New York City...
We had 4 amazing days in NYC and we did about as much as you can do without dying of exhaustion in the streets... Here are some highlight - take a look and we'll talk soon.
The Flight: you see books being read, but once the announcement for in flight entertainment was made, Maleficent was the film de jour...
Once we landed, checked into the hotel in Times Square we went for lunch at a diner where the waiters and waitresses sang Broadway songs while you ate. We walked in to the Frozen song and moved onto Lion King and Little Mermaid - so, a bit hit for our first lunch. And, there was a whole wall dedicated to Elvis - they assumed this was for Nanny...
That night was our night on Broadway - we saw the show Wicked and the girls absolutely loved it. At the end of the grand finale just before intermission - the theatre went black and was silent and all you heard through the whole theatre was Charlotte saying "Whoa - that was great..."
The next day (Thurs), Dad went to work and HCR headed to the Museum of Natural History, a fancy tea lunch at Alice's Tea Cup on the Upper West Side and an open air bus tour of the city on a double decker bus.
Thursday night was The Big Deal - Dylan's Candy Bar. This is the coolest candy store you could ever imagine. Ralph Lauren's daughter designed the whole store and it's a 5th Ave 3 story shop full of every candy you can imagine. Gummy Bears the size of Rachael, gummy snakes taller than Charlotte and more. We made reservations and had desert on the top floor and it was a huge hit...
Here are some before shots of happy kids EACH eating sundaes that were 3 scoops of ice cream (birthday cake, cotton candy and "cookie mess") with 3 toppings (gummie worms, M&M's, fudge balls) with whipped cream on top.
After the sugar wore off, we had a big sleep and the next day was touring the city and the MoMA was a big hit... Seeing Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Matisse, Andy Warhol and more was a great treat. They listened to "kid" versions of the audio guide of the paintings and sat on the floor and did their own drawings. Big hit.
I had meetings down at Wall Street and took the East River Ferry back to midtown - it was a beautiful day and there were great views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline.
Saturday we were together as a family and walked until we dropped... Lego Store, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Guggenheim, FAO Schwartz and a couple of meals/coffee stops in between...
We had 4 amazing days in NYC and we did about as much as you can do without dying of exhaustion in the streets... Here are some highlight - take a look and we'll talk soon.
The Flight: you see books being read, but once the announcement for in flight entertainment was made, Maleficent was the film de jour...
Once we landed, checked into the hotel in Times Square we went for lunch at a diner where the waiters and waitresses sang Broadway songs while you ate. We walked in to the Frozen song and moved onto Lion King and Little Mermaid - so, a bit hit for our first lunch. And, there was a whole wall dedicated to Elvis - they assumed this was for Nanny...
Next, Daddy went to work and HCR took off for Central Park Zoo and some tattoos... (as you do).
That night was our night on Broadway - we saw the show Wicked and the girls absolutely loved it. At the end of the grand finale just before intermission - the theatre went black and was silent and all you heard through the whole theatre was Charlotte saying "Whoa - that was great..."
The next day (Thurs), Dad went to work and HCR headed to the Museum of Natural History, a fancy tea lunch at Alice's Tea Cup on the Upper West Side and an open air bus tour of the city on a double decker bus.
Thursday night was The Big Deal - Dylan's Candy Bar. This is the coolest candy store you could ever imagine. Ralph Lauren's daughter designed the whole store and it's a 5th Ave 3 story shop full of every candy you can imagine. Gummy Bears the size of Rachael, gummy snakes taller than Charlotte and more. We made reservations and had desert on the top floor and it was a huge hit...
Here are some before shots of happy kids EACH eating sundaes that were 3 scoops of ice cream (birthday cake, cotton candy and "cookie mess") with 3 toppings (gummie worms, M&M's, fudge balls) with whipped cream on top.
Then feeling a little sick and having to stop (not even half way through)...
Then the sugar hits...
After the sugar wore off, we had a big sleep and the next day was touring the city and the MoMA was a big hit... Seeing Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Matisse, Andy Warhol and more was a great treat. They listened to "kid" versions of the audio guide of the paintings and sat on the floor and did their own drawings. Big hit.
I had meetings down at Wall Street and took the East River Ferry back to midtown - it was a beautiful day and there were great views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline.
The Freedom Tower (One World Trade Center)
Brooklyn Bridge
Saturday we were together as a family and walked until we dropped... Lego Store, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Guggenheim, FAO Schwartz and a couple of meals/coffee stops in between...
North toward Central Park
A view of the Empire State Building
Panorama of Central Park...
Panoramic of the south island...
On the ground...
Lego Store as a treat...
Then to Central Park for a carriage ride (apparently these will be stopped some time soon - so, good we got in when we did...). The girls found a sparkling purple carriage with a horse named Isabelle - so, that was an easy choice...
Then - we took an hour long walk through the park to the Guggenheim - only to find out that it was being renovated and the rotunda was closed for renovations and only a few rooms were available... So, we jumped into a cab and headed to FAO Schwarz...!! The girls didn't know where to start first and went up and down all 3 levels about 500 times.
The Apple Store is outside of FAO Schwarz and the iPhone 6 was released for sale this week. here is the lineup to get into the store (and the line goes around the corner...). I was not allowed to get in line...
The kids had an absolutely amazing time and Heather and I loved it maybe even more than they did. Seeing a Broadway show, going to amazing galleries, eating a ton of fun crap food and seeing some of the most famous sights in the world really made this trip something we won't forget. I didn't even talk about the glass elevators in the hotel that went through the ground floor to get to the lobby - big hits all around...
