Our Papa!!!

I guess we'll let mom try to explain the details of the Pope's Visit:

Sunday morning we rose early, packed the kids into the car and were off to the train station. We made our way via train from Trumbull to 125th in Harlem (which is the nastiest, ugliest, most depressing street!), walked a block to the subway, and CRAMMED into the subway. I didn't have a breakdown, but close to it (I'm claustophobic). We got the Yankee Stadium, and were ushered, or rather, corralled into a line full of pushy New Yorkers. We began the loooooonnnnngggg and ssssllllooooowwwww movement towards Gate 2 of the stadium. The kids were kept occupied by a constant flow of animal crackers. I was kept occupied and amused by looking around at the faces of people staring at us. Most people had sympathetic looks of "I'd hate to be carrying around and trying to appease two kids in a crowd like this!" Others said, "I think that's a form of child abuse! Those poor children!" I'm sure both were well deserved!
We finally made it to the security. We had been warned sternly beforehand of the tight security measures, and given a list of things that we were not allowed to bring. Well, we didn't really listen, and it still worked out in our favor. When the NYPD saw us with the two kids, they awkwardly checked our bags and flagged us through. :)
So we finally made it into the stadium, and that was a big relief. We had awesome box seats just off the third base line. We were just off to the right of the altar. The kids were able to get down and move a little bit without a worry of being stomped upon, and we obtained a hot dog after Dad stood in line at the concession stand for 40 minutes. Little buddy got antsy and wanted to sleep, so I popped him into the baby carrier and made my way to the bathroom. He promptly fell asleep, I found the bathroom and....stood in line for 42 minutes to use the potty. That's right! By the time that I had fought my way through the bathroom line, his nap was almost over. Oh well! At least I got our before the mass started!

*A little funny side story from Dad* When I got back from the bathroom, hewent to the Men's room. He was back within 5 minutes. Go figure! Anyhow, just as he was leaving the bathroom, he passed by the women's bathroom line (which wasn't hard to miss, since it was half a mile long). He overheard an angry NY woman shouting, "This is absurd! We can't stand for this! There's no line at the men's restroom! Are you with me women??? Let's go!!!!" About 30 women hopped the line and stampeded towards the men's room. Boy, was he ever glad to have gotten out of there in time!

Shortly thereafter, the real excitement began. All of a sudden, a fanfare started, our eyes were directed towards a really SWEET Mercedes...POPEMOBILE!!! The windows were rolled down and Papa Benedict was blessing the crowd and waving. He was about 20 yards away from us, he proceeded right in front of us, and I immediately was gulping back tears in my throat, if you know what I mean. It was awesome! Big Turtle exclaimed, "Pope Benedict hears the trumpets!" (He's very keen on instruments of all kinds these days, and he was sure that Pope Benedict not only heard them, but was as excited as well :) I didn't get a very prolonged view of him, because everyone else was excited as well. They all began to stand up on their chairs and obstructed my view. I would have stood on mine, except, 10 month old in hands, 5 months pregnant...not a good idea. :) We had all been issued white handkerchiefs upon entrance to the stadium, so everyone pulled them out at this point. Turtle 1 watched everyone around him, and quickly picked his up and began waving. Turtle 2 enjoyed clapping along with the crowd.
I know most of you probably watched on TV, so I'll spare you any more details. The mass was lovely and the music was well done. The homily was great, at least what I heard of it (what with the crazy kids and all). At the end of the mass, in customary fashion, he bestowed his apostolic blessing on *those items that we brought along for the purpose*. Well, we held the kids up high and I stuck my belly out a bit more. So, all the craziness was well worth it, even bringing the kids along for the WILD ride, since the whole family got blessed by the Vicar of Christ!