New York City!!!

Today Amy, Peter, and I went to New York City! One of the things I like most about visiting family in New Jersey is how close we are to NYC. We go into the city at least once every visit, and I always try to do something new. I've seen the Statue of Liberty, visited Ground Zero right after 9-11, sat in the audience of the Maury Povich Show, made an animal at Build-A-Bear (the biggest in the world!), eaten a hot dog from a street vendor, played in Central Park, and so many other things! We brought Peter when he was 10 months old and again at 22 months old. At nearly 3 years old, I think he might just remember some of it this time! Our main focus today was to visit a friend of mine that I used to teach with who recently moved to the city. I've never seen a NYC apartment before, so thanks to Brandy and Mya for letting us see your place! We took the train, and Peter loved it! Trains are a favorite toy these days, so he was so excited to ride on a real train!! After a transfer in Seacaucus, we finally made it to Penn Station thanks to a very nice man who was on his way to work. He got on the train in Seacaucus with us, got off with us at Penn Station, and made sure we knew the way to the subway before heading off to work. I've never ridden a NYC subway, so this was a new experience to me.

We made it to Brandy's apartment on W. 71st street with no problems. It was so neat to see where she lives. Her elevator was broken, so we walked up the five flights of stairs to get to her apartment. This apparently made a big impression on Peter, though, because he told Daddy tonight that "I climbed up lots of steps and went to Mya's house."

After playing for a few minutes and taking a picture (which Peter was adamantly against!), we headed to Central Park.

The kids had a BLAST playing on the playground and in the water. We were amazed at how many nannies we saw. I think maybe 3 or 4 of the ladies there were actually the mothers of the children they were with. I'm pretty sure that out of the many other children, all of them were there with their nannies.

The water part was neat. There was a large area with a sprinkler in the middle and then this little river that led down to another pool of water. Peter was a bit unsure of the water at first, but after putting his goggles on, he had much more fun knowing that water couldn't get into his eyes!

After playing, we headed over to a grassy area for a picnic. The weather was beautiful, so we had a nice time sitting under a tree, eating lunch, and watching the kids play. Mya and Peter got along so well! They chased each other around, played "Ring Around the Rosie", and rolled around the grass. Peter didn't even freak out when Mya hugged him!

I love that last picture because it really captures the essence of Central Park - the green grass and trees with the tall buildings of NYC in the upper right corner. It's hard to believe that you're really in the middle of a huge, bustling city when you're feeling so calm and peaceful in the middle of Central Park!

We had so much fun playing with our friends in their new home city! We can't wait to see them again next time we come to visit!

After leaving Mya so she could take a nap, we headed to Times Square. Mya must have worn Peter out because he fell asleep soon after leaving the park and slept for a while in the stroller. He woke up right before we got to the M&Ms Store so he could pick out some M&Ms for himself and Grandpa. Then we went to the Hershey Chocolate Store (YUM! I found a bag of dark chocolate miniatures with plain dark chocolates, dark chocolate with peanuts, and dark chocolates with crisped rice!!) and finally made it to Toys R Us.

After leaving Times Square, we finally made our way back to Penn Station, back to Seacaucus, and finally back to Ridgewood. I walked more today than I've walked since I got sick, so I was really tired and sore by the end. We had a great day, though, and it was so neat to see Peter so excited about all the new things he saw in NYC!

Tomorrow's agenda? The beach!!