Spring Break -Sunday

Trying to pack a week's worth of clothes into a little carry on bag makes it hard to pack different kinds of shoes and clothes. So we had to leave our church clothes at home but I figured we could try to make it a little bit of a Sunday by hunting down the LDS Manhattan temple. We found it just across from Lincoln Square, complete with its statue Moroni. The second floor is the temple and the third floor is a church.

AJ needed to use the bathroom so we ended up going to church in our street clothes anyway. Although we didn't stay for any meetings. ;)

We did find a yummy waffle cart right across the street that we had to try. Oh my yummy! 

New York City is a treasure chest of architectural details and we stumbled upon another beautiful building, the New York Library, the largest library in the US but we had a hard time finding any books. 

Just down the street we got to be overwhelmed by the size of the Empire State Building. 

DJ and Alexandria finally found their souvenirs. 

And the day couldn't have ended without a stop at Ray's Pizza in Times Square. 

Spring Break- Saturday

This was our trip during our trip. We were going to Philly in a humongous white van. The main purpose of going to Philadelphia was to meet cousins and family that our children have never met before. But we couldn't do a trip to one of the oldest cities in the country and not do the tourist historical sites like George Washington's excavated home.

Independence Hall where the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence were signed. 

And a look into the first place where the senate and congress met for the first 10 years of our country's life until Washington D.C. was finished. Both George Washington and John Adams were inaugurated in the same room that we sat in. 

That fireplace was one of Benjamin Franklin's inventions. And speaking of Ben we also saw his grave. The line for the Liberty Bell was way too long so we didn't do it but I'm glad we didn't because we got a look at it through the windows and we still had time to see the other fun things. 

Meeting the family was awesome! Everyone had a cousin their age to play with. Papi has fabulous family. We need to get together with them more. 

And talk about family resemblance. 

They even showed Alexandria the way to straight hair. 

Spring Break - Friday

It's SNOWING!!!!!

What a fun surprise to wake up and see snow! We were excited to get out soak up some of the cold white flakes. I don't think anyone was planning on the spring snow storm that was in Mother Nature's plans. 

Since Papi's dad and brother work at Olive Garden in Times Square, we thought we should drop in and eat. They hooked us up with an awesome view and a small family discount. 

Then it was off to the Upper East Side to see the Met. Do I sound like a New Yorker yet? ;) After transferring trains in Grand Central Station we walked out to see that the snow beginning to pile up. A small loud snowball fight may have began which I'm sure made doormen and residents of Carnegie Hill roll their eyes. Well, maybe not the doormen. 

Finally we made it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. WOW! Did you see the architecture? Amazing! I could have spent all day here. My kids though we're going crazy to get back out in the snow. And they immediately thought their mom was crazy for taking them here when we got off the elevator and walked into the Greek and Roman art, aka naked statues. 

Not a good first impression. But after dragging them around to see the Picassos, Klees, Mondrions, and Rockwells, American, Native American Art and the armor they couldn't handle another minute of being indoors.

So I had to skip the European art floor that I really wanted to see so we could play in the snow. I guess now I have a good reason to go back. And next time I'll go by myself and plan a whole day there. It is huge and there is that much to see. 

We snowball fought and snow angeled all the way through Central Park to catch the #1 Uptown train. 

The recently fallen untouched snow combined with the sounds of my children laughing and the sight of their smiling faces was the best art there is. 

We may look like like we are freezing but I don't think anyone felt the cold because of how much fun they were having. After making our tracks in the snow in Central Patk we slipped and slid our way through the streets of New York, knocking off ice sickles and jumping over large puddles sometimes not so successfully. By the time we made it to the train we were soaked, coats, boots, hats, gloves and scarfs.  And Stella was turning into Olaf's girlfriend. 

Thursday - New York City

Thursday started with a trip to Lady Liberty. Thank goodness for the freezing cold that kept the crowds away and gave us lots of space to play on Liberty Island. 

We admired the Statue and listened to her history. AJ learned that she's made of bronze and that she wasn't always green. 

Alexandria got the perfect New York Skyline picture for her Instagram. 

And Stella got to feed the birds which was almost as fun as Isabel and DJ feeding the squirrels in Battery Park. 

Then it was off to the financial district where we walked down Wall Street. 

And had another more recent history lesson at the 911 memorial. 

It was a beautifulemorialbut even more beautiful is that they are building new World Trade Center Towers that will once again tower over the skyline of NYC. 

Take that terrorists. You can't keep Americans down! :) 

At the end of the day we had to enjoy another round of pizza because we are in New York and there's a pizza place of every corner. 

Spring Break 2015 - NYC

It all started late last night. Well, I take that back. It actually started a couple of weeks ago when Papi was searching for plane ticket to New York for Spring Break. His parents haven't seen our children in 8 years. Abuelo has never even met Isabel or Stella. So we needed to make a trip. While he was searching on Priceline his "accidental" offer was accepted and so the trip was planned beginning with a red eye from Phoenix to JFK. Our children were professional travelers back in the day. But our last plane ride was five years ago and you would have thought that this was their first plane ride ever.

They were that excited and amazed. I even caught Alexandria sneaking a picture of the valley right after take off. Four short hours later we were in a chilly 30 degree New York City. Having only about 8 hours sleep combined between the 7 of us we decided to take a nap as soon as we got to our destination, Abuela's apartment in the Bronx, NY. After a much needed nap we were ready to tackle to big apple. We traveled on the subway to meet the family that our children never knew they had.

Then headed over to Times Square and Rockefeller Center.

The boys adventured to the Lego store while the girls visited the American Girl Doll store.

We checked out St. Peter's Cathedral that has beautiful, intricate architecture with arched ceilings and stained glass windows that draws you in.

And admired the Cinderella themed windows of Sak's Fifth Avenue.

I'm not sure what the highlight of the day was.

It could have been watching Felicity, Isabel's doll get her hair done at the American Girl Doll Salon or making Lego men for DJ.

Maybe it was seeing the ice skating rink or eating New York style pizza.

Or maybe it was meeting their Abuelo and riding the subway. Whatever it was I hope we are making good memories that they will always remember.