Boston and New York City November 22-30

We began our trip to see the Allens in Cambridge on two very long plane rides. I should have listened when they said to not do layovers with children. Overall, the kids did great. Grandma Terri sent them some fun books to journal their adventures in. We did begin with the small kink of me leaving my entire wallet in the car on the way into the airport. After a few TSA calls, some serious running through the airport, and my saintly mother leaving work and bringing it back to me, I made it on the flight. Barely.

Our first day in Boston we drove over to Plymouth Plantation where they recreate the pilgrims' and indians' lives. The kids loved the chickens, indian baby, and pilgrim making pottery. Sophia slept through most of this adventure (as she had begun the day by throwing up all over Aunt Lynzie's car).


We then made it to the Mayflower II - a replica of the original boat. Even Sophia had stories to tell us about this boat that she had painted a picture of in preschool.


That evening nestled into Lynzie and Danny's snug little apartment, Beth lost another tooth (she likes to choose unconventional times to do this).




The next morning we woke up early and hit the road to drive to New York City. We arrived first at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island boat ride. The kids didn't think much of Ellis Island, but they thought that the Statue was very memorable; Kate enjoyed learning about how it was created (and how a man took a picture of her yelling outside there).

Afterwards we stopped in Jersey City to grab some last minute groceries before driving into Manhattan. Note to self, do not grocery shop in Jersey City alone at dusk. People get divorced over their husbands abandoning them in the wrong part of town. Dave is lucky I love him. (His argument is that I should have remembered that he parked int he parking lot before I got out - men can be so detail oriented!)


We drove into Manhattan, checked into our hotel, and went right out to see the balloons being blown up for the Macy's Day Parade. There were thousands, if not millions, of people. I don't know why I pictured a couple people standing on a corner. We were literally pushed by the crowd down the street. This shot is of me running into someone with my empty stroller. Yikes.


The girls ate their first New York pizza that night. That may have been the highlight. Halfway through the balloons, everyone was begging to go home and go to bed. We were mistakenly directed by a NYPD officer to take a "shortcut" through central park on our way home. 2.5 hours later, Dave and I were the only ones not crying. We were, however, trying to guess where the hotel was. Central Park had eaten our map. Gotta love New York.


The next morning, we woke up late recuperating from the insanity the night before. So instead of getting to the parade site at 7:30am, we got there at 8:30. Not a good choice. As the parade passed, we could see the balloons (the kids enjoyed the first 2), and the tops of the floats.
Then Micah and Evelyn began to scream (standing room only does things to kids), and our kids were just sitting on the ground talking to each other.
I took Kate and Soph back to the hotel while Dave took Beth for a closer view.
Upon arrival at the hotel, Kate asked why we hadn't just stayed here to watch it. NICE. Beth did get to see lots of fun things with Dave. I think this will be a memorable trip for her...


After the parade and lunch, we walked over to Times Square and the M&M store.


Then I took Kate and Soph again to the hotel while Dave took Beth to see MORE: Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, Times Square again, and a church (that was surround by law enforcement and large M-16s).


The next morning (Katie's Birthday!!!) we (finally) smarted up and took the subway.

On our way to the station we saw a pigeon tree (one of the girls favorite New York things).

We went directly to the World Trade Center site where they are rebuilding (still).

Micah and Evie and Sophie were all being angels through most of this.


We followed that up with the Empire State Building.
Sophia mostly enjoyed the pigeons.
I sat on the ground most of the time holding Micah. He didn't care to see anything and neither did I.
Then we tried to get into Serendipity (where else will you see a pink Christmas tree?), but there was a 3 hour wait (duh!), so we settled for Dylin's Candy Bar to celebrate Kate being 6.
The sundaes and frozen hot chocolate were awesome, but the cupcake was the BEST. The Allens headed home to Boston here (this ended up being a great choice, considering what was to come...)
After this, we ran over to FAO Schwartz. This picture best describes the excitement of my kids at this store. Right inside this awesome toy store is a human kaleidescope. Sophie took one look up and threw up her entire Dylin's Candy Bar experience. FABULOUS. I took her to the hotel; Dave kept Kate and BEth in FAO Schwartz for the next 3.5 hours.
They rode the escalator a thousand times, designed their own barbies, made stickers, colored with pastels, played the big piano, and essentially, didn't want to leave.
This may have been the highlight of New York for them. On their way home they went to Rockefeller Center and the Apple Store.

Our final day in NYC, we rode over to the American Girl Doll store. Kate enjoyed taking a tag for each and every doll they had. She is now trading them like cards.
We also saw the tree in Rockefeller Center (sorry Beth for the threepeat). We were officially ready to leave New York! After breakfast at a REAL deli (the things your kids don't know - seriously!), we hit the road for Boston. When we got home to Lynzie's we found that she had been cooking ALL DAY for a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. She is SICK. And I will take part in her illness any year, as I also think she might be one of the best cooks I know.

Sunday we went to church in Cambridge. Dave said he enjoyed all the "intellectualism", but I think I'll stick with my basic boring church lessons... After church, Danny took us on a tour of Harvard.
It was interesting to see sights I'd only seen in movies (and maybe not realized were part of Harvard). The churches, graduation location, and the famous lucky shoe (which Beth wouldn't rub because she caught onto Danny's story about it getting peed on).
One thing is for sure, Danny is sure a bright, driven guy to be there. We then went home a FEASTED on Lynzie's hard work. Danny, Evie, and Micah are sure lucky that she enjoys cooking so much. I mean, what kind of girl brings FIVE cookie sheets for a short year in a tiny apartment? Someone who knows she will use them!

The next day I did LOADS of laundry in Lynz's laundromat (I LOVE my laundry room), Dave flew off to South Carolina for work, Danny went back to class, and Lynz took us to the Boston Children's Museum. That was SO fun for the kids, until I insisted we pick up pizza for dinner instead of leftovers. From now on, I will trust Lynzie about the limits of her children. Micah almost broke Sophia's eardrums. :)


The last day in Boston, we hit Walden Pond. It was GORGEOUS, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The kids, however, were done. So we didn't make it clear to the cabin site. But from what I hear, we were about 100 feet away. Fine - next time I won't take them! :) After that, we grabbed our stuff and went to the airport to begin our epic journey home. That was a nightmare. From delayed flights to overbooked flights, to kids wishing they could be in bed, to stinky Indian men sitting behind me, to Beth finally barfing buckets all over the aisle on our way out of the airplane when we finally did arrive in Phoenix at 230am. My parents are saints for picking us up and getting us groceries. Because once we got home, we didn't leave for longer than 24 hours!

It was such an adventure. We're so grateful to have gotten to go. Maybe we'll go again. Maybe NOT. :)