OK, I want to make sure I remember everything because this was such a good trip...I had a complete and total blast, and the kids did too!
We got in NY late Friday night and rode around a bit looking at lights in the city...we checked in the hotel, which was much nicer than last year (had 2 beds so we weren't smushed up like Swiss Family Robinson all packed in one bed and a SPECTACULAR view of Manhattan), and quickly fell asleep. We woke up early and decided to hit the Museum of Natural History first. Since we only got through 2 floors last year, we dedicated a whole day to it this year...the place is just massive! We started in the basement level, which is where we entered off the subway, and worked our way up. We got there a little after nine, and we stayed there until almost 2 o'clock! The kids were AWESOME...I didn't think they would last that long, but they all loved it. We snuck into a little theater showing a short film about mammals (narrated by Meryl Streep, no less), and all took a little 15 min snoozer so we could continue on...that was on the second floor out of five.
As we were leaving the Museum on the Central Park side, a man was walking ahead of us smoking a cigarette and I saw what I thought was a cigarette ash flutter through the air towards us. I even said aloud to Logan, "Hey, I wish that were a snowflake," to which Logan replied, "Look up! It IS snowing!" It wasn't bitter cold like last year, so we sat on a bench in Central Park and ate hot dogs from a street cart in this beautiful, lazy snow and it was perfect. The kids were being so good, and it was just so pretty. Then we hailed a cab to take us to FAO Schwartz, but he didn't speak English very well. We tried "toys", "toystore", and, since we were both under the impression that store was in or near Times Square, "Times Square toystore?". He nodded, "Aahhh, yes, Tim Sqwaaar!" And so we paid the guy fifteen bucks to take us to the Toys R Us in Times Square, which was INSANITY!
The people were shoulder to shoulder and I really feared for the kids at points. Since we promised them we would get them something and yet toys were out of the question in that crushing crowd, we ducked into the Candy Land shop instead and got sweets for everyone and go out of there! I ended up half-carrying Grayson and Callie after a particularly huge, rude, sweaty man almost crushed them in the crowd and I nearly got into a fight with him. It's a store FOR children, for God's sake, and yet everywhere I looked, parents were carrying even large, older kids because it wasn't safe for them to walk!
I digress.
We burst out from Toys R Us into the center of Times Square in a magical snowfall. The kids looked up and held their hands up, and Logan and I looked around for a Starbucks to refill our tanks. We found one a short block later and I stood in line while Logan entertained the kids by the window, which I noticed he's getting very good at. The kids balanced on the foot rail with their hands above them on the thin counter, and Logan let them roam within a safe perimeter away from the door and other customers. I ordered a couple of white mochas and, while waiting, saw one of the grossest displays of inconsiderate rudeness yet....four obviously wealthy young women ordered hot chocolates and when presented with their drinks, sipped them, crinkled their fake noses and botoxed lips and said, "Oh...my...God...I think, hahaha, I think I meant to order a mocha!! Oh, my God, that's toooo funny! Can I, yeah, actually, can I get a mocha instead?" So about ten people were crammed in the receiving line at this tiny Starbucks with more coming in to order by the second and these airheads were laughing snottily and comparing obviously real Hermes and Cartiers. No doubt they were laughing at all us shmucks sporting our Old Navy fleece scarves and hats, but I laughed to myself knowing full well a polar fleece is much warmer than some silk/cashmere blend scarf thing that only serves to advertise wealth...and during a recession!
Finally we got our drinks and headed out, but by then the snow was picking up and was now gusting and flying in heavily. We gave it a moment of discussion and decided to go on to the hotel and take a nap while the snow blew and come back later that night to see the tree at Rockafeller. When we woke from our little nap, however, the snow was blowing sideways outside our hotel window and we could barely see across the street, much less the Manhattan skyline.
*Interesting side note: at this time, I took the opportunity to Google the name of the movie studio across the street from the hotel, which ended up being where they filmed the Sopranos, Sex & the City, The Devil Wears Prada, and many other movies, shows, and commercials! So neat!
We hunkered down that night, ordered a pizza and endured the seemingly endless torture of young kids trapped in a hotel room. Grayson and I went on a couple of walks of the lobby to pass some time, and we tried to find something decent on TV in a hotel that only supplied Cartoon Network in the line of anything animated. Finally the kids fell asleep and Logan and I worried about being trapped in New York.
I woke early...my internal alarm goes off around 5:30, so I turned the news on quietly. Apparently this storm had dropped over a foot, almost 2, of fine powder snow...no ice, no slush, just powder. So it was fairly easy for the plows to clear the road and get everything back running. By the time we left the hotel around 10:30, we had no problem getting transportation. After a quick train ride in, we began our venture at the Statue of Liberty. Now, I had called ahead from the room and was assured that they were open and were running ferries. So we trek a few blocks, dragging poor John in the stroller through inches of soft snow, and find that they are, indeed, not running ferries. Mom (me) was angry. But Logan, always the optimist and always hungry, raised my spirits and insisted we find a little place to eat and warm up. So we found a little place called Spin Cafe right off Wall St and had some fantastic pasta, a big dish of warm stuff with potatoes and all kinds of good stuff, which filled our bellies and warmed our spirits for the day. We ventured out with fresh vigor and hiked a few blocks down Wall St until we found Ground Zero, another spot on our hit list. We signed up for the tour and took the kids though the museum, but they are still too young to grasp what's going on. I got a little frustrated because they kept running amuck in this solemn place and Logan wasn't stopping them much, but he pointed out that if he tried to control them, then they would turn into screaming messes, and he was right. So we took a little walk around the surrounding neighborhood until our tour started, and then the tour took about an hour and a half, most of it inside at the World Financial Center.
We had a family pow-wow after the tour, and the kids and I really wanted to go to Chinatown. After consulting a security guard at the WFN who said it was only "about eight blocks away", we set out on foot, confident we could hoof it. Over twenty-five blocks later, we were feeling lost and confused, so we stopped again and asked someone. They said to stop going North and take a right and head East and we would find it, and sure enough...we walked a few blocks, turned a corner, and faced a dead duck hanging in a window.
We walked through Chinatown, Callie haggled herself into a cute set of silk kimono pajamas, and we resisted every purveyor of stolen goods on Canal St! Finally, we popped into this tiny restaurant with deep golden fried ducks hanging by their poor necks in the front window and had some wonderful roast duck lo mein, fried rice, chicken, tea...all kinds of wonderful! Callie even tried to use chopsticks, but I caught her simply stabbing pieces of chicken on the end of the stick and eating it kabob-style. The waiter sat down with us and helped us feed the kids and everything! The lady behind the register kept smiling and staring at John until she couldn't resist any longer, came out from behind the counter wiping her hands on her apron, rubbed his head and finally crouched to hold him. The kids were in awe of these people who look so different and talked this fast, confusing language, and the shopkeeper and his wife were in awe of our funny, confident kids who didn't mind to show off for a stranger or two. The kids were grinning and putting it on.
We headed back out into the snow and took the crosstown train to Herald Square....you guessed it....Santa Clause at Macy's! The kids were just about to wiggle out of their pants with excitement! Macy's had an incredible setup... intead of just waiting through one long, horrific line full of kids, you waited on a twisted path through the North Pole. It was beautiful, magical, and I found myself even being caught up in the moment! By the time you get to see the big man himself, you are so mystified and excited it's hard to take it! John couldn't take it.... as soon as he saw Santa, he backed into an elf, then sat down and cried. Callie went first and told him she wanted a princess Barbie, and then Grayson went and very seriously discussed with him how good he was and how he wanted a Hot Wheels something or other. Santa was sweet and jovial and took pictures with the kids...and then it was over! It was a wonderful experience, and one the kids are still talking about!
It was going on 8:00, but we had promised Grayson he could see the Rockafeller Tree at night so he could see it all lit up, so we walked the ten or eleven blocks over, came around a corner, and it rose up from between two buildings like a mirage. Callie didn't see it at first, so we pointe dit out and then laughed till our sides hurt when her mouth literally dropped open and she stared at that tree with those lights glistening in her eyes....I don't think so long as I live will I forget that face. Pure childhood wonder.
We ALL passed out when we got home after walking the entire south end of Manhattan in a foot of snow, but it was that kind of good tired...sore muscles that say you really did something today.
I awoke first, again, and got up quietly to shower and start packing. I had an idea, but I didn't want to get the kids' hopes up. So I whispered to Logan when he woke up, and he nodded and started helping me pack. We got everything in the car, checked out, and started driving..but towards Manhattan instead of away. We parked in this garage next to Battery Park and ran to check if the ferries were running, and they were! We got to take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty, which was fiercely cold but the kids were over the top with excitement. We ate a bite there on Liberty Island and then walked around Ms Liberty herself, snapping photos and trying to keep Grayson from getting arrested by security for repeatedly trying to run up to the base of the building.
The ferry back was even colder, but we discovered John's funny face when you asked him to "show me your teeth", and he got another Grandma in this sweet older Brazilian lady sitting next to us who couldn't speak two words of English but had that knack of clucking to babies and chucking them under their chins until they giggle down to a perfection. We got back, ran to the car, paid an outrageous FIFTY DOLLARS for the priviledge of parking for two hours and eighteen minutes, then got on the Turnpike and outta there!
The GPS took us down 95 on the way home, so we took a tiny detour through the city in Washington....we drove by the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, the Mall, White House...all that, and got home around midnight. Logan drove the whole way, poor thing, and still had to get up and go to work today.
This was one of the best family trips I can think of. Logan and I fought before we left, so maybe that got all the tension out before leaving. He was great during the trip and we had such a good time....as usual, I can't wait to go back next year and see perhaps Midtown and up into the Cloisters and some on the northern end of Manhattan!
