We stayed at the Belvedere hotel, which was only a block and a half away from Times Square. It was great being so close, but far enough away where we didn't hear all the 24 hour commotion!
The kids and I made the 3 1/2 hour trip down on Tuesday the 18th, which also happened to be Andy's 30th birthday. Unfortunately because of traffic in the Bronx, our short trip turned into almost a 6 hour trip. It was very slow, which made getting there all the sweeter!
Here's what our view looked like on the way there. It took us almost 2 hours to go 12 miles.
After we got there and unloaded all of our bags at the hotel, we set out on our first evening in the City. First stop was Times Square, in search of dinner.
Even though Andy and I have been to NYC numerous times, this was our first time going with kids. It's a whole different experience! So fun, but so much work!
We decided to grab some dinner first. Our original plan was to hit up NYCs Shake Shack (some call in the east coast's In N Out) but unfortunately it was over crowded and we could barely get in the door. With that we decided to hit up the Hard Rock Cafe' which was just around the corner.
Noah wasn't really that excited about dinner, but once we told him that after dinner we were headed to the toy store he perked right up! Both kids were really tired, but Clare and I still had some fun at dinner.
Food was good, and company was even better! I love spending time with my little family.
Next stop was the giant Toys R Us store in Times Square. If you've ever been there you know what I'm talking about. We looked at toys, saw the giant T-Rex (which Noah thought was real) and even rode the Ferris wheel!
At this point it was about 10 pm (most of the stores in Times Square stay open until 1-2am). We decided it was time to head back to the Hotel to get the kids down. Everyone slept great and we even slept in until 7:40am (which is late if you know us)! We got up, did a few things and got ready to head out for the day. First stop was breakfast and then a walk over to Rockefeller Center.
Noah and Clare loved looking out of the window during breakfast and soaking it all in!
Here are a few things we saw on the way...the city really is magical at Christmas time!
Below are pictures of Rockefeller Center. Unfortunately we weren't able to see it at night because of our children's breakdowns, but it was still beautiful!
Ice Skating at Rockefeller center is really expensive, so we decided just to watch others do it! I think if it were just Andy and I we would have taken the plunge...but it was still fun to see :)
St Patricks Cathedral was going under some restoration, but it is one of my favorite places to walk through (maybe not as much with young children though :)
We spent a lot of time walking around the city, hit up FAO Schwarz, which the kids loved of course.
Not only is this toy store incredible, but they have a whole candy store inside called FAO Schweetz. Noah loved that candy almost as much as he loved the cars!
Taking it all in...
Notice that's two, one pound peanut butter cups for a mere...
That's right, $25 dollars. They were huge, but still!
After FAO Schwarz we walked about a mile and a half to meet a friend for lunch at the Shake Shack. Since we were close to central park we decided to cut through and see the scenery. It's definitely prettier in the spring/summer and fall but we still enjoyed the walk!
The Shake shack was delicious! I never order hamburgers when we go out to eat, but I am still dreaming about the burger we had. I had to keep myself from wanting to go again, and will definitely revisit it on another trip!
After lunch we went back to the hotel to catch a little shut eye. Both kids fell asleep on the way to the hotel, so naturally they woke up as soon as they got there! Andy and I were so tired that we tried to close our eyes for a little bit, but it didn't work well.
After a little while we decided to go back out and try to catch a few other things. Mainly we wanted to try ice skating and hit up Santa Land at Macys. On our way to Macys we saw ourselves on the Jumbo screen in Times Square, can you find us??
Let me help you a little...
Once we got to Macys we made our way up to the Santa land. I knew that Clare would have absolutely no interest in sitting on Santa's lap, and I wasn't about to force her , but I thought it would still be fun for Noah! Unfortunately the line to see Santa was over 2 hours long and we weren't in the state to sit and wait that long (tired/hungry children). We bought Andy a belt and went to go check out the ice skating rink at Bryant Park. I figured Noah would be really excited about ice skating but he really didn't know what it was and kept asking to go back to the hotel. After about 45 minutes of ignoring his requests we decided to call it a night. We grabbed a bite to go and ate at the hotel. Although it wasn't what I had planned, we still had fun spending time together.
This is how Clare enjoyed Macys...
Last day in the City we decided to take a quick trip down to the 9/11 memorial before we had to check out of our hotel. We left the stroller behind and took the subway. To make a long story short, because we were pressed for time, we weren't actually able to visit the memorial. Our kids were apparently still exhausted from the previous day and this is what we looked like riding back on the Subway.
It was a fun trip and so fun to go as a family. Being in NYC with kids is hard, and something I will need to be better organized for next time around! I don't think we will be returning soon, but definitely at least one more trip while we are here in Bean town. I was glad to return to Boston, it feels a little more homey to me (and not quite as crowded), and I especially like being able to see the sky. :)
