NEW YORK CITY

The kids have not been to NYC since Joshua was 8 months old. We live so close to the city that we just had to take a quick trip with them at Christmas time to enjoy the city. It was a quick trip. Barely 30 hours! It seems to be the way we visit NYC. In quick, short trips. Not only because Kris doesn't get much time off of work, but because it is SOOOOO expensive! However, a sweet subway worker took one look at us with all our kids and let us through for free. That was a very kind gesture. New Yorkers do not understand kids. Even though the kids were pretty well behaved we got lots of mean glances and grunts as we made our way down the very busy, crowded streets. Kris has mad driving skills and when we were driving you could have mistaken him for a taxi driver. I have to admit, it made me proud.

Our friends the Theler's were very kind to let us join them on their trip. We know we kind of took over and we are sorry about that. Hopefully, we didn't scare them away forever. Kris made us re enact a lot of the scenes from the movie "Elf". It was very embarrassing, but fun. Especially on the crowded escalators at Macy's. Josh was really good at hopping across the crosswalk.


The ice rink at Central Park



We went to Jekyll and Hyde's resturant for lunch. It was a lot of fun. It took a long time, Gabriella was a little scared, and like everything else in NY--it was expensive--but we are glad Kris is there to force us to try new things.
The beautiful Christmas tree in Rockefeller center. It was so crowded, it made it hard to get a good picture. It was really pretty.

This is on 6th Avenue. There were several displays with huge Christmas things. We liked the lights the best.


Also on 6th avenue there are lots of people dressed up as characters and Gabriella was really quick to find Dora--her favorite. Although I am glad she was able to have a quick visit with her best friend this was also a very scary moment. As I was busy taking the picture and Kris was trying to keep her from running to more characters we lost Joshua. He either kept walking when we stopped to see Dora or he was busy looking for other characters. Needless to say, I went into mommy panic mode. It was so crowded! I was screaming his name. People around me were very rude and irritated that I was screaming, but it didn't stop me. I ran around pushing people out of the way, screaming his name. I can't believe how rude people were! Couldn't they see I was so scared??? Anyway, amid all the chaos I heard someone calmly tell me he was up by the gate. I ran toward the railings blocking off the road and he was there walking with a family. I ran to him and scooped him up and hugged him. Then I probably freaked out the woman he was with when I hugged her, bawling my eyes out. She told me she was taking him to the police and then walked away. (Probably still scared from the hug). I asked Josh what happened and he told me when he realized that he couldn't see me he looked around for a police man or a nice looking Mommy with kids. We had drilled this into the kids heads and I was so proud of him for remembering and doing it. Besides a police officer there is probably no safer person to ask for help than a Mother with kids---because she knows the panic that comes from not knowing where your kids are! I have to thank my sister in law Julie for this advice she gave me 10 years ago. Who knows how far Joshua would have wandered in search for a police officer.

I am so grateful for a husband that can keep his head on in panic situations. Maybe we just make a good team. My craziness and his calmness--we cover all the bases! It was so scary. We had been so careful the entire trip to watch for the kids. Of course this happened during our last 30 minutes in the city.

Olivia was not helpful as I was trying to pack. She unpacked very quickly and found herself a good seat.

We probably won't make it to the city again. It is just too expensive and too scary to do it again with the kids. We had a great family get away and we were glad the weather wasn't too bad. The kids were troopers, no one complained about all the walking. Mariah loved the roasted nuts, Samantha loved Toys R Us, Joshua loved Spiderman (and acting like him on the central park rocks), Gabriella loved meeting Santa at Santaland, meeting Dora, and the Doorman at the hotel. Olivia loved the lights of Times Square! Kris and I loved explaining to the kids why there were so many people everywhere. They didn't quite get it. It was NEW YORK CITY for crying out loud!