Day Two: Taking in the Arts

As we resume our stroll through New York, I'm pleased to take you on a tour of the MOMA. New York's Museam of Modern Arts. We headed out on Monday to soak in some culture and see some amazing art. We saw many famous pieces, like Starry Night, but some of the works were a bit beyond our comprehension.

Below you see Olivia enjoying a snack and pondering the existence of Barney as she looks deep into the meaning behind this masterpiece. I know exactly what's she's thinking..."Give me a paintbrush, Mommy...I'm ready to do this now....We'll be RICH!!!!


In all seriousness, this museam was amazing, but it was way too much for Livi! She was too curious about everything and wanted to touch anything that she could get her hands on. Here, she's found a window overlooking part of the city block. Yes, we did let her touch the window...but that was it.

MOMA was neat, and I'm glad that we went...but there is a reason I never took Art History in college. I'm just not on the same wave length as some of these artists. The most enjoyable exibit for me was the photography exhibit...but even that was a little abstract for my liking. So, we took our leave from the week's cultural excursion and stepped outside for a snack. You may be able to tell, I'm having a New York pretzel while Olivia delights in the pigeons. Let me tell you, that pretzel was as good as the painting that you see above!!



Next we headed down town to see the sights, and Olivia decided that she needed a nap. Tuckered out from all of that art! Man, she doesn't realize how lucky she is...I wish I had someone to push me around the city!!!



And Finally!!!

We found MACY'S!!!!!

I was as excited about Macy's as Olivia was about going down the slide the day before. I left Josh across the street and hit that department store like a true woman should! It says the largest department store in the world...and it is. They have 7 restaurants inside, small boutiques that aren't even part of Macy's, and it was every shopper's dream! I found the maternity boutique and purchased some SPANX. Ladies, if you don't know what I'm talking about, ask Oprah!!!

By the time we left, it was dark outside. We headed for the Empire State Building. Of course, we passed several children's boutiques and stopped in to pick up a few things for Olivia. They were having amazing sales, and I got Olivia two new outfits for next winter for $13!!! Amazing! But alas, we reached our destination!


We really did pick a fabulous time of year to go. There were no crowds at any of the tourist attractions. When we arrived at the Empire State Building, there were ropes set up to guide you to the "line" where you buy tickets....but fortunately for us, there was no line. Just row after row of empty aisles! We got a personal escort through security, they must have know how important we were...(or maybe it was because we had the stroller.) Once we arrived at the top - Breathtaking!!


Oh, y'all, really. It was absolutely amazing up there! This was one of the best parts of our trip. I'm in love with the city at night. It's just so different at night. And from up here, it really changes how you see everything. This is a view that everyone should see at least once!


And Olivia agrees! She loved looking down at all of the lights. On the observation deck, they had markers that helped you identify different land marks. And suprisingly, it was possible to see things even at night! The only thing that I couldn't pin point was the place where the Twin Towers once stood. Again - if you go to NYC, make it a point to take this trip to the top at night!
So, here we are above. Our only family photo from New York! Yeah, we're slackers...and paranoid that someone would run off with Josh's camera! ;o)

On the train again! We hit the subway and headed "home". By the way, the subway isn't ask scarry as I thought it would be. I protested like crazy the first day and wanted nothing to do with this type of travel...but Josh convinced me that we could navigate through the city..with the help of the friendly security officers! Olivia liked the subway too. She made lots of friends here!
So, that concludes day 2. Stay tuned tomorrow for our Celebrity Siting!!!! Anyone want to make bets on who we run in to??

New York, New York - Our Experience Began

Well, here we are. A full week back from NYC and it's time to blog about our trip. Since there are so many pictures, tonight I'll begin with Day 1! If you remember, I had been away to Orlando on business the week before. I came home late on Friday night, spent Saturday shopping and packing, and we left for the Airport at 5:00am on Sunday morning! We definitely forgot to take our "smart pills" when we booked this flight!!! Livi was a champ. Here she is in the airport as she and Daddy wait for me inside. Where is Mommy, you ask. Mommy was parking the car in East Bumble and had to haul hiney back to the ticketing counter in order to check our bags before our plane left!!! The day was already off to a great start!


Once we got boarded, we made ourselves comfy in Business Class. Priase God for sky miles and the extra room you have up front. I couldn't imagine flying coach with her! As you can see, she kept herself busy during the flight by playing with the T.V. She was a champ!!!


We arrived in NYC around 9:30am and it took us a while to figure out how to get to the hotel. That's right...the anal pre-planner in me neglected to make sure that we knew exactly how to get from the airport to the hotel. This may sound funny, but I figured it kinda worked like Marta. We'd call the hotel, ask what stop to get off on, hop on the subway, and off we go. Not that easy - but our cabbie was a hip New Yorker who filled us in on the ins and outs of the city while he drove us in his Yellow Limo to the Manhattan Club!!

Once we checked in, Olivia and Josh took naps. It was early and we were zonked from being up so early! Here is Olivia in the room after she woke up! My little thug!



We ventured out of our hotel and wandered a couple of blocks down to find and entrance to Cental Park. We were amazed at how close it was. As you can see, we bundled Olivia up from head to toe, but we neglected our gloves and hats. Back to the room for more gear!!!



Here is Olivia and Daddy on the Central Park Playground. They had a blast. Olivia loves slides and climbing so I had to pull both of them away before she got too cold!! This is so cool!!!! No really, it was actually very cool...like 25 degrees!



Off to Times Square. Again, within walking distance and completely cool. The first day was all about Olivia, so we had to hit the M&M store...even though the poor girl didn't even get to sample the yummy guys herself! It was a pretty cool store as well!


Next, off to where else but Toys R Us. They had this store in mind when they wrote that catchy jingle. If I could work in that store, I wouldnt want to grow up either! They had a Ferris Wheel inside, a 2 story Barbie House, a huge roaring Dinosaur, and of course..every toy you could ever want! As you can see, Olivia was amazed at the ride! Sorry, girly, we'll save that for another day!


Finally, we ate a Applebees for dinner. We had wanted to "eat cheap" and Josh and I both love Applebees. However, property on Times Square comes at a premium price...and so does the cuisine. We had a great view of the area, but we paid $23.99 for the exact same meal that Josh gets here for $12.99!! Whewwwww, Wendy's anyone??? BTW, even Wendy's is more expensive. They don't have a $0.99 menu. They have a $1.09 menu!!!

On our way home, what did we run into other than the Late Show with David Letterman. I almost squealed in delight. That would be the one thing, other than seeing a Broadway show, that I'd want to do the next time we go (without Olivia)! But alas, our little princess wouldnt sit still through Letterman, so I'll have to catch you next time, Dave! sniff, sniff!

Well, that's our first day in NYC. It was fun, cold, exciting, cold, tiring, and cold. Can't wait to fill you in on what happened next.

(Kudos to you if you made it all the way down here and are still reading! As exciting as our vacation was, it doesn't sound so great when I go back and read it. To our loyal readers who leave a comment - thanks guys! This Blog's for You!!!)

Cupid's Bringing More than Love to the Big Apple

Greetings from New York.

Josh, Olivia, and I are in NYC, and we are having the best time! The city is so wonderful...and despite my lack of interest in this family vacation, it's proved to be quite amazing.

We arrived on Sunday and explored our nearby surroundings...which happened to be TIMES SQUARE!!!! Wow! What an experience. We went to Toy R Us, where they had an indoor Ferris Wheel, and we walked around some other hot spots. We also took Olivia to Central Park, where she played on the playground for about 30 minutes before Mommy was freezing and needed to get some blood circulating!!

Monday we slept in (we were all tired and kinda under the weather) and headed out for lunch and our first Subway experience....scary but cool! Daddy was the pro at navigating us to where we wanted to go. We took the subway uptown to MOMA (Museam of Modern Art) where we got to see many infamous works of art, including Starry Night!! Olivia behaved for a while, but she soon became bored and wanted to run around and touch everything. Finally, after hours of wondering around several exhibits thinking "What the heck?" a man came up to us and said...."Put a paintbrush in her hand and she could do just as good!" I was hysterical laughing...Glad I'm not the only one who doens't get "art".

We then did some shopping, which included the worlds largest department store... MACY's. Mommy was in heaven!!!!! Then off to the most amazing thing we've done so far - The Empire State Building! It was amazing, breathtaking, and unforgetable. We got to see the entire city (at night) and Josh got some phenominal shots! It was cold up there, but well worth it!!! Today we took Olivia to the CMOM (Children's Museam of Manhattan) and she LOVED it. We were there almost all day. I'll have more to blog about that when we get back and can post pictures!

Now we're chilling in the hotel, awaiting the city's first winter storm. We're expecting between 3-12" tonight and tomorrow. Can't wait for Olivia to see the snow!!! HOpefully, we'll still be able to get back on Friday! I'd hate to have to be stuck here over the weekend....I may be blogging for extra cash real soon!!!!!