Go Yankees!!!

Nikki and I went to the new Yankees stadium last night. Although a beautiful night, it was pretty windy sitting all the way near the top along with the birds!


We're pretty high up!


Wearing my Yankees hoodie-b-day gift from Nikki

The stadium is gorgeous and we enjoyed the whole experience especially with the Yankees winning 9-1 against the Orioles. A couple of home runs (A-Rod and Texiera) certainly makes for a great game!


The Great Hall - great meeting place

Entering the stadium, they allowed food and bottles of water. And they don’t even need you to transfer it to a clear plastic bag. I like it!


Miss Yankee of Liberty

Nikki made a friend…as she seems to do a lot these days! A row of guys sat in front of us and one of them (Andrew) took a liking to her and sat with her a bit. He was also a little tipsy but it was all in good fun. After he left to smoke a cigarette -he never came back as Nikki predicted since she felt he would never find his way back!

I discovered “Garlic Fries” - omigosh…they are wicked good! Nikki said she is going to try to make them and I hope she does! I would prefer not having to pay $6 to eat them again!


Worth it!!!

I have always loved that first moment of entering a ball park. It is just exhilarating to see the green field and baseball players. I remembered one of the first times I was at a game and the vendors would come around hawking their wares. A guy was throwing bags of peanuts through the air and people were catching them! FREE PEANUTS…or so I thought and grabbed a bag - delighted at my prize…until I had to dish out $5! That was an expensive lesson especially since I don’t even like peanuts! Suffice it to say…I never made that mistake again!


Leaving the stadium at night...so pretty!


The crowds descending...

Tap Tap Tap...& Twirl

Today was Miranda's performance with Alvin Ailey and she showed off her tap-dancing and ballet. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos of the actual show. Darn!

Miranda was gorgeous as usual and danced beautifully! Made all of us want to start taking classes.

After the show, I was able to snap away and so instead of sending photos to everyone, I will just post it here for all to see. Enjoy!


Miranda & her ballet teacher


Miranda & her beautiful friends & fellow dancers


Evelyn, Mark & Miranda


Miranda & her Nana, Shirley


Tom, Miranda & Nikki


Miranda & her favorite Aunt

My Baby's Babies

I think Nikki was born to be a mother. She is very maternal and children gravitate to her. At a young age, any child younger than she would immediately be drawn to her. We noticed that first when a little girl that Stan’s mother was baby-sitting just plopped down in Nikki’s lap without knowing her. We were all perplexed but the little girl seemed so happy and settled in.

And time hasn’t changed that. We hear a lot of “I want to sit next to Nikki!!” whenever we are around little girls. I have to admit, I love Nikki’s patience, compatibility and enjoyment with children.

But I believe it is innate since no one ever taught her how to be with kids. And it started a long time ago with her ‘babies” and she was a very serious mommy. I know a mommy is not supposed to have favorites but Nikki had a favorite and her name is Stacey.





I don’t remember exactly when Stacey came into our lives but whenever it was, she was here to stay. She traveled so much with Nikki that she had her own passport. -that Nikki made for her.

1990
1994
In Jamaica
In Montreal

Everyone who knew Nikki also knew Stacey…that was a given. Of course, she had many other kids and occasionally but rarely, someone else would come along on our trips. Goldie came on a Disney trip with us and on the plane ride down, Nikki’s Virgin Bloody Mary (sigh..yes, that was her drink of choice) spilled all over the doll. UGH. The condo we were staying at had a washer and dryer and we had to wash Goldie. She was a rag doll with long blonde curly hair. The tomato juice washed out but the stuffing moved around and poor Goldie was never the same after that. She lost her stuffing in her neck so her head wouldn’t stay up. For the longest time, whenever Goldie’s name came up, Nikki would gesture to her own neck and sadly shake her head while tilting to the side. But she was still loved.



To this day, her babies are still in her old room - just sitting and waiting for their mommy to come and visit.

We Voted for St. Thomas

My last plane ride for 1990 was in November and I flew to Houston to attend a computer course for the airline system we contracted to use in the office.

But prior to that trip, I made a quick getaway with Nikki to St. Thomas. It looks as if I took Nikki out of school over Election Day. She had started kindergarten in September. But in all honesty, I don’t remember doing that but it was only one missed day.



We stayed in a 1 bedroom condo with a kitchen. The property was right on the beach and Nikki, once again made a friend.