NYC

I went on a quick trip to NYC last weekend with a friend and had a fantastic time.  It was fun to get away from life for a little while and do something adventurous.  We woke up early Friday morning and drove into Connecticut and then took the train into the city.  We saw a few sites, at a few yummy things, saw a show and then left on the train that night.  The next morning we woke up and walked to Target (you know you are a small town girl when that is what you want to do in a big city!) and then IKEA on the way home.  And after a day and a half away, it was great to come home to my kids and my wonderful husband (who was so proud of himself that they were all alive...and not a bug bite, tick or sunburn between them!)
Here are some of the highlights

The first thing we did was ride the subway down to Battery Park to see the statue of Liberty. We were thinking of taking the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue but the line was so dang long that we decided to just do the Staten Island Ferry. It was a fun little ride and we had a good view of the statue and the skyline.
 
After the ferry we were hungry and we happened upon a this yummy place to eat. We had a super yummy sandwich and a white pizza. Maybe I was starving, but that pizza was heaven!

I downloaded a NYC phone app that had some self guided walking tours on it and one was a cupcake crawl. After lunch we decided to pick one to try. Red velvet, lemon, chocolate, and chocolate peanut butter...yum.
We headed down into the heart of Manhatten and stopped by to meet the American Girl of the year...this picture was for Kate!


Rockefeller Center

Time's Square - We saw Nice Work if You Can Get It that night
We at at the Stardust Diner where aspiring Broadway actors are the servers and they take turns singing and dancing. It was a really fun place to sit, rest our feet and eat some food
For dessert we shared a frozen hot chocolate. Going to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolate is on my NYC to do list but we didn't make it there this time...so this counted instead! After dinner we went and saw Matthew Broderick in Nice Work if You Can Get It and it was fun. So fun! Then we walked through Times Square at night and headed home
Such a long, fun day! Throughout the day I kept getting texts with these pictures
Clara had never had a bottle before I left...I was just pumping like a mad woman to build up a supply beforehand and I just crossed my fingers she would take it. The kids were so excited to feed her a bottle ever since I started saving my milk and she took to the bottle like a champ! Ryan also took Clara on her first hike in the backpack while I was gone. They hiked down to Quechee Gorge. So they were in good hands and having fun!

I sure missed these kiddos!

Kate turns 5 in NYC

Mom flew for a fun visit here in our new home in Vermont and the day after she got here we drove to New York City for Kate's birthday. Mom had never been to New York and I had only been once and it wasn't with kids so it was an adventure for us all! We drove the 5 hours into the city and checked into our hotel in Midtown and then headed out for some New York/Italian pizza at Angelo's. It was very yummy and we were wishing Ryan was there to tell us if it was authentic or not!

Then we headed back to our hotel for a good night's sleep. The next morning we woke up and Kate was 5! She was so excited! I was wanting to find a NYC bagel place for breakfast but Kate chose McDonald's, which was very close to our hotel! So McDonald's it was!

Then we headed out to explore. Kate loved pushing the stroller and for a while we had an empty stroller with both kids being rested and ready to walk.

Although they eventually found how tiring walking around the city is and they both took turns in the stroller. (Mommy and Grammie were wishing we could have turns too!)

It was a gorgeous, sunny day for an adventure. We found Rockefeller Center

And they still had some of their Easter decorations up

And then after a short trip into the Lego store, which they both loved, Kate couldn't wait for her surprise any longer and so we headed to the American Girl Store to get Kate's birthday present. She is familiar with a friend or two who has them but it isn't something she has been asking for so it was a big surprise.

Sawyer was such a good sport as we spent hours trying to decide which doll to buy and which accessories to buy. He loved riding the escalators and really just let Kate do her thing as we looked around. Kate loved the babies and the twins but decided on a big doll that looked like her, blonde hair and blue eyes. She named her Isabelle.

After we bought the doll we took her to the salon to get her ears pierced so she could look even more like Kate.

Then we went and changed into their matching outfits, her birthday present from Grammie and Papa! She LOVED matching Isabelle all day long!

Then we went to the American Girl Cafe for her birthday lunch. It was in a big room full of people and we got the best seat in the house. It was secluded in the corner and had a great view.

We enjoyed our pink lemonade and our fancy appetizers

Kate and Isabelle got matching tiaras

And the food was really fancy!

When everyone else was served dessert, the servers came out with a pink cake for Kate and sang Happy Birthday to her!

After spending 5 hours there I think we can say we had the real American Girl experience! Kate was in doll heaven and we are so excited that Isabelle is part of our family now!

After that we headed to Central Park. On the way we took some pictures next to some of the tulips (or "Two Lips" as Sawyer called them). The city was in full Springtime bloom and it was gorgeous!

We rode the carousel
Kate got really excited whenever we passed Grammie, who was waiting at the side with our stroller

And then we headed over to a playground. On the way Sawyer was saying his tummy hurt and that he needed to go to the bathroom and so I ran him over to the restrooms as fast as I could and then the poor boy went diarrhea in his pants while we wanted in line for the potty. It was quite the Central Park adventure getting him all cleaned up! He ended up wrapped in his sweatshirt in the stroller and we had to head home. Kate really wanted to take Isabelle on the slide first so we gave her a minute before we walked back.

Right next to our hotel was a bakery called Crumbs so I ran in for some birthday cupcakes and we took them upstairs to our hotel room. Happy Birthday girl with her pretty rose cupcake she picked out ("Because Rose is my middle name" she said)

Then Kate and Isabelle got their matching pajamas on and headed to bed. The hotel actually had an American Girl package and so they delivered a pink travel doll bed for Isabelle that we got to keep. Somehow I didn't get a picture of it but Isabelle definitely slept well that night!

The next morning we woke up and headed to meet my cousin, Brandy, who just recently moved to NYC. We took the subway, which the kids LOVED! We picked up some breakfast and took it to a park where the kids could run around and play. It was great to catch up with her!

On the way back to our hotel we stopped at Grand Central to see where the giraffe in Madagascar gets his head stuck in a clock

And then we walked back to our hotel and checked out. We went and got Chipotle for lunch (YUM) and then left the city and headed home to Vermont. It was an awesome weekend but we were glad to get our sore feet home!

Happy Birthday Kate!