Across the state of New York

The next part of our road trip was the drive from Niagara Falls to NYC. On the way we wanted to stop and see the church sites in upstate New York. We made our home base Rochester, New York. We stopped at the first Wegmans for dinner one night, walked along the canal, had ice cream at a local dairy, found a park, and saw a double rainbow.

Over the course of two days we saw some amazing Church History sites. We were able to spend time at the Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah, Joseph Smith's childhood home, and the site of the Church being organized. I'm so glad we had the chance to take the kids.

Our last stop of our road trip was New York City. We went to the Top of the Rock, American History Museum, and the Statue of Liberty. We had fun exploring the city, shopping, and eating. We were hoping to see the fireworks on the Fourth of July, but the rain sent us back to the hotel to watch them on the TV.

(POST-NOTE: I am really behind on the blog. I am actually posting this over a year after this happened. I am SO, SO, SO sad... I somehow lost all the pictures from this trip. All we have are these pictures I grabbed from Instagram. Thank goodness I posted there.)

NYC part two

...and here is the rest of the week in NYC.

WEDNESDAY:

Just in case my children weren't tired of museums yet, I decided to take them to the The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was definitely nervous, but I explained to Miriam and Simon how fragile everything was in the museum (we only had one mishap where Simon got reprimanded for climbing on a statue). We first stopped at the library in the museum. The kids loved reading books while I sat and fed Levi. Then I took Miriam and Simon on two treasure hunts that I found on the MET website. The first one was in the Ancient Greek section and the other was in the Egypt section. They did really well and had fun finding the artifacts. Miriam wanted to see some paintings before we left, so we went through the European Paintings collection with Miriam guiding me with her map. I had a lot of people tell me I was so amazing a brave to bring my three kids to the museum. The best part was a group of Asian women that took a bunch of pictures of Levi. It was an adventure for sure, but I am happy that Miriam and Simon enjoyed it.

After we left the MET we walked across central park to the west end, the place I really wanted to visit. We stopped at Levain Bakery and Zabar's before making our way to see the Manhattan Temple. After we grabbed some dinner I knew a storm was rolling in so we made our way back to the hotel for the night.

^^the only picture I took at the MET for fear of someone breaking/ruining something^^

THURSDAY:

Wednesday night and Thursday morning it rained pretty hard. We spent the morning in the hotel waiting for the storm to pass. We headed out just in time to get pizza and head to the park. Then we walked over to Washington Square Park before walking down to Chinatown and Soho. I wanted to buy a bag while we were there. I ended up finding a purse and a wallet. The kids also got I heart NY shirts. Walking through Soho and Chinatown with three kids and a big stroller isn't for the faint of heart. It was crazy. I walked a lot! Luckily at some point we found a park and I was able to sit and feed Levi while the kids played... tender mercies.

After the crazy afternoon that I put us through we were in need of a treat. We went to The Corner Bistro for dinner where I ate the most delicious burger. I let the kids play at the park before we went to Magnolia Bakery and got 2 cupcakes, a slice of cheesecake, and a large banana pudding. Oh my goodness, I am still thinking about that banana pudding. So, so good!

FRIDAY:

By the time Friday rolled around I was pretty tired. We had to check out of our hotel that morning (but asked them to keep our stuff until we came back to pick up the van). I had planned to take the kids to the Top of the Rock, but the wait was just more than I could handle. Instead we walked around Rockefeller Center (and found another Magnolia Bakery - bought more banana pudding). I was really hoping Michael would be done working in time to meet us for lunch. We met him at Chelsea Market where we had the most delicious tacos. After that we were off to the Statue of Liberty. We were pleasantly surprised to find no wait for the boat. The kids loved riding the ferry out to Liberty Island. Miriam bought a necklace and notebook at the gift shop. Simon also bought a notebook. They use their own money when buying souvenirs on vacation. It is fun teaching them about money and how you really have to think about what you want to buy.

After we took the ferry back to Manhattan we headed back to the hotel to pick up our van. We loaded up an headed out to our next stop, Philadelphia...

NYC part one

Michael found out last minute that he was going to New York City to work for a week. I decided it would be fun to take the kids and go with him. I had a week to prepare to take three kids on a crazy adventure. Michael knew he would be pretty busy with work, so most of the time it was me and the kids exploring NYC together. (I am going to put the week into two posts. Some days I had the chance to take pictures and some days it was too crazy to worry about pictures.)

SUNDAY:

We left Sunday morning and drove up to New York. We were hoping to get there by mid-afternoon so we had time to see the Empire State Building before we had dinner. We ran into a little traffic in New Jersey, but I still wasn't concerned too much. We hit the Lincoln Tunnel at about 3:30 pm. Not too bad, but it all went downhill from there. There was some kind of festival/parade on the street our hotel was on. To make a long story short we couldn't get to our hotel and ended up driving around for 2 1/2 extra hours. Definitly the worst part of the week. This kids were amazingly patient (Michael and I were not) and we finally got to our hotel around 6:00 pm.

After checking in, taking our bags to our room, and potty breaks we headed to find something close to eat. We could walk to the Empire State Building from our hotel so we just found something on the way. We ate at a little Korean restaurant and everyone was happy and full. Now the next fun (read not so fun) part of the night. We knew this was one of the only days Michael would get to sight-see with us so we decided to brave the Empire State building even though we were going to arrive way later than planned. We ended up waiting an hour and a half to get to the top, then once we got up there it was so packed. I really wish we didn't have to go during peak time, but it was still an amazing view. We didn't stay long before we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

MONDAY:

Michael didn't have to be in early on Monday so we all ate breakfast together at the hotel. After Michael went off to work I finished getting the kids ready and ventured out into the city with three young kids. (I have to be honest. I was really nervous at first. I have been to NYC before, but not with children. We bought 7 day passes for the subway, but I worried about the logistics of the stroller.)

While we were at the Empire State Building on Sunday I decided to buy one of the passes that gets you into a bunch of stuff for one price. I decided that while the kids were happy I would first attempt to take them to the MoMA. We hopped on the subway and off we went. Miriam and Simon were really excited to visit a museum. I told them what to expect at an art museum and they were rearing to go. When we arrived a nice employee told us about the children's center downstairs. In the end, we spent the whole time playing there and the kids were happy. We checked out the courtyard so I could stop and feed Levi before heading out to find some lunch.

We decided to get sandwiches at a deli and take it up to Central Park a couple of blocks away. After lunch I asked if they wanted to go back to the museum and actually see the art or just go find a playground in the park. They opted for playing at the park (surprise, surprise). Luckily I guessed as much before we left the hotel so I was prepared with swimwear and towels.

As soon as we left the park Simon fell asleep in the stroller. Instead of waking him up to get back on the train I decided we would just walk for a while to let him nap. Miriam and I talked about all sorts of things and tried to decide what to do next. Miriam decided that it was a good idea to go shopping while the boys were asleep. We walked to the Disney Store in Times Square. Simon eventually woke up and both kids decided on a souvenir.

By this time Michael was texting me saying he was done and where should we meet him. We had a late dinner of none other than some NYC pizza. It was really good. We headed back to the hotel to put the kids in bed. I felt victorious surviving my first day solo in New York with three kids.

TUESDAY:

By the time Tuesday started I felt much more comfortable with how the week was going to go. Since scattered showers were in the forecast for the day, we decided to spend the day at the American Museum of Natural History. The kids loved it. They wanted me to take their picture in front of every dead animal in sight. Miriam loved the gem section (although she wanted to see more jewels like the museum in DC). There is a Shake Shack right across the street from the museum so I figured it would be a great place for lunch. I wasn't sure if the kids would want to go back after they ate, but they were up for more. After we had our fill of the museum we headed back to the hotel before it started raining too hard. Since we ate lunch so late I wasn't quite hungry, but I didn't want to send the kids to bed without dinner. There was a Moe's right next to the hotel and the kids were more than happy with a quesadilla and chips for dinner. Michael brought dinner to the hotel for the two of us on his way back from a late night working.