(March): New York City!

When we decided to move to the East, I promised the girls that we would go see Mary Poppins on Broadway.  My Nana gave us money for Christmas to go see it, and we thought we'd wait to go with her when she visited later in the spring.  Well, one Tuesday in February I just happened to take a look at tickets and realized that that upcoming Sunday (just 5 days later) would be the last showing and then Mary Poppins would be leaving broadway.  I did a quick search and immediately booked the last three seats that were together for the Saturday showing.  Had I waited just a few hours they would have been gone!  I'm so glad it worked out for us to see it, but was disappointed to not do it with my Nana.  She was so sweet to give such a great gift.  It was fun, however, to take a spontaneous trip with just me and my girls and spend the weekend in New York City!  This was my 3rd trip to NYC, but a first for the girls.  We hit many highlights and I'm so impressed with how well they kept up.

I wasn't sure whether it would be cheaper to drive or take a bus.  It probably works out to be about the same, but I chose to drive.  We left early Saturday morning, and it took about 3 hours to get there.  Driving in NYC was a little unnerving at first, and I had a lot of cabs honking at me for my cautious driving, but all the traffic, pedestrians, and one way streets had me feeling a little uneasy!  We arrived just before noon, checked in to our hotel in Midtown and caught the subway up to the Upper West side.  My friend Leah suggested several places to eat - some I'd eaten at with her, and some I hadn't tried yet.  The girls enjoyed NYC hot dogs from Papaya King

From there, we went to the Museum of Natural History.  Erin was dying to see the Easter Island statue that is in the Night at the Museum movies.  I didn't want to spend a lot of time at the museum since we have a Natural History museum right near us, so after seeing the museum we left to explore Central Park

We headed south through Central Park, back toward Midtown

View of Manhattan from Central Park

We explored Belvedere Castle in the Park

Erin told me and Elaina to have a seat on some benches, and she was going to put on a ballerina show for us.  She was so cute dancing and twirling around.  At the end of her performance, we clapped and cheered, and I shouted, "better than broadway!"  This really concerned Elaina, since she was hoping broadway would be bigger and grander than this cute little performance Erin just did, so she kept asking me if I was serious or if I was just trying to be nice.  "Really Mom, is it really better than broadway?  Just tell me the truth.  Just tell me in my ear - I won't tell Erin.  Broadway is better than that, right?"  It's stiff competition, I'd say.  Broadway's actresses aren't nearly as cute!

We went to FAO Schwarz toy store

At FAO Schwarz

We loved the lego characters!

Dancing on the famous piano keys

We tried a pastrami sandwich for dinner at Carnegie Deli, across from Carnegie Hall.  

That evening we walked through Rockefeller Center and enjoyed watching the ice skaters

We made our way through Times Square for the show that night

Mary Poppins was so great!  The girls loved every minute and were thrilled when she flew over the audience at the end.  I was worried that they'd be tired and worn out by the time of the show since it started at 8pm, but they did great and were mesmerized throughout the entire show.  On our walk back to the hotel afterward, Erin was exhausted that she just cried the whole way.  It was 11pm after a long day of sightseeing, so I just let her cry, and it was ok.  She had kept up so well all day!

The next morning I let the girls sleep in as long as they needed to.  I had to sneek into the bathroom to plan out our day, without disturbing them, but was glad when they woke up on their own and ready to hit the city by 9am.  We stayed just around the corner from the Empire State Building and across the street from Macy's

We got donuts at the Donut Plant.  I ate there when I was in NYC four years ago, and they're incredible.   From there we went to this new Highline Park in Chelsea that Leah told me about it.  It is an elevated park, built along an old railroad track.  It was fun to get a different view of the city.  From there we were going to head toward the West Village, which was my favorite part of the city when I visited in 2009.

As we were walking, we happened upon this community ice rink where they were giving out complimentary skating passes.  The girls don't really know how to skate, so they just clung on to me or the railing, but it was so fun to skate in the heart of Manhattan!  

We got cupcakes at the famous Magnolia Bakery in the West Village

We went to see the 9/11 memorial

From there we walked toward Battery Park to get on the Staten Island Ferry for views of the Empire State Building.  Liberty Island was closed because of damage from Hurricane Sandy, but the Staten Island Ferry was a great view and a great view. As we were walking through southern Manhattan from the 9/11 memorial, I promised the girls foot rubs while we were on the ferry ride over.  While we were on the ferry, I'd rub their feet while we were further away, and when we'd get closer they'd jump up and go outside to see it, and then come back at the end of the ride to finish their foot rub.  Since we cruised to Staten Island and back again, they each got a pretty nice foot rub.  I guess I owed it to them after keeping them on their feet so much during the two days we were there. 

Elaina and Erin on the Staten Island Ferry, with the Statue of Liberty in the background. 

I'm so proud of these girls and how well they pick up and go along with my crazy plans.  They love to travel and explore as much as I do and keep up so amazingly well.  They never complained once and were so excited about all the things we were seeing.  Mostly it was a great time bonding and spending time together.  We left NYC late Saturday night to drive home after a fantastic two days where we crammed in so much sightseeing and good food.  As we were leaving they were excitedly talking about the next time we come back.  Yay for that!  I think that means they enjoyed it! :)