Annual New York City at Christmastime (with young children)

For five out of the last six years (all except when I was 7 months pregnant), I have enjoyed visiting New York City each December.  We only go for a short day, but it is always a great trip and gets us all in the holiday spirit.  This year we went a little earlier in the month, and were rewarded with much less traffic (normally it is backed up outside the Lincoln Tunnel)  and no line at all at F.A.O. Schwartz (even though we know the secret to skipping the line is bringing a stroller).  We normally keep it simple, with walking around Central Park (sometimes taking a ride on the Carousel or a trip into the Central Park Zoo if time allows and they are open), through the Columbus Circle Holiday Market, to Rockefeller Center to view the tree and finding the huge nutcrackers nearby, and viewing the gorgeous storefronts on 5th Avenue.  We normally grab a bite to eat wherever we happen to be when we get hungry, and enjoy hot chocolate when we get chilly.  And the trip is not complete until we get sugared almonds from a street vendor (even if I have to jump out of the car at a stop light to do so).

These are some of our favorite photos over the last few years:

2013

Climbing Rocks in Central Park (a good way to stretch our legs after the long car ride)

This year we found a train on water!

Always Theo's Favorite Part

Store Front Windows

Theo in awe of the Thomas and Chuggington selection at the toy store.

 *This year there was a neat laser light show taking place every four minutes at Saks 5th Avenue.  We ended up watching several times, and it delighted a tired (fussing) Eli and enraptured Theodore.  Something not to miss if you're walking by Rockefeller Center anyway.*

2012

There are so many beautiful store windows.

With the Rockefeller tree 2012

2011

At Central Park Zoo

Enjoying the singing doorman.

With the Rockefeller tree 2011.

Our first ever trip was a bit easier, since it was before we had kids, back in 2008.  You can read about that one here: 2008.

And Theo's first trip was in 2010, where we visited one of NYC's best museums.  You can read about that one here: 2010.

Winter has arrived on the East Coast

We were having a hard time getting into the Advent season this year, but we finally received our dose of Christmas weather this week. On Thursday, I was down in Dover for a training when we got our first "real" snow of the season, which was still only an inch or two. It took quite a while to get home that afternoon, as many were unprepared and uncomfortable driving in the snow. They called a two-hour delay for school on Friday... pretty silly when the roads were perfectly fine the next morning, but that's Delaware. Our first glimpse of snow was actually last Friday, Dec. 10 (during last period, which was my homeroom-they were beyond excited).

The first week of Dec. we did get to see Santa arrive in Newark at the Winterfest. Theodore found the event a little strange, but not too frightening.

Last weekend Theodore picked out the Christmas tree with Brian and we set it up. Baby has yet to really bother the tree too much... we'll see if that can be said once we start putting wrapped presents underneath.

And finally, this Saturday we made our second NYC at Christmas time trip. This time we actually braved the traffic and drove right up to Central Park and parked right near FAO Schwartz (with a coupon for the garage!) with less than three hours from our door to theirs. We learned Brian quickly can pick up on taxi driver's techniques after being on the city streets just a few minutes.
There is just something so great about the city at Christmas... I am so glad we dragged our weary, tired selves there and had a great day. Theodore was great, other than being scared for a brief second when he found himself on the middle of 5th Avenue. It was quite a wake-up after his nap in the car. We headed through Central Park (stopping for Theodore's first carousel ride) to the Museum of Natural History. We could have spent a lot longer there, but it was closing around 6 and we didn't get there as early as we would have liked. We had to speed tour a lot of the museum.
Then we walked back through a very calm and quiet Central Park, viewing all of the city lights on our romantic stroll as Theodore napped. Finally, we stepped into FAO Schwartz and entertained Theodore with all the great toys there. It was a great day, and I got to see the Rockefeller tree at night this time, which is definitely the way to go.

Girls Trip

So on the last day of school I met my mother, girlfriends, and their mothers up in Philadelphia for a quick weekend trip around the cities around here.

I'm not going to give the whole play-by-play, because Ashley does such a good job recapping the trip in her own blog, but I do want to post a few of my favorite pictures.

Day Trip: New York City

When I was younger, I developed a real fascination with NYC. I have no idea where it came from (Felicity-maybe?), but it was so serious that I actually applied to (and was accepted to) NYU. I would have gone there had I not decided between following the man who was to be my husband to ASU, or my friends to Purdue. However, up to this day, I have never set foot in the city. We finally remedied that situation.

We took a shopping trip today.

New York City is about 135 miles from our house. It is actually a quick jump away; about two hours (and $8) on a swiftly moving Jersey turnpike put us within sight of the city. Brian was very disappointed that I didn't scream when I saw the Empire State Building (as I did when we saw the Hollywood sign), but that has never been such an icon for me.  But seeing the city for the first time was memorable.

We then exited before the London Tunnel (the only bad traffic we got into) and parked in Hoboken, New Jersey (a very-very cute little neighborhood). We paid $7.50 each way to take an 8 min ferry ride across the Hudson River, and we were finally on Manhattan soil (well, concrete).  A bus/train would have been cheaper, but not as scenic.

For once in my life I wore comfortable shoes, and it was for very good reason. We walked many miles across the town, mostly window shopping throughout the borough. We saw so much in such a short time-Times Square, Broadway, all the high-end stores on 5th Ave, the tree in Rockefeller Center, and the horse-and-buggy carriage rides in Central Park. It was so crowded, but it didn't really bother me that much.

Interesting sights and sounds included: the smell of roasting nuts on every other street corner, the guy in Central Park who offered us a map and illegal substances, and the very tall "woman" with a surprisingly deep voice working at Macy's.

One of the interesting parts of the holiday season is all of the elaborate store window displays that all the stores put up.

*I was very proud of my husband, when he visited all 10 floors of Macy's (both buildings). Without complaining!*

Walking back toward the dock, we spotted this little place in the Garment District. Of course it intrigued Brian, so we ate their for dinner. It was pretty good.

We took this picture back across the river in New Jersey, with the Empire State Building right behind us. We will definitely be back to take in more sights... the Guggenheim, MET, Statue of Liberty, and seeing a play on Broadway are on my list for next time.