New York City

We were on our way.  Our cousin Dave drove us to the train and we headed in to New York. I loved the trains on the east coast because they still have the conductor who punches your ticket. I wanted to take a picture but couldn't figure out how to do it without them knowing. I felt a little like I was on the polar express. 

After dropping our bags off we headed to the World Trades Center memorial. It was even more impressive in person. I loved the flowers that were placed in some of the names. 

The new World Trade center building.

Our friends Justin and Jessica were in NYC for a business trip. We called them and they were a few blocks over so we met up with them and we spent the rest of the day together. It was a blast hanging with them and we saw a lot of things in just one day... I mean 12 miles worth of walking a lot of stuff.

 New York Stock exchange

 This is where George Washington was swore into office.

 We just happened to walk by and there was hundreds of police and fire men.  We found out it was a special medal ceremony.

 We saw a few amazing churches

My first thought when we went in this church was the old tabernacle. 

 We walked the Brooklyn Bridge. This was probably one of my favorite things that we did.

 I love artictecture so I took a lot of pictures of building and I don't remember what most of them are. This one had some of the presidents towards the top.

One day we were walking and an ambulance was trying to get through and it hit a Police officer horse as they were trying to clear traffic. The police horse was fine but the ambulance had a nice dent in the front.

 We walked through China town

Our friends served their missions in Italy so they got the info on where to get authentic Italian pizza. We were directed to Little Italy and a little side street which we probably would have never seen but it was by far the best food we ate the whole trip.

 I loved little Italy, partly because I'm part Italian but I loved all the open cafes.

 We ate our first cannoli from the Cannoli King. They were so good I still think about them.

 This was our lunch spot. Justin and Jessica were talking Italian to the waiter and getting us the best of the best. The pizza was the best I have ever had, (and the most expensive) but I would eat it again any day.

 Gotta love street art. Hulk baby?

We found Theodore Roosevelt's house. They were closed for tours but it would have been fun to have seen inside. If we didn't know what it was, we would have walked by without even knowing.

 Grand Central Station was impressive. It is hard to see in the pictures but the ceiling had the constellations painted on it. It was gorgeous.

 We found the Lego store near the Rockefeller center and took pictures for the girls.

 Times Square. We didn't spend much time here but it was very impressive to see.

 Our favorite thing we did the entire trip was to see the Broadway show Wicked. We have the prefect seats and the theater was amazing.

 52th and Broadway

 Carnegie Hall

 We attempted to get tickets for the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon before we left but we had no luck so we tried the stand by line but we didn't make it in. It was a bummer but we found other things to do that were just as great.

 I really wanted to go to the park in Philly that had this sign but we didn't have time so I was stoked when we found it in NYC.

 One day we rented bikes and rode around central park. I told Grandma Horsley I would take a lot of pictures just for her so I hope you enjoy. We only had them one hour and the park is huge so we pretty much hustled the whole way around and took a few little stops.

They had a line of horses and carriages.  I think there was 20 in a row on this street. 

 This statue had something to do with the Spanish war, and was near the entrance to the park. The park was amazing and huge! I would have loved to spend more time exploring but it was a race against the clock to get them back in time.

 Trump Hotel

 We toured the MET. It was so big and had so much to see. We spent a few hours but I think only saw 1/4 of the whole thing.

 The Medieval section was my favorite.

I experienced my first pastrami sandwich and it was amazing and even more amazing I got it to actually fit in my mouth.

We rode the subway tons. Johnny had it figured out quickly, but if I were to go again I would be completely lost. I liked the tiling at each station and the signs on the subway always made for some fun reading. 

 Inside another church.

 Since we didn't make the tonight show we went to Phantom of the Opera instead. Johnny has dreamed of doing this. It was a great show but not my thing so much.

Friday morning we woke up to rain so we decided to see the National History museum which is the one from the Night at the museum movies. 

Through the fog you can see the high line over Central Park.

There were different exhibits that had different plant life from all of the US.  The instant I saw this tree I knew it was from home. It brought back many fun memories of camping with the family at Grandma's camp. 

The famous dinosaur from the movie.

We rode the Statin Island ferry which takes you right in front of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  I would love to see it up close but the ferry is free and free usually wins.

We tried to shop inside the famous Macy's but I felt like I was in a black Friday sale, but it was just a regular Friday.

I love my better half.

Another highlight was walking the High Line. It was an above ground rail that was no longer used. Inside of tearing it down they planted plants and trees over the rails. It is about a mile walk but it was a great view of the older neighborhoods and buildings.

The art was great too. The below picture is hard to see but it says the High Line.

The famous picture of the sailor kissing the girl after the war.

Taking parking to a whole new level.

That night we were headed to meat up with our cousins Dave and Colleen from Jersey and Emily and Shaun from Idaho, who also came to New York to celebrate their 10 yr anniversary. When we got off the subway this is what we were stuck in for over 20 minutes. It was hot and absolutely no personal space which for someone who hates a lot of people, this was torture.

We also checked out the ToysRus store and it was mind blowing. My girls would have been shocked. They also blew the Lego store out of the water with their amazing creations.

The whole crew at Carmines.

Afterwards we walked around Times Square and ended the night with cheesecake.

Bummed this is blurry but it is the only one I have of all of us.

We headed to Jersey that night to our hotel to catch an early flight the next morning. We sat across from a 25-ish old guy and his two young kids. It was fun talking with them and teasing that our mortgage is less then his studio apartment. He also was dumbfounded that we have been married 10 years.

All in all it was a fantastic and much needed trip.  We experienced so many new things together and was reminded what pre-kids was like. We love our kids and we were ready to get home to squeeze them and get kisses but we were glad to get this special time away. And of course we couldn't have done it without my amazing Mom who tamed the crew while we were away. Thanks again Mom!