Seeing the Blessings: The Big Apple in Two Days

Chris's mom came to spend Thanksgiving with us and she has family in New York. Chris had the wonderful idea to drive her up to the Bronx to stay with her family and while she was there (instead of driving back and forth) we would spend the weekend in New York City. We were in the city for two full days and we packed it in! We were worried it would be cold and the boys would complain about all the walking, but we had gorgeous weather and they did absolutely great! We had such a great trip showing them around The Big Apple.

Our first meal was at the famous New York hot dog stands. Jack opted for a pretzel. They had fun ordering from the street cart.

In CC we study artist throughout the year. One artist we study is Van Gogh. Right before we left for our trip we were reading a book about him and Abram asked where his Starry Night painting is. He said he would like to see it one day. We quickly looked it up and learned it was in New York at the Museum of Modern Art... so of course we added it to our list! His eyes lit up when we saw it in person.

Jack and Luke's favorite artist right now is Monet. They just stood in front of his panels and took it all in. I loved listening to Jack describe the different parts of his paintings. Luke asked for our phone so he could take a selfie with another Monet they had. I just love their excitement for art.

My amazing husband was so wanting to take the boys to see a Broadway play, but he knew one of things on my bucket list has been to see the Rockettes perform at Radio City Music Hall at Christmas. He surprised me with tickets for all five us as an early anniversary gift. He's just the best. The show was absolutely spectacular and fun to watch with the boys. They loved every minute of the singing and dancing. Such a great way to welcome the Christmas season.

I couldn't believe I was watching them in person!

He's just the best to me!

We had to get a picture with the Christmas tree chandelier .

We had a great time just walking around the city looking at all the sights... Rockefeller Center, Times Square, the Highline and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Of course after all the walking we had to stop at a NY pizza place and try a slice of pizza. The boys thought this was just the best and this was their favorite meal of the entire weekend.

Of course their favorite sight of the whole trip was to see the Statue of Liberty. The boys have been wanting to see it since we moved to the East Coast. They were so stunned when they first saw it from the ferry. Their expressions were priceless!

We even got to climb up the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. It was pretty cool. This was a first for Chris and me, too, so it was exciting to do it with the boys.

After spending some time on Liberty Island the ferry took us back to Battery Park where the amazing Sea Glass Carousel was. I had heard about this carousel, but I didn't know it would be this stunning. The lights, music and the way the fish moved around was just a sight to see.

Of course, the boys were exhausted. On our way back to the subway station we saw Morris Street and also we stopped briefly at the 9-11 Memorial. Seeing the two pools where the towers stood was quite overwhelming. It was night so we didn't take any pictures but this summer we went to the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania and it was important for the boys to see this memorial.

They are done! Riding back to our hotel after a long day.

On our last morning in the city we took a quick walk through Central Park. It was beautiful to see in the fall and Abram loved seeing the bridge from Home Alone.