NYC Day Trip

We also went down to NYC this week. Had beautiful weather and a great day!



Clark spent all our time at the NBC store playing with this bin. "I love these blue balls!" His favorite thing in the world in his favorite color ... he couldn't get enough.



We had originally planned to go to the top of the Empire State Building, per Theo's request. My friend Sarah recommended going to Rockefeller Center (Top of the Rock), and I'm SO glad we did. The price was the same, but we had timed tickets and there was NO wait at all, which was one comment I had read about the ESB – long lines. After our five-hour wait for the Statue of Liberty in the fall, we wanted an experience that included little to no wait time, so this was perfect. It's not cheap ... but the view was incredible.



The first two levels are glass-enclosed.



It was really windy up top! But since the day was already so hot, it felt great.



The top floor was open air. I skipped this one and let Jeff take the older kids. The older I get, the more nervous I am about heights.



After Rockefeller Center, the boys went to the Nintendo Store ("Batendo", according to Clark) and Dora and I hit American Girl Place.



She has been wanting to do a photo with her doll for a long time, so this was perfect ... and not nearly as expensive as I thought it would be! (Her doll is a Just Like You, and her name is Thora, BTW.) We were going to take her doll to the salon, but there was over an hour wait, so we did a quick DIY style before the photo session instead. The store is very cute – I really liked seeing all the dolls and accessories in person. I was hoping for a few more store-exclusive items, though. Dora picked out one fancy doll dress and matching tshirts for her and Thora.

After meeting up with the boys, we went to dinner at The Primeburger. The food was just okay, but it was perfect for the kids (casual and cheap!) Theo declared it the best dinner he'd ever had (hot dog and smiley face french fries with a special treat - SODA!), so I would call the meal a success. Then we walked down to FAO Schwarz. We only had about an hour and a half (why do stores in Manhattan close at 7 pm?) so we zipped through kind of quick. Theo had a great time picking out a new Lego set and Dora loved the big piano. Clark picked out a metal truck and a stuffed Audobon bird that tweets. (He loves birds!) 



Muppets!



Smurfs! OMG, I used to love these little guys. I didn't have very many, but I remember getting such a rush when I finally had enough money to buy one, and then agonizing over which one to get. Luckily, I don't still get the same rush, or I would have walked out with enough to populate a small mushroom town.



Then one last stop at the Apple store, which is for some reason, open twenty-four hours. The store was PACKED! And not just by the iPads, the whole store was crazy crowded. Jeff really wanted to check out the iPad. We flipped over to books and Dora was thrilled to see "Bezus and Ramona" as one of the choices, so she started reading. The tablets were awfully fingerprint-y, it was kind of gross. I mean, we touched stuff all day long that thousands of other people had their grubby hands on, but actually seeing all the fingerprints makes it an icky reality!

Another great time in the city. Maybe we'll actually do something cultural next time instead of just hitting retail shops.