Good Morning!!!..............America.

Here we are, day two, or is it three? it's day two... yes. day two.
What day is it?  Wednesday... I think...
Where am I?...  oh yeah, hotel.... that means New York.

Yeah that is what 4 am feels like when you are operating on about 4 hours of sleep....

We did it tho.... we were down stairs by 5:00 am....
....ok.  I lie......

more like 5:15am...  but with all the kids that were in our room... 5:15 is still impressive.  We speed walked to the subway station. Once there, we tap our feet nervously, waiting, willing, praying the train to Times Square gets here quickly.
It arrives...
We get on, ride, and off in two stops.  Speed walk/ sprint, to the GMA studio.  When we arrive we are efficiently ushered around the corner to one of 2 lines to wait in, by a young woman who does this every day, and who you can tell, has the perfect amount of tact and yet the uncanny ability to detect the slightest amount of B.S.  I got the impression from just looking at her, there isn't much she hasn't already heard....  and probably seen.  We all dutifully went to wait where she instructed us to wait.  Other, more foolish people, attempted to schmooze her, ....it was to no avail.

Any sleepiness that was amongst us was quickly washed away by our heart pumping rush to get there on time, and the fiercely cold wind that was blowing down the Avenues.  No coffee needed that morning.  It wouldn't have helped much to have it to drink either, it would have been a Popsicle in about 5 minutes.

We were close to the door.  There was a red carpet.  There were large TV lights mounted outside, manned by very cold cameramen in full winter gear.  The paparazzi were beginning to arrive, looking disheveled, as if they had just rolled out of bed.  Everyone huddled waiting in groups... The police stood with other cops.  The producers, grips, and GMA security, all milled around the door.  The paparazzi over at the edge of the sidewalk, almost as if they didn't want to be contaminated by the tourists.  In our group, the tourist group, there were girls from Louisville, y'all; cheerleaders that would be walking in the parade the next day.  There were members of the Spinnerettes, the baton twirlers, and a whole host of regular dressed folks, who like us were completely insane to have gotten out of bed so early.

This day was apparently a big deal day at GMA.  It was the morning the winning stars from Dancing with the Stars were coming to the show to do their 'thing'.  I don't watch the show....  either one really, the one I am waiting in the freezing cold pre-dawn hours for, OR the one that everyone was so whooped up about.  I was just trying to stay to the middle of the pack and keep warm.
Soon they started to let people in.  They were setting up for the shot where the stars were going to ride up to the studio in a double decker bus ( insane much? it was soooo cold!)  and walk into the studio to get all TV-i-fied.  Our line started moving.... we were inching in closer to the BIG BLACK DOOR!....  Really, I didn't care if we got on TV....  at this point, I am just hoping we can get inside for a little while to thaw out.

Closer we move....

Closer........

They start letting our family in.... And wouldn't it just be our luck, they pull the cord to stop the people between Big Daddy and myself.  No self respecting wife is going to leave her husband and head riding 3 year old son out in the cold.... so I looked at the imposing man who was doing his best to impersonate a secret service person....(blue tooth earpiece, so he can communicate with the mother ship, black leather trench coat, gloves...you know, frightening glare)  " Ummmm, can my husband come too?"  He looked at me quizzically, as if I dared speak to him and question his authority.  He said, " Which one is your husband..."  I found this funny, because the only other persons behind me were a gaggle of women and Jody with a kid on his head.  I pointed him out and the trench coat clad man let him through.  We were IN!

Oh the sweetness of it..........  OH THE BLISS!!!!!!!!

Warmth!!!!!!!!!!!!
sweet amazing warmth!!!!!!!!!!!

You must admit, we didn't look half bad for it being 6 am...  This guy in the last picture is someone from the show, I have no idea what he does regularly, but on this Wednesday, we was in charge of pop bangs.  It was his job to set off the big poppers that shot out streamers all over the uber famous people we were waiting for.  He let Brandyn, my nephew, and Hunter set one off when the famous people went by.  I would tell you who they were, if I had seen them.  It was a sea of screaming people, streamers and confetti... poppers, and these little bitty heads that ran by for the safety of the elevator and that was it.  Our inside time was over.  We were ushered out to the freezing cold Avenue.... to wait to see if we would be allowed back in to the warm inner sanctum.

We waited.... and waited.... another hour.  The young lady who so tactfully orchestrates the entrance to the inner sanctum.... came by with pictures of the GMA news anchors, in an attempt to soften the blow of standing outside for nearly 3 hours in the cold.  I would have been happier with a Starbucks coffee card.

From here, we paused inside the Starbucks in Times Square, to re-thaw out, and get that coffee and drink it where it was WARM!  The staff inside took pity on our frozen-ness and turned on another heater inside to help us warm up....  After finishing up about half the cup of coffee... we are off again on our next adventure for the day.

The Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island.