A New York Minute

As we rubbed the sleep out of our eyes and prepared for the day, we were surprised to learn that a cold front had pushed through and it was downright chilly!  It was a packing fail as I realized none of us had clothes for such a chilly day.  We made due and ventured out to see the sites.

After picking up Paisley from my parents hotel, we took a taxi to the September 11th museum.  What should have been a "quick" drive a few miles took roughly 30 minutes.  I was thankful that I wasn't driving in this horrendous traffic, but even more thankful that I do not live in a big city.  

There were plenty of tourists once we arrived at ground zero.  The last time I was here there were still piles of ruble from the catastrophic events of September 11th.  Those piles were now replaced by 2 beautiful and peaceful water falls.    

I was a little nervous about taking the kids into the museum, as I imagined it was sacred ground and I didn't want my kids shrieking and ruining the experience for other tourists.  However, God was on our side as both children fell asleep as we walked in and didn't make a peep as we strolled through the museum.

The museum was very well done and there was so much information on the people that had perished on that awful day.  I had to swallow several lumps that formed in my throat as I stared into the faces of those that lost their lives.  So many people.  Such a senseless day.  Despite walking past metal that had been twisted during the collapse of the buildings and walking past a fire truck that had been completely sheared in half, my mind just kept asking how could such a horrible event really happen.  How and why.  I felt guilty and sad and had seen enough.  I was ready to leave the somber museum.

Back in the taxi we headed to our hotel to regroup and plan the rest of the day.  Hauling two kids around the city is exhausting and even though the kids had napped while we were out, Scott and I needed a break!  As evening came upon us, we decided to walk to Time Square and eat pizza.  We found Ray's pizza and tried a handful of different slices.  Lila wasn't overly interested in the pizza but Paisley, Scott and I really enjoyed it.  We walked around Time Square and Paisley was amazed at all the lights and signs.  It's safe to say his little brain was overwhelmed.  Lila wasn't real interested in it. I think the cold weather just made her want to bury her head in the safety and warmth of her momma.  I didn't mind.

We ventured into a couple shops and by the time we walked back to the hotel, it was time to put a couple babies in bed.  They both went down fairly easily and Scott and I began the process of packing up our bags.  With the babies sleeping and the lights of NYC twinkling below our hotel window, we talked about the trip and what we would do differently and what we had done right....

-We wouldn't have taken such young kids to NYC unless we had a good reason.  My sisters wedding was a good reason.

-Ordering the Sept. 11th museum tickets online to cut down on waiting in a LONG line was a genius idea.

-Taking the baby carrier for Lila was a life saver, but we should have also brought the one that Paisley fits in.  It's a lot of walking for adults, so we should have expected the little tyke would want to be carried around.  Scott's shoulders got a heck of a work-out!

-No car seats was the way to go.  We hopped in and out of taxi's so quickly that installing and carrying around the seats would have made the trip more stressful.

-Thank goodness for comfortable shoes.  I would love to know how many miles we logged.

-Snacks! As expensive as food was, having  snacks on hand for the adults and kids was smart!  We ate out at breakfast, snacked for lunch, then had a big dinner.

-The location of our hotel was perfect! We were right across the street from Central Park and literally within walking distance of everything else we were interested in seeing.  We would stay at the Park Lane again!  Although maybe get a bigger room as 4 of us in the room was tight quarters!!

-There is never enough time to do everything, so we picked just a couple things to see in the city and didn't stress with having a schedule or trying to cram a lot of attractions into our trip.  Just going with the flow and not dragging the kids all over creation kept all of us sane.

-We will absolutely return to the city someday...like when the kids are in high school.

We loved our view as we curled up in bed and drifted into sleep on our final night in NYC.  As always, morning came too quick.  With bags packed we left our hotel and met the rest of the family for breakfast.  There was a hole in the wall restaurant just a few doors down from our hotel.  It also had the best breakfast prices we had seen in the entire city ($6.95 for eggs, toast and sausage.  Yes please!)!

After breakfast we strolled thru Central Park and let Paisley play on the playground.  One of his requests was to go down a slide in the park and I was going to make sure that happened.  He loved running around the playground and loved having his aunt play with him (even though she wasn't so sure of the slide).

It was time for everyone to start heading to the airport so we all went our separate ways.  I wanted to go in FAO Schwartz so that was our next stop.  I think I had set my expectations a little too high, or maybe it just seemed neat when I was little, but I was not overly impressed.  Sure it was a 3 story toy story, but there weren't really hands on toys that Paisley could try out or play with.  They had a couple enclosed exhibits of trains or robotic toys, but pushing the "start" button didn't bring any of the toys to life as expected.  So there was nothing special about the store in my opinion.

The kids fell asleep in the taxi on the way to the airport and I contemplated joining them.  Instead I watched the city fly by my window and the people walking about that call this place home.  There are parts that are beautiful and parts I wouldn't want to be in when the sun goes down.  I was ready to get back to our slow paced peaceful life in the country.

The airport was packed and I was just ready to get my little family on the plane.  While we were sitting in the chairs, I noticed Paisley was driving a monster truck up the arm of a lady sitting next to him.  She was ignoring him so I just did the same.  If she didn't seem to  mind and he was being quiet, I figured to just let it be.

Even having Lila strapped to me didn't keep people from touching her.  We had quickly realized that the people of NYC see babies as these unique creatures that rarely venture into the city.  Therefore everyone wanted to touch and talk about the baby.  She didn't mind having her toes tickled and head touched.  I on the other hand didn't have enough wipes to keep Lila sanitized.  In NYC, the phrase "everyone loves a baby" proved to be true with the people we encountered.  In a way it was nice because everyone was so nice to us.  On the other hand, I was fairly certain we were going to be taking a couple germs home with us (on a side note, we didn't get sick post trip! Not even a runny nose).

Finally we boarded (after a delay or 2) and we left the city behind us. Next stop, home sweet home.  I'm so glad we got to experience this with our babes and celebrate my sisters wedding.  There is nothing better then family...except being on vacation with family.

The view from our hotel.  Until next time...

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