2016 (17): Annual NYC trip and DITL
Every year we take a whirlwind trip to New York City so that Jake can map out his middle school field trip and the boys can take a train ride. This year, our trip fell on 23-24 April.
Cereal for breakfast with an emphatic "reading" of a library book
Meanwhile, this guy is carrying around heavy shoes
Head onto the deck to take advantage of the spring morning
And start packing
Everyone leaves for Ninja Training/Crossfit, so baby and I fold some laundry. He is a big help.
Race to get packed and in the car, but we make it on schedule!
Bye, house!
Crossing the FDR Mid-Hudson bridge into Poughkeepsie
Park in our super-secret free location, then walk to the train station
Baby seems a little uncertain. It is quite loud.
"Look, Mama! This is fun!"
We get off at Penn Station, hop on the subway to 7th Ave and the boys are overwhelmed by the skyscrapers.
Checking into the hotel
We drop off our bags and head out on a walking tour
We walk about half a block before the baby pitches a fit in the stroller. He hasn't had a long enough nap today, so we put him in the backpack. He calms down while pulling on my hair.
We walk by Columbus Circle and end up at Lincoln Center.
Boys and Grumpa enjoy the fountain.
(They enjoy a little too much, as we are reprimanded by a police officer when the boys get a bit rambunctious).
Baby J fell asleep in the backpack, so we carefully transition him into the stroller
With the "business" portion of the trip finished, we head to the park
Not a very long nap, apparently
JUMP
Head on the subway again to Little Italy for dinner
We get off at Grand and walk by an open-air fish market. They have live crabs in a couple buckets and the boys wanted to stop and watch for a while. They giggled a lot.
We had dinner with my cousin and a couple of his friends, then went for gelato and Italian pastries at Ferrara's. It's another NYC trip tradition. B had Cannoli and L had Mango flavored gelato. (Mango was not so tasty to me!)
The boys have so much fun riding the subway
We head back to the hotel to put the boys to bed. Grumpa needed to rest his leg, so he hangs out and watches hockey while the other adults go out for one last round of drinks.
We went across the street from the hotel to have drinks at the Russian Tea Room
The menu
Our selections: the Cosmonaut (a Cosmo with Russian berry vodka), a "flight" of vodkas, including one from potatos, one from wheat, and the berry vodka from the Cosmo, and a Moscow Mule. The Moscow Mule was by far and away the best.
Nana trying to take a photo of her mug. And look-- her eyes are open!
******* END DAY ONE *******
Mornin'
Check out this little guy who SLEPT THE ENTIRE NIGHT in the hotel's crib (!!!)
These guys are still fast asleep
But soon they're up and enjoying juice and granola bars
Cheesy smiles as we get ready to head out
Time for some "real" breakfast!
Baby J enjoyed banging spoons together, dropping things on the floor, and reaching for everything breakable on the table.
Blueberry pancake face
We have a little time to waste before our train, so we head back to the park for some playground time
The wind is a little brisk, but it's gorgeous and sunny and SPRING
We let the baby roam free, and he picks the slide as the most exciting object in the playground
We stop by this building and I fall in love with the intricate carvings
Also, how can you go wrong with an arch of flowers over your door? You can't
Collect our things from the hotel, then it's a short subway ride back to Penn Station
We are lucky on the ride home that the train is not over-crowded, so no one minds the shenanigans and tomfoolery that happens
Back in Poughkeepsie, we get into our cars to drive home. This guy screams for 40 minutes non-stop, then conks out and sleeps the rest of the way, through the transfer into the house, and for another hour safe in his car seat.