The Empire State Building & Greenwich Village

NEW YORK CITY!!! We took our second family vacation this year, and it was our second trip to NYC! In all, we had a great time. On the way there, we made a wrong turn after we got onto the island, but it worked out just fine, and we took another route, and didn't even really lose any time. The kids were great. Lexie wanted to be held by Daddy all of the time, and couldn't always get down and crawl when she wanted (but we expected that). The kids slept most of the way there, and it was a pleasant 6 hour drive. The way back however, took longer. We got lost in New Jersey for awhile, and the kids took turns having to use the bathroom, or needing a diaper change frequently, and Lexie cried a lot of the way. We were all happy to get home to our own beds. Last year Jason got a book about NYC, and we wanted to stop at each place in the book- we made it to most of them, and it made the trip much more enjoyable for Jason. He was so excited to see the things he read about. We took too many pictures, so I broke up this post into 4 seperate ones.

Our hotel was perfect. We chose it because it had a fridge, and a decent price for parking. It was right near the ESB, and within walking distance to Times Square, and had a subway station on it's block. The first room they gave us was unbearable though. It smelled of smoke terribly, and the AC only had a fan setting. Thankfully Mike asked if there was anything they could do, even air freshener(since they were full). They ended up giving us a different room that had no smell, and a cooler layout, with 2 airconditioners that worked, and two TV's. It was great!

After we parked we had breakfast at Captain's Cafe. It was fast and delicious, and a good price.

Jason and I at breakfast.

After breakfast we headed to the Empire State Building (one of the sites from Jason's book). It was nice, and we were glad that we printed our tickets in advance, and brought our stroller. Online it said you weren't allowed a stroller, but having it seemed to give us special treatment, and we got through lines much faster. There were so many workers in this building. They communicated through ear pieces, so when we were directed to a special elevator, we were quickly intercepted at the next level and directed where to go.

Quite the view!

It got pretty windy up here!

Love this guy... I can't wait 'til we can take a trip alone together!

Just us :-)

We hopped on the subway for the first time, and headed to Greenwich Village for lunch. I loved this place. I think we first saw it on the travel channel or something, a long time ago. Everything had peanut butter on it! We go the Elvis- a fried PB, honey, and banana sandwich. We also got a sampler platter, with all of their flavors of PB with veggies, and breads to dip.

Me again!

All of us!

Jason spotted this car in Greenwich, and decided we should get one. There was another kid with his Dad toward the back of the car. I couldn't believe the Dad let the kid touch it!

This city really wore this girl out!

Jason too! I should mention, this was only naptime, hence no PJs.