Ruby's 18th

"I'm just taking a backpack." We teased Scott for 

repeating this 20 times.

With the help of my good Friend Audrey and her job at JetBlue, and some Southwest miles to get them home, we surprised Ruby with a trip to New York for her 18th birthday.  We waited until the day before to tell her, because with standby, you never know.  When Plan A, the red-eye to LaGuardia, looked good, and Plan B, red-eye to Boston and then to NY, looked sure-fire, we told Ruby.  Turning 18 and becoming an adult is a big deal, even for someone like Ruby, who has been an adult since day one.  Ruby has such a passion for traveling, we couldn't bear to let her 18th birthday go by without the type of celebration she would crave.  We're lucky to have Audrey, and fortunate that the flight was open.  We used Southwest miles to get them home so Audrey wouldn't have to stress about flights during their trip.

Trump Tower

Lunch at Boulud Sud was heavenly.

Scott's favorite dish of all time.

They both loved Kinky Boots.  It was the cheapest show they saw available at TKTS, so they went for it.

So spoiled! Deservedly so.

NoLita, Little Italy, Chinatown...lost of walking, delicious lunch.

The requisite breakdown over how quickly time flies.  This is why we do trips.  They're memorable and they mark a time you'll never get back.

Ryan and Lexie were in San Francisco at the same time, on the "last trip" before Lexie's mission to Barbados.

School of Rock, half price tickets, really good, but not as incredible as Kinky Boots.

Buying air from Yoko Ono.

Russ and Daughters has a cafe in the Jewish Museum now!  They couldn't eat because it was shabbat and all the people eating had paid for their food ahead of time so no money would change hands on the sabbath.  The museum is free on Saturdays.  They had a really cool exhibit called "Take Me, I'm Yours." The observers each got a bag and could fill it up with stuff from the exhibit, like t-shirts, pins, ribbons, etc.

The Gugg

I'd say it was a memorable birthday.  We love you, Ruby.