-Welcome, welcome back to the show.
-Hi, Jimmy. -I miss you so much.
-We miss you. -I watch you all the time.
So I'm used to you in my life,
but to see you in person, I just love seeing you.
And congrats. Looking gorg on the cover
of "Good Housekeeping" right there.
Not too shabby.
-Thank you.
-I wanted to ask you,
because I watch you, seriously, every single morning.
-Mm-hm. -When do you get --
to get any time off? -Mm-hmm.
-And do you go on vacation when you do take time off?
-We just actually both -- -Yeah.
-I took a whole spring break. -Yes.
-My first spring break I've ever taken
because both kids were on the same schedule.
So we took the kids.
I basically -- The last time I took my little boy
on an airplane ride, he was 3.
It was horrible.
He was, like, basically crawling under seats
and was like a foot rest for the other passengers.
So I put him on a no-fly list.
-Yeah. It's good that the parents do it.
-And, like, literally, three years passed,
and I'm like, "Let's give you a chance.
You're on probation."
So, we went and we had best time.
He learned to swim. -See? That's fantastic.
-Come on. -I know.
So he's potty trained. He learned to swim.
I'm like -- Drop the mic. I'm done. It's over.
-Also, I should say, he's 17 years old.
But that's amazing. -It's awkward.
-Potty training comes when it comes.
-But they always say, like, "Your kid won't go off
to college with diapers."
I'm like, "Well, if it happens." -This one might, yeah.
This one might.
I saw Jenna Bush Hager was talking --
talking about this vacation.
'Cause she went with you. -She totally busted Savannah.
She busted you out.
-No, because, apparently, this --
it was your wedding anniversary on your vacation.
-Turns out. -Yeah.
You woke up and you had no idea it was your anniversary?
-Well, what happened --
It wasn't the first thought when I woke up.
And I don't think it was my husband's, either.
And we took the kids --
the Hagers and our family, we all --
we took them to the water park. -Yeah.
And we're, like, on this, like, bus to the water park.
And all of a sudden, Mike's like,
"Is today our anniversary?"
And I'm like, "It is, actually!" So it is.
-How romantic. -Oh, I know.
We were at the water park, I know.
Like, yeah, getting waterborne illnesses.
-And how are the girls? -Oh, my God.
Haley -- I've got -- You guys,
I have a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old now.
They -- Can you believe that they're that old?
-No, I can't believe they're 5 and 3.
-I know. They both recently had birthdays.
-And do you go all-out, Hoda Kotb?
-No, let me tell you what I do.
I do something y'all should do, because it's super easy and fun.
I make the best birthday cakes. But let me tell you the secret.
Because we have this chef named Elizabeth Heiskell.
-Yeah. -She's like -- She goes,
"Hoda, look. Don't be mixing everything.
Just dump it in. It's a dump cake."
So, what you do is you take the Duncan Hines --
Dump it in. Pour the egg in. Barely stir it.
Just barely. Stick it in the oven.
-Even with, like, clumps in it? -Wait. Clumps.
No, the clumps make it delicious.
And when it says cook for 28 minutes, cook for 23.
-Julia Child, right here.
-Wait. When it comes out of the oven, y'all --
And when I ice it, people are like,
"Is that the cake your daughter made?"
I'm like, "No, that's the cake I made!"
But it is -- It's a --
-"My daughter did not make it. I made it."
-During COVID, my kids don't know that birthdays are a thing.
They don't know that you have big parties.
They think that you sit at the house, you have a cake,
and you FaceTime, you know, with the --
That's what they think birthdays are. I'm pumped.
-That is amazing. That's right. They're that young.
-I am totally pumped. -Yeah.
I -- My parents started this silly tradition
of always getting me an ice-cream cake from Carvel.
I loved it. Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Dad. But, yeah, no.
There was a couple years where they forgot,
and it's heartbreaking.
-It's like -- Yeah. -Yeah, and then they go,
"Where are we going to get an ice-cream cake?
Poor Jimmy's, you know --
Again, he's 17. He's 17 years old.
Yeah, but I remember once, my grandma, they put it in --
My grandma just left it out. She just thought it was a cake.
And by the time I was blowing out the candles,
it was just soup all over the thing.
It was just a total disaster.
Well, there's a couple things that happened this year
that I wanted to talk to you about.
-Okay. -I'm glad the family is good.
But you started off the new year
with a little con-troversy, as they say.
Yeah. Hoda. -Me?
-Yeah. A little con-troversy. -Con-troversy?
-Yeah, con-troversy. Because -- A little controversy.
-There's no controversy. -There is.
-No, there's not. Okay, go on. Tell the thing.
-I think you're going to bring up what I think
needs to be addressed.
-Thank you. The polar plunge.
-Thank you for having the courage to speak truth to power.
-Wow. Finally. -Thank you.
-Everyone knows what a polar plunge is, right?
This thing, you go in the freezing-cold lake or water,
and you go in and you go -- -Can I set the stage?
It was 16 degrees. It was freezing.
Jenna and I were in bathing suits, okay?
-That's polar plunge.
-Wait. We had to go into the ocean. Okay?
-Yes. -Okay.
-Don't let her reframe -- -That's the polar plunge.
Everyone agrees with you.
Everyone, get your clickers out. Do you agree?
[ Laughter ] No, don't get your clickers out.
But then I have video of you doing the plunge.
Here's Hoda doing the polar plunge.
-Yeah. -You take a look.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Come on, Hoda! Plunge!
-Yes.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Don't clap. -Yes.
-They're clapping, but I don't know --
Can we see that in slow motion?
The part that's very controversial?
That's not the plu-- -Look at Jenna!
-Jenna is diving right in.
Jenna. You -- -No.
-You went with a -- You went with like --
-You dipped your head in the way you dip a chip in guacamole.
-You did a "Sports Illustrated" Swimsuit Edition.
You're like, "Wait. Hi.
Oh, am I in the polar plunge? Sorry."
-That was not a polar plunge. That was a polar dip.
-I'm gonna ask your audience.
Ladies and gentlemen, did I do a polar plunge?
[ Audience shouting, "No!" ]
Wait! What?! [ Laughter ]
[ Sad tuba plays ]
Wait. No?
-Wow! A mixed reaction.
-Oh! I thought I could hype the crowd.
-No, but you can ask -- But did she look cool doing it?
-Yeah. -[ Cheers and applause ]
-Yeah, there you go. You looked really cool.
I did -- I got to be honest. I did a polar plunge.
-You did? All the way in? -Yeah.
Lake Michigan. I went all the way in.
-Oh, my God. -And everything freezes.
It was ridiculous. It was in Chicago.
And I got out, and I heard bagpipes and --
[ Laughter ] -You thought you died.
-That's what Irish people hear when they die.
And I go -- I thought I floated away in Lake Michigan.
I go, "This is --" But I survived.
There were just actual bagpipes playing.
-Oh, you did it in a suit?
-Yeah, there actually was bagpipers. Yeah.
-Oh, my gosh. -You know what?
That's how you know he actually did the plunge.
-It was a nightmare. It was a nightmare.
Guys, I want to talk to you about this big hall of fame.
This is a giant honor for you guys.
Are you freaking out?
-The Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame?
-Yeah. -I mean, yeah.
We were like -- We basically feel like it --
That's how you know you're old.
You're just like, "Okay." -No, no.
That's how you know that you're a legend.
-There's no young people in the hall of fame.
-Now there are two. There's about to be two.
Let's talk about it when we come back.
Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb. Come on back, everybody.