We just returned from a week in New York City. It was quite the adventure, made most exciting by our three little kids.
Ground hold in NYC due to bad storms means a long delay in Atlanta. 6 hours of waiting. We didn't make it to NYC until midnight.
Day 1: Brunch at Norma's with the Champenois family who arrived from Spain followed by a trip up to the Top of the Rock.
Popcicles in Central Park with Castalie and Auxence.
A stroll through Greenwich Village.
Back at our apartment, a very nice 2 bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side. That night we had two wonderful babysitters watch our kids while we went to a nice dinner at 11 Madison Park.
Day 2: Times Square! Grayson declared we had arrived in Video Game land.
Waiting to ride the Toys R Us ferris wheel in Times Square.
We were a slow moving train, as you might imagine. My dear friend Séverine and her husband Thibault and their three kids, Castalie, Auxence, and Bertil, came all the way from Barcelona to be in NYC with us. It was a wonderful reunion.
Lunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner, where the wait staff sings.
We visited the Museum of Modern Art where we saw this amazing painting - Van Gogh's Starry Night.
Day 3: Walking through Central Park to the Museum of Natural History.
The Spider's exhibit.
The Dinosaur bones exhibit.
A brownstone on the Upper West Side.
River Run Playground on the Upper West Side.
She is learning how to pose for the camera . . .
Day 4: Shake Shack milkshake and a trip by Tony and Grayson to Chinatown (the rest of us rested . . . ). That night Tony and I saw Once, the Musical on Broadway.
Day 5: Ground Zero.
Church near Ground Zero.
9/11 Memorial, where the Twin Towers used to stand. I've been to NYC since 9/11, but this was the first time I had been to the site. Grayson asked lots of questions, and it was good to talk about it and explain and teach.
The Bull, near Wall Street.
The Statue of Liberty. This was the highlight of the trip for Max.
Day 7 - Grayson and I visited the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge while Tony took Max and Ella to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That night Tony and I saw Evita on Broadway.
Pretzel on the steps of the Met.
Herald Square.
NY Public Library.
Grand Central Station.
Taken by Grayson.
Day 7: We boarded the plane, taxied out to the runway, sat for an hour and then came back to the gate. Another delay (this one 4 hours) due to maintenance. UGH. It is so nice to be back in the ATL!
The NYC Highs:
1. Spending time with our friends.
2. Babysitters and date nights.
3. Cupcakes from Crumbs and Bagels from Tal Bagels and that pain au chocolate from Zabar's - yum.
4. Times Square (aka video game world).
5. New Yorkers - they were all so nice and gave up their seats on subways for the kids and offerred directions when we looked lost. And that nice man who carried the bottom of Ella's stroller down two very long flights of stairs to get to the express subway. We'd have never made it without him.
6. Early dinner at Le Pain Quotidien, our favorite Belgian cafe.
7. Broadway shows.
8. 9/11 Memorial - remembering.
9. Statue of Liberty - Max was so excited. Grayson too.
10. Our apartment - lots of space and the comforts of home in a pre-war apartment on the Upper East Side. It was such a nice place to come to at the end of a long day of sightseeing.
The NYC Lows:
1. The screaming baby on both flights (it was ours).
2. Flight delays.
3. 100 degree temperatures in the subway stations.
4. Lugging our stroller up and down flights of stairs on our way to the subway.
5. Exhaustion and achy feet.
6. Not getting to do everything we wanted - there is just so much - we will have to go back.
