NYC

We didn't waste any time on this trip. The morning after our Boston excursion we headed off to NYC. This was also the last time my family would be at our house as they would be flying out of New York and Paige and Ben drove back to Ithaca from there. So we packed up and headed in 3 cars down to NYC. We actually found a sweet spot to leave our cars in Queens for free. We parked in this neighborhood and then took the subway into the city. We were quite the sight with our stroller and suitcases and we probably should have taken a picture but maybe that would have just put us over the touristy limit.

Jackson once again putting our DVD player to use.

 We stopped for lunch at Chopt for salads and Tyler got a couple treats to share from Dean & Deluca. It's a good thing we live close to the city because there are so many good restaurants to try, there's no way we could do it in one trip, unless we wanted to weigh 300 pounds...

Sitting at a table outside Chopt

The pastry dessert spread at Dean & Deluca

 I think this is the only picture I took of our room or hotel! We actually stayed at the same Sheraton we had stayed back in 2004 when my family came with Papa and Nana after I graduated high school. That had been my first trip to New York ever and we had lots of fun. A little different with my husband and two kids this time around 9 years later! We were just in between Times Square and Central Park, we only stayed one night and our kids slept amazingly well... like the kind of well where they slept in until after 9 am!

Jackson slept in this bed, his first time at a hotel not being in the porta-crib.

That afternoon we played in central park and went shopping. I should mention it was dang hot this weekend, like 90 degrees. So we should have had a swimsuit for Jackson but we weren't thinking that he'd have an option to wear it. But at the park they had this great splash pad and play area that had water features. Jackson just took off his shoes and went for it. The rest of us hid in the shade. Abbie finally fell asleep in her stroller and then most of us went shopping while Tyler and Jackson played a bit longer and then went back to the hotel.

We wanted to check out the Museum of Modern Art, it is free Friday afternoons but little did we know there would to get in, people waited in a line that wrapped around for blocks. So we scratched that idea.

The fun event of the night was a baseball game at Yankees Stadium. It just so happened to be the Red Sox in town, so Tyler and Jackson wore their Red Sox hats with pride. It was a fun experinence being in their new stadium. My family agrees that D-Backs Chase Field is still better though.

The boys outside the gate

One of our favorite pictures of the summer

 We got their pretty early because we knew we'd have to leave early with the babies. Since we were in the outfield, Tyler and Jackson watched the pitchers warm up. They waited down close to the field in homes they would get a ball and what do you know, Jackson got one!

William and Abbie were troopers this trip, being lugged around everywhere, but it was hard to sit still at this game for them, especially Abbie. But they did get pretty close...

One of their many kisses, Abbie goes in open mouth - oops.

 It was a little crazy with 3 little kids but it was a fun night for my family who is so into baseball. I had been to a Rays/Yankees game and a Rays/Red Sox game but the Red Sox Yankees rivalry game is such a classic. It was fun to be there even though the Sox lost. (and they won the next night by a landslide!)

The only group shot of the NYC trip!

 After a few innings Abbie was falling apart and the other two weren't far behind, so we headed out. It was a long subway ride home with Abbie flailing and screaming but it was all worth it when we got to the hotel and she fell asleep right away and slept through the night! (we were worried with her just being weaned and sharing a room with Jackson)

So after the kids fell asleep Tyler stayed in the hotel with our babies (and listening for William on a monitor) and the rest of us headed down to Times Square. And dang it was crowded!

It just so happened that as we were standing there the Cornell Shuttle Bus happened to drive by. Paige and Ben hurried over for a quick pic.

The new Cornell PHD Graduate!

Sisters out in the city!

 Then Paige and Ben headed back to the hotel and Tyler got to come out for a little time in the city with no stroller / babies. We headed over to Magnolia Bakery and got a delicious slice of their hummingbird cake (banana pudding was sold out by that point) I think it was about 11 pm at this point, so we walked over to Rockefeller Square and ate our dessert over there. Then we walked around a little bit before heading back to the hotel totally exhausted.

The next morning we headed down to TKTS to try our luck at some Broadway tickets! Tyler and I got some matinee seats for Newsies! From there we headed over to the new 9/11 Memorial.

I normally love this stroller but loathed it in NYC.

 The Freedom tower is just about complete and the memorials they've made are pretty amazing. It still blows my mind to think about what really happened there. I was a sophomore in high school at the time and Tyler was on his mission. I'm so glad to see they've turned it into something so beautiful now.

 It was another hot day so Jackson and Abbie enjoyed splashing themselves with the water from the fountains.

 We ate a quick pizza lunch and got Abbie ready to take a nap while we went to the musical. Thanks to the Christensen boys for watching Jackson up on the club level while we were gone! We loved the musical so much, ahh seeing it reminded how much i love Broadway and how excited I am to live so close!

I loved the new lead and all the dancers and cast!

 My family went down to TKTS while we were at the show and got tickets for Newsies later that night! I texted them at intermission saying, you need to see this! We had a great Italian dinner (why can't I remember the name) and then went over to Serendipity for the famous frozen hot chocolate. I'm trying to remember the other dessert we got and it was amazing too!

Kids playing in the city

William is wondering if he gets some...

Our family of 4 had fit all our stuff in one little roller suitcase that we had taken with us to these last spots and so from here we said goodbye to the rest of the family and headed back to Queens to get our car and made the drive back home! It was a crazy 36 hours in the city but we fit a lot in! But it did teach us that taking 2 kids to NYC is a little trickier than we may have thought...