NYC part 4/Kids' fun

Sunday morning we slept in a little and spent a good portion of the day traveling. Public transportation runs a little slower on Sunday and we spent a lot of time outside waiting for buses as we tried to get to the airport. Don't we look freezing??

A cold front blew in Saturday night and it was SO cold. I didn't feel fully thawed until we were about to touch down in Houston. But we got to watch two movies on the plane and enjoyed ourselves so much! We were so excited to see the kids it felt like Christmas. We got to Gigi and Poppy's house a few minutes before they got back from church at 5:30 and were so happy to be with them again.

The kids had so much fun with Gigi and Poppy while we were gone! I was a little nervous that Harvey would give everyone a hard time, but he did great as long as he never saw us on our FaceTime calls haha. Here are some pics I got from their fun weekend.

Gigi was amazing and got Millie on and off the bus on Friday, took the big kids to gymnastics, and everything else. We're so thankful for Gigi!

It's good to leave, and it's good to come home. I love these kiddos so much, and I loved the snuggles I got from them the morning after we got home!

NYC part 3

First thing Saturday morning we went out to Hunter's Point, a spot on Long Island where Tyler went several times on his mission. It was a beautiful morning and we had fun recreating some pictures he took back then!

Way back in 2006

and in 2018.

Look at that baby face!!

After enjoying that beauty for a while we headed back to Battery Park and got on a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty!

She should have told me she would be wearing green so we wouldn't match and it wouldn't be so embarrassing for her hahaha.

We wish we would have had time to get off the ferry at Ellis Island to explore a bit, but since we had tickets for Phantom of the Opera for that afternoon we had to cut that out. The ferry ride sure was nice though.

From there we went to the Brooklyn Bridge! Took us a while to find the path to the pedestrian part but we eventually did. 

Tyler went there during his mission too!

After all that walking (to find the bridge and then along it) we were starving and so excited for lunch. We went to Chelsea Market and ate at Los Tacos No. 1, which truly was No. 1 to us!!

We couldn't find a place to sit so we just plopped down on the floor right there in the market. We were in a corner by a service door and quite enjoyed our little picnic. Looking at those tacos sure makes me hungry now!

By then it was time for The Phantom of the Opera! We needed something to cool off our mouths (the salsa at lunch was very spicy) and there was a McDonald's right by the theater, so we grabbed a shake. Of course, they weren't allowed inside. I've never felt so classy as when we snuck in McDonald's shakes into a broadway show. But seriously, it was needed. And delicious.

The play was amazing! A dream come true for me! I have loved the music and play since I was a little girl. I was remembering my first exposure to it while there: My cool older cousin Kelly came to stay with us when we lived in France (so I was maybe 4 or 5). We went on a bike ride and I must have been in a seat on her bike or something, because I remember looking at the back of her shirt for a long time. It was a Phantom of the Opera shirt, and I asked Kelly about it. She told me the story and that one day when I was older I should go see the play. It must have stuck! I listened to the music all through jr. high and high school and just about died over the movie when it came out. I loved getting to see it on Broadway!!

After the play Tyler showed me around his mission areas a little more. We went to Woodside, his first area, and he showed me where he shopped for groceries, where his apartment used to be (torn down now! Sad) and the church building. We rode the 7 train all the way up to Flushing Meadows. Someday we'll go back for the US Open, but for now these recreated pictures will have to do! 

There was a wedding party taking pictures there too. We also walked around Chinatown there in Flushing, but it was much too cold at that point to pull out the cameras! We ate some yummy Chinese food for dinner and went to bed exhausted. A great day.

NYC part 2

We hit the ground running on Friday morning. Almost literally. We got an early start too. Couldn't hold us back! Took the subway to Grand Central Terminal again, to see if it was any different during the day.

It wasn't any different haha. But we did go up and see the cool Apple Store in there and a nice employee took our picture.

We found the whispering arches where we could stand across a courtyard and whisper to each other and hear what the other was saying! Pretty cool!

Then we made our way to Rockefeller Plaza. 

They were filming the Today Show as we walked by. We saw several groups of ladies on a girls' trip or something who were going weak at the knees over someone in there, not sure who because I don't watch that show haha.

Then it was time for Top of the Rock! Got a good view of Radio City Music Hall on our way up.

Going up the 70-something floors to the top of Rockefeller Center. It was lit up and had video and blast-off-y music playing as we made our way up. Pretty funny.

And then there we were! At the top of NYC with a fantastic view!

The whole time we were in New York I kept remembering scenes from movies/TV shows that had been filmed in the places we were. Very millennial of me, but it's true. It was here I kept hearing Tom Hanks yell "Jonah!" (which actually happened at the top of the building behind me) and laughing inside.

There's a viewing deck above the regular viewing deck where there's no glass. Pretty cool. 

After that we stopped by Times Square once more. Sat for a few minutes on the TKTS booth stairs and just watched the craziness.

We were ahead of schedule so we made an unplanned stop at Mood Fabrics! I did not get to see Tim Gunn or Swatch the dog but it was still pretty amazing. I can't imagine actually having to shop there, as it was really overwhelming, but I'm sure impressed that other people do!

Another unplanned stop, this time at the NY Public Library. 

It was a beautiful building. 

The original Winnie the Pooh and friends! The whole children's section there was so cute.

How Tyler really felt about being in a library on vacation. Just kidding!

It was finally time for lunch and we were so excited for Shake Shack! We went to the original in Madison Square Park, and saw the Flatiron Building right there too.

The burgers and fries were delicious, but I definitely ordered the wrong shake flavor. The mint cookies and cream was so minty it was like I had just brushed my teeth! Tyler liked the chocolate though. I guess this means we'll just have to go back so we can try another flavor right??

Then we went to see the temple! Unfortunately we weren't able to go inside or do any work there (they have pretty limited hours/session times) and the sign on the outside of the building was covered up by scaffolding.

After seeing the temple (and Julliard right across the street!) we headed to the Lincoln Center TKTS booth to get tickets for a broadway show! We were hoping for Phantom of the Opera and we got it. More on that later. We had to rearrange our schedule a little bit but made it work. After figuring all that out we went to Central Park. It was so cool to see the green grass with the skyline behind it.

The fact that it was a beautiful day didn't hurt either! We seriously lucked out with the weather while we were there. 70s and sunny on both of our full days in the city. Amazing. Bethesda fountain was so cool!

There were a couple of things in the park that we wanted to see but were under construction (the ramble and Belvedere Castle specifically) but we did get to see Shakespeare garden and Bow Bridge.

It was very hilly, which surprised me. Lots of cool rocks poking out of the grass too.

There were a few trees in bloom and they were beautiful! I bet if we had been there a week or two later all the trees would have been, but oh well.

Happened to see a couple get engaged on a canoe on the lake underneath the bridge.

We needed a snack so we went over to Levain Bakery for a cookie. They were out of the classic chocolate chip cookie, so we shared a chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips and it was AMAZING. Best dessert of the trip.

From there we got on the subway for a nice long ride to lower Manhattan. We went from Central Park to Battery Park, so the long ride was very welcome for our feet! Hello Lady Liberty!

We took a walk through the financial district. Pictures are out of order here, but everything was so close it doesn't really matter! It was cool to be on Wall Street, see the NYSE, the Charging Bull, Federal Hall, and Trinity Church.

Federal Hall is where George Washington was inaugurated! It was also the first Capital building. Pretty cool but not much to see in there anymore haha. We relaxed on the steps of Federal Hall for a while, watching a street artist do some pretty impressive work. It was a beautiful day and we were just enjoying the atmosphere!

Trinity Church was beautiful!

We found Alexander Hamilton's grave outside the church, along with his wife and some other big wigs in US history.

After walking through the financial district we made our way to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. It was sobering and beautiful.

The museum was very well done. We could have spent all day in there. 

Last piece of rubble removed from the towers.

They had exhibits honoring the bombing of the WTC in 1993 as well as all 4 planes hijacked on 9/11. We walked through the timeline of 9/11, learned the history of Al-Qaeda, heard last phone calls and messages from victims, and learned about some of the victims and first responders. It was sad and beautiful. Made us very thankful for the knowledge we have that death is not the end, for them or for any of us.

After being at the museum for a few hours we were starving and ready for dinner! We went to Prince St. Pizza and it did not disappoint. Our friend Kelly gave us great recommendations for places to eat there and we enjoyed every bite! We took our pizza to a park and watched some random adult soccer league games while we ate. It was so relaxing and fun and delicious.

Found Houston St. on accident on our way back to the hotel!

Tyler was the mastermind of the trip. He scheduled everything and navigated for us everywhere we went, which was tricky sometimes. He made it all so smooth and fun!!