NEW YORK!
This is the thing that if you asked James and Abby what they were most excited about on this trip they would both say going to New York.  Abby to the American Girl Doll store and to see the statue of liberty and James to Niketown. I was excited to see what they thought.....if it lived up to their expectations.  We drove into the city (against the recommendation of Dave who said we should drive to Seacauccus and take the train in) But Bryan was going for the full experience.  Monday morning traffic at 9 am into the Lincoln tunnel was exactly what you would expect.  But, hey, it was all part of the adventure.  We dropped our three kids off at the Empire State Building and gave them tickets to get to the top and told them to have fun.  (Bryan, and Tricia and Lauren and I have all been there before and at $30 a ticket, we decided to skip it).  We went and parked the car in a garage ($48 for the day).  And then walked back to meet up with the kids when they were done.  We walked from there up to the New York Public Library--very grand and beautiful, and then to Grand Central Station.  Abby was funny because she had made a comment in DC about how she could see why our country was in so much debt....we spent way too much money on monuments and museums.  Then when we walked into Grand Central she said the same thing...."look at this place, I can tell this cost way too much money. No wonder our govt is in debt."  After GC we headed over to the American Girl Doll store.  (abby couldn't wait another minute)  She was in heaven.  I kept calling her over to look at a map on the wall so she could see what was on each of the three floors of the store. When I said come look at the map with me, her eyes got big as saucers.  "Oh mom, I am not even CLOSE to being done" she said. She thought I meant it was time to move onto the next place.  She was really wishing she had her AG doll, but we talked about it before we left on the trip and knew that the best decision was to leave her at home.  But of course, she had to buy something.  She picked a new outfit for her BittyBaby doll and a book about Kit and a new hair brush.  The boys were grateful that the store had benches to rest their weary legs while we meandered up and down the floor levels oohing and ahhing.  (On the drive home late at night Bryan told us how he wished he was in charge of the Nike store and American Girl Doll.  He had ideas for making them much better.) I love that that is how he kept his mind occupied while we shopped.

Next was St. Patrick's Cathedral (undergoing extensive renovations) and Rockefeller center.  After that James was itching to go to the Nike Store, Bryan to a "must eat" place in NY, and me to just grabbing something quick and to keep going (I hate wasting so much time eating....Bryan, he doesn't thing finding all the "best of's" to be a waste at all.  So, we divided.  The girls all grabbed a cab and headed to the Shake Shack.  The boys hoofed it up to Nike.  The hamburgers were great and abby loved her strawberry shake, but fries were cold and limp.  The boys shopped (James was sporting new bright Red shoes when we met up later--Bryan is such a sucker!) and then grabbed a hot dog in central park and saw the Manhattan Temple.  They called us and told us to just meet them on Wall Street.  what the what??  That had not been the original plan.  Now Trish and I were in Grand Central Station reading the subway map and trying to figure out how to get to Wall Street alone.  We got on the yellow line and made it without a problem. (we visited with a really nice lady on the subway who helped us figure out what stop to get off on).  Abby was amazed to learn that she pays $100 a month for an unlimited ride pass (she thought that was quite expensive) and that she doesn't own a car or even know how to drive since she doesn't have a car.  She was a city girl for sure.  When we met up with the boys (and those bright red shoes) they confessed that they got on the subway going the wrong direction and had to get off, cross the street, and get back on one heading south (wasted subway fare....ha ha on them).  We went into the Trinity church and then to find the "bull" statue on Wall St.  Abby wandered into a building and found the bible that George Washington, Pres. Harding, and George Bush were all sworn in on.  We walked to Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty--but only from across the bay. (Don't bring this up to Annie....she is bitter still).  We came out of the park and Bryan suggested we grab 2 cabs and go see the memorial at ground zero.  We jumped in one and when I told the taxi driver where to take us he just laughed and said, "are you kidding? It is just around the corner and up a block.  Just walk it." So we climbed out and proceeded to walk, and walk, and walk.  I don't think it was actually very far, it was just hot and humid and we were sweaty and drippy and Annie felt like her pinky toes had been rubbed off her foot and we were slow moving.  Bryan cursed that taxi driver twice on the walk.  The memorial was amazing and a beautiful tribute and reminder to the events of 9/11.  (Abby wasn't even born then, and while she has heard some people talk of it, she really has no comprehension of the devastation or what it meant to our country).

By now it was about 4 pm and we had seen everything we wanted to except Time Square.  We disagreed with Bryan on which subway line was fastest, so he and his google girlfriend and James took one line and the girls took another.  (the boys beat us).  What was funny was that James called us while we were still on the subway to see where we were and I lied and told him Toys R Us.  When we surfaced I said we had better run to that store but we stopped into a little Walgreens right there at Time Square to grab water first and guess who was standing there buying water themselves?  Yep...the boys.  So I will admit it.  They won that race.  However, we were delayed adding money to our metro card and missed the first train, or we would have beat them I am sure.

When we were in Time Square is when both Abby and James looked at me and said..."now this is what I thought NY looked like."  They loved the big screens, bright lights, advertising, and people.  It was a great way to end our day.  We saw all the basics--M&M store, Hershey's store, Toys R Us, Disney Store, and souvenir shops. We ate dinner at Carmine's which was Italian food which was good but is served family style so don't go there if you on a romantic getaway, but if you are ever traveling with a group--this is a great place.  We also grabbed cheesecake at Juniors so Bryan could compare.  He thought it was fabulous, but still thinks Termini's is slightly better--I think it is hard to get the Philly out of the man.  It was a great day and the previous forecast that called for rain all day was wrong and it only sprinkled on us about the last hour of the night.  So it was great. Because it was raining, the girls stayed in stores while the boys ran through the rain to pick up the car and come and get us. The drive home was fast and we were tucked in bed after taking advil by 11 pm or so.

*Tricia and Lauren if you are reading this....thank you so much for spending the day walking through NYC with us!!  You two are fabulous!!  And Dave was a saint for staying home with the little kids. So thanks Dave too.