We were so excited to learn that my best friend, Bethany and her family wanted to come visit this summer! Her husband David had never been to New York City so we decided to spend a few days there together. It was fun, tiring, exciting, busy, patience-trying (at times. . .YOU try NYC with three children five and under!), and PACKED with new sites, sounds, and experiences for all our littles. We even rang in Trinity’s 10th birthday! After they spent one jet-lag filled day in Delaware, we began our excursion into the Big Apple:

First train ride. Princeton Junction to Penn Station:

After a lunch serenaded by the soothing tones of jackhammers, we hit the ground running.

Grand Central Station: David at the whisper wall. It really works! Whisper into this corner in Grand Central Station and the person standing at the opposite corner can hear you. 

Lilly may have her eyes closed but we have precious few pictures of all four of us from this trip!I was kind of fascinated by the ceiling in the hallways of the New York City Library:The kids, however, were fascinated by these old-fashioned booths that contained strange contraptions inside them. We told them they were a place for super-heroes to change clothes:After they humored the adults ogling the marble foyer of the city library the kids were rewarded with a Carousel ride in Bryant Park: Trinity and Norah:After getting settled at the hotel, we decided on Katz’s deli for dinner which is rated the best in New York. It is also famous for having been featured in the movie, “When Harry Met Sally.” It was 44 blocks from the hotel (2.3 miles). Perfect! A walk through New York it is. I love walking when travelling. It gives you a chance to see more of the city. It IS slightly more tiring when doing so with a large group that includes 4 children. Here’s a glimpse at what that looks like. If only there was a sound clip to go with this:But we made it: They hand you a ticket when you walk in the door and a large bouncer tells you not to lose it. They are serious. Don’t lose your ticket. They want all of them back…regardless of whether you use them. Why??? One of the mysteries of the universe I suppose but they are NOT friendly if you think you’ve lost one. Luckily our pesky missing ticket was found and we were all spared a seedy back room with a guy named Tony. We were all eager for our over-tired children to sleep in late the next morning so we could start off fresh. Instead, the fire alarm of our hotel went off at 5:30AM. At least it afforded us this early morning view from our room:The Allens were off to the Women’s World Cup ticker tape parade but we opted for a quieter morning heading to Central Park. It was the perfect morning. Lilly was in heaven when she discovered rocks to climb. The views at the top were priceless: We wound our way over to the Natural History Museum where we spent about two hours. Afterwards, Pretzels the size of our faces were hard to resist:After a 5:30 wake-up call, naps were a must. Nap-time views looked like this: 

And this:

We rejoined the Allens for an evening of priceless artwork at the Modern Museum of Art that included:

Van Gogh
and PicassoAfter our children were thoroughly art-educated, we moved on:

Norah might have been tired of picures. 🙂

Dinner in a city full of foodie-worthy cuisine? . . .We settled for whatever was family friendly for our crowd. Happened upon the perfect Italian place. The kids had pizza. Grown ups had killer gnocchi. And what does one do at night in a city that does not sleep when you travel there with small children?

Hang out in the hotel bathroom while your kids fall asleep, chatting and laughing with your spouse over a beer. Don’t be jealous of our glamorous night lives:And so ended day two.