Add in a little fruit to keep healthy.  :-)

Molly snagged Aunt Jen's phone to play with like always.  That is Baby Jack (who just turned 1!!!) setting on Grandma Candy's lap.  Jen and her family and lots of their Augusta friends came to the tailgate and game.  It was fun to see all of their kids and babies!

There is Joe, the professional tailgater! 

Such cute little Wildcats, Ellie and Carter!

For those of you that haven't been to a Kstate tailgate...they can get crazy!  Ok, when we were at school they got CRAZY!  We tailgate at the RV with Joe's parents and their friends, so tailgating now is calm, relaxing, AC and bathroom in the RV with really good food!  So for a blast from our past, we go over and visit Uncle Ben's tailgate.  Ben owns the "Kstate Van" that  our friends had when we were in school.  It went to every tailgate and lots of out of town games.  It has been passed down to younger siblings or friends since we left school 10 years ago.  Did I just say 10 years???  Oh goodness, I feel old and how can it be that long ago?  It just seems like yesterday!  We loved our college years and Manhattan! 

Molly inside "the van" by Murphy.  Joe was the original Murphy tailgating at the van.

Ellie and baby in the van

Crazy Uncle Ben with the girls

Joe and Ellie heading into the game

Molly and Joe at the game

Ellie and I at the game.  Not my fav picture of myself, but this blog is to document the years.  So this is me hot, tired and 7 months pregnant with a 2 year old that squirrelled around on my belly for the first half of the game.  SOOOO...at half time we walked back to the RV and hung out with Jen and the kids for the rest of the game.  A cold front moved in and about blew us away, so we retreated to the RV.  The girls took great care of their babies and we snacked on way too much caramel corn and chips.  I think that night was the start of my crazy swollen feet.  I am going to blame that on salty treats.

Little Jack in his PJ's  as the game was coming to an end.  Poor little guy had had enough of the ballgame.  I  think Jen swore she was never taking kids to a game again.  Just like me last year when I swore that game was Ellie's 1st and last game.  Lol    The girls did great at the game.  Ellie is now allowed to come back to games.  They spent the entire first half looking for Wiley the Wildcat and spotting cheerleaders.  I even asked them if they knew what sport they were watching.  Lol  They did.  I am not much better, I go for the atmosphere and to feel like that college kid dressed in purple again.  Ok, I didn't really feel like a college kid this year being 7 months pregnant with a 5 year old on one hand and a 2.5 year old on the other.  One perk of the game though was running into 2 guys I have known since I was in kindergarten, Jeff and Tommy.  They are from Wellington and I haven't seen them in years.  So fun to see friends that call you Hilary Crisler still, lol!  
So glad we got in that one Kstate weekend!  Thanks to Gma C and Gpa T for making it happen!!!!  :-)

Comments

Gracie said…
Thanks! Glad you can entertain me in class! Can you whip out another by Tuesday... I have class all day that day and the paper has been iffy on good reading!
September 15, 2011 at 10:50 AM
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