Day One-NYC

We left for the airport from my parent's home pretty early on the morning of the 24th. We got through security without incident and had plenty of time to spare. The kids were anxious to spend their hard earned money. They found neck pillows and just knew they couldn't possible fly without them. 

We flew into Newark, NJ. The airport was sooo much nicer than the one we flew into last time. I think it was LaGuardia but I'm not sure. We will definitely fly into Newark again if we ever go back. We had a driver come and get us from the airport. He was suppose to have a town car but had an Escalade instead. I was glad since we had so much luggage. We arrived right at rush hour so getting to our hotel took quite some time. Our driver was nice and pretty quiet so we were okay.

When we got to our hotel we were happy to see that it was clean but it was very tiny. I know that is common for New York but we still had to laugh. Our smaller luggage had to go on top of the closet or else we couldn't walk to the bathroom.

Yep that's it. The whole room. Tiny. Everything was tiny. The elevators, the hallway, even the lobby felt tiny because it shared an entrance with a night club. It was a tight fit but we managed.

There was no tub just an all glass shower. If anyone was showering no one else could be in the bathroom or else they would get a show. It was a blessing and a curse. There is nothing worse than having someone stink up the bathroom while you're showering. That couldn't happen here so a big fat YES for that! The downside was it took longer to get ready in the mornings.

We were pretty hungry when we got to New York. We have a new family friend named Brant. He has gotten Paul and Andrew into reading comic books. Before we left he told us about a store in Manhattan called Midtown Comics. That was Andrew's number one priority, to get to that store. It was just two blocks up from our hotel. They had a little pizza dive right under the store so we got dinner there. It turned out to be really really good pizza and for New York it was really cheap! We ate there twice.

Andrew was like a kid in a candy store. He was so overwhelmed by all the options. He probably could have stayed in there for hours.

Emma was like, "Do I really have to go to the geek store?" Yep baby you do. Make the most of it. Here she is making the most of it. 

Midtown Comics is right across from Parsons. How cool is that? I love Project Runway so I geeked out when I saw it. Tim? Heidi? Where are you? We sat on some benches in their little courtyard just hoping to see someone. We didn't.

We finally pulled Andrew out of the comic book store and made our way down a couple of blocks to Time Square. The kids were in awe. The didn't know where to look. We took them to Toys R Us and Andrew about flipped out, "They have a ferris wheel in the store?!?" Yep buddy they do.

I think they had sensory overload. They wanted one of everything. They couldn't believe their eyes.

They were shocked at how BIG everything was. The candy, the store, the displays. They didn't know where to look.

 We walked around Times Square for a while just soaking it all in.

It was hot and humid and I think I wanted to die. I had on a long maxi skirt that I wore on the flight and I was not getting any airflow in that thing. The kids were doing pretty well though. 

Then it was time for a treat.

The girls got cheesecake.

The boys got cupcakes. 

Paul wanted to get a hot before we went out in the sun the next day so we went to this store right in the heart of it all. My feet were killing me so I went to find somewhere to sit. Emma and I headed to the red steps and found a spot to rest while Paul and Andrew shopped.

While we were sitting I had my purse in my lap and though I had my camera in my purse. When I stood up I found out it wasn't in my purse. When I saw Paul and Andrew looking for us I stood up and grabbed my bag to put it on my shoulder. My camera was sitting in my lap under my bag and totally tumbled down the steps. The lens cap popped off and it landed hard. I was devastated. I took a couple of pictures and this is all I saw.

When we were walking back to our hotel we saw some actors from Peter and the Star Catcher but I couldn't take any pictures. I tried changing lenses when we got to the room but it didn't help. Everything was black. It sounded okay, looked okay when I looked into it so I thought maybe it was just the display screen. I uploaded the pictures thinking maybe they would appear. Nope. I was sick. We hadn't even had our first full day and my camera was dead. I looked up B&H photo and found out they were close to where we were staying. Stop one on day two was a trip to the camera store. Ug!