East Coast Explorations: New York City

After a night in New Haven, we woke up bright and early ready to head into the city. Emily and Hunter took the train, and we decided to drive to save ourselves time heading home. We were shocked that we made it into the city with NO TRAFFIC and parked right next to the hotel! Easy peasy!

We all made it into the city and got settled into the hotel by about 11:30, so we were really able to take full advantage of the day! First we took the subway down to the docks and rode the Staten Island Ferry (free and views of the Statue of Liberty) Emily taught Landon how to say, "Statue of Liberty" and hold his arm up like her! Of course he loved the boat!

After, we walked around downtown and went to Trinity church and the Twin Towers memorial. Both beautiful and special places. On our way home on the subway, the boys fell asleep, so we hopped off the subway at Times Square and had dinner at Hard Rock cafe. Lman slept through dinner until the last 20 minutes when he woke up and ate his "bock, bock" Dinner was great, service was fantastic, and the atmosphere was really fun! The boys loved Times Square, and Philip and I were SHOCKED that Landon posed with Elmo and Cookie! He is usually petrified of dress up characters and won't go near them!!

The next day, we woke up and it was raining! :( But that didn't deter us! We had rain jackets and umbrellas, so we toughed it out! We went to Central Park and walked around. I decided to take Lman to the zoo while the others did some exploring. The zoo was small, but worth the $12 we paid to go. Lan loved the sea lions and monkeys. We were able to watch the zookeepers feed the sea lions which was really cool! After the zoo, all the Browns went back to the hotel for naps, while Emily and Hunter went to the top of the Marriott for rooftop views of the city.

We met back up at Toys R Us where Landon and I rode the ferris wheel! You can only have one little child per adult and Philip's afraid of heights! Haha! So Owen will have to wait till he's older to ride! After, we ate at Bubba Gumps and it was really fantastic! Amazing views of Times Square, great atmosphere, and really good food! We did well with both restaurants in Times Square, b/c they were loud and active, so the kids were entertained and didn't bother anyone!

The next morning, Owen woke up early and wouldn't go back to sleep, so Emily, Hunter, and I went to the Today Show! (PB and L stayed at the hotel and slept until 9:30!!) We literally got out of bed, threw on shoes, and left! Such a great idea to look so lovely the day we are getting on national tv!! Thanks to Owen, we got on tv several times! The first time, they zoomed right in to his cute little face! He and I were actually behind some people, and the cameraman said to the people in front of us, "excuse me, can you two please move, I'd like to get this cute little baby!" Haha! It was priceless!

After the Today show, we raced back to the hotel, packed up our things, and were gone by 10:45.It was so sad to tell Emmy goodbye, but what a gift to get to spend some time with her and Hunter in the Big Apple.

Philip and I said it again, and again that this trip exceeded our expectations! Our special time together will never be forgotten! We often get so busy at home, and to have time with the four of us together non stop for 12 days was just as perfect as traveling with two babies two and under can be! Philip and I loved our time together, and even with the boys had time to appreciate our relationship, make memories, and laugh together when things got adventurous! The boys loved the trip, learned so much, and made everything new and exciting!! I think we'll be taking lots more trips with these cuties over the years!!

The family that prays together and plays together stays together!