New York City

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WARNING: LONG POST! :) But a good one-

So our first day started later than we wanted but we really had to adjust to the time change. That's hard with 2 little ones. But we still took the train into the city, came out at Penn Station and headed over to the Empire State Building. Last time I was here we only saw it from a distance so I made sure I had to go to the top of it this time. Check out this awesome picture of the Empire State Building's shadow over the city. I even took a picture of some nasty pigeons that I found amazing they are up there just hanging out. Check off from 101 goals-#84

When we arrived the sign said the wait was 90 minutes and I knew the kids wouldn't last so Mike and I bought Express Pass tickets- well worth $90.00. We headed to the front of every line. So the whole process to the top took maybe 10 minutes and that was really just riding in the elevators to the 82nd floor. The view was spectacular. It really left me speechless. You just can't imagine how high it is until the other skyscrapers are hundreds of feet below you. Hunter slept the entire time so he didn't get to see much from that.

From there we walked around to a couple of places around the city. We headed over to B & H Photo another one of my 101 goals and guess what they were closed. I guess they close at 2 on Fridays. I couldn't believe it. So I'm going to try that place again. I just have to see inside. -check #67From there we walked back over to Penn Station and bought tickets on Citysights NY bus tour. It's one of those big Double Decker tour buses. The poor kids were pretty bored after about 3 blocks and really cold but Mike and I enjoyed it. We were able to hop on and off for 24 hours.

The bus took us down through Greenwich Village down to Ground Zero. It has and hasn't changed much in the 4 years since I've seen it. It still is kind of quiet and somber in that area but now they have it all blocked off and you can't really see the area. Before it was really open so now you have to look through these tiny holes through the fences to see what is going on. It's still absolutely amazing and leaves me speechless.

We walked over to Trinity Church which is where all the firefighters at Ground Zero would go and rest, sleep and eat. It really was a beautiful church. The cemetery was interesting too. This tombstone said the person died in 1758- wow. Most of them were really old and barely standing. It's really close to Ground Zero and not one of the windows broke during the collapse of the buildings.

From there we walked through Wall Street to Battery Park where you could see the Statue of Liberty. We missed the last ferry across so we weren't able to go on Ellis Island. That kind of stinks but I hope to try again next time. She is still really beautiful and we were able to see her as the sun was setting- it was perfect. You can see her behind Mike and I but she is really tiny- I had my fish eye lens so it makes her look farther out than she really was. check#83

We found a TGIFriday's and hung out, got some dinner and warmed up. It's pretty chilly with the wind blowing and the sun hidden behind the buildings.
We got back on the tour bus and rode it through China Town and Little Italy until we got back to Times Square. The kids really liked Times Square- how could you not with all the traffic, people, nightlife and lights! WoW.

The second day we took the train back into the city and we went directly to Rockefeller Center to go Ice Skating. Boy it was cold on Saturday. Very Windy. We had all the winds from the hurricane coming in although we never got rain. The kids were so cold. We stopped by one of the local corner vendors and bought some scarfs for the kids to use as blankets.

Just Reagan and I went Ice Skating there- another one off my list. check off #89. It was amazing. It wasn't really busy that day probably because it was so cold. But I was trying to help Reagan as much as I could and as we were going around the song Unforgettable by Nat King Cole came on and I thought to myself this is such a perfect song for this experience I got to share with Reagan.

We headed over to St. Patrick's Cathedral- my all time favorite church. It is so amazing, so breath taking and so awesome. They actually were having a service when we went so I didn't take a lot of pictures inside. But look at the outside of this place- wow!

Then it was about time to start walking over to Central Park which is a pretty good walk- remember it's freezing and we are pushing 2 little ones. UGH- but we tried to find a place to eat and we ended up picking this little pizzeria. WOW- awesome pizza. Turns out that Oprah and her friend Gayle picked this place as the best place in the USA for pizza. Mariella's Pizza- check it out if you go. It was super good too. So I felt pretty lucky we found that place.

We filled our tummies and headed over to Central Park. We actually took a carriage ride around the park. (another one off my list)-check off #82. It was beautiful. We all snuggled together and got under a blanket and headed into the park. Our director gave us some insight on the park which was really neat. Can you see how cold Hunter was in these pictures?

After the ride we took the kids back into the park so they could run around and play in the trees. They had been couped up 2 days in a stroller. It was really cold but they had a great time. We even took them on a merry go round in the park. We were going to take them to the zoo but Hunter was shivering so bad we decided to find a place indoors they could defrost. So next stop was FAO Schwartz.
This was a little hard to get the kids out but we did it. We headed back to Penn Station and took the train to the hotel.

Sunday,Mike had to go to a wedding so I stayed with the kids. Mike gave me directions to the local mall. New York is so crazy. The shopping is like the day before Christmas all the time. There are so many people in one store- it's too much for me. So we left pretty early. As I was driving out of mall battling traffic I turned the wrong way to a one way street with 3 lanes of angry New Yorkers coming at me- OMG! Can you imagine my panic? Sorry I don't have a picture of that.

Monday, Mike took us to his old high school so he could see some of his old teachers and coaches and then we went and had lunch with his aunt Johanna who still lives in Astoria which is in Queens. I love this place, it's really old school New York. The subway runs above ground so the cars are driving below. We went to my favorite Italian Restaurant Piccola Venezia. - Yum yum!

So we are back home now- so tired and exhausted. New York is beautiful and yet very stressful. We will always go back to visit but I'm not sure it's a place for me to live. I don't think I'd see the beauty I do now if I lived there and saw it everyday. Plus I'm not sure how people live there and not have a headache 24/7- I did just in those 5 days.