New York, New York

1.28.2011

Gabe took me to New York to celebrate my birthday this year. Partly because I wanted to go there to visit my parents before they move, and partly because Gabe has never been, and I wanted to show him around.

First on the list of things we wanted to see:
Statue of Liberty

Unfortunately, if you want to go to the Crown, you have to get tickets months in advance, and this was sort of a last minute type venture, so we could only go as far as the pedestal. But these are the stairs looking up that lead to the crown.
We actually learned a ton about the statue while we were there, though. For instance, the original plan was for the statue to be a lighthouse, so they cut holes in the flame, intending for light to shine through. In theory, a great idea. In practice, no. They had problems getting the light bright enough, and then the problems with corrosion of materials. This is the original flame that has windows cut for a light within to shine through. They ended up abandoning the lighthouse idea, and designed a new flame altogether.

We had a great time learning about "Liberty enlightening the World."

This year New York has had some major snowstorms, and we saw huge drifts of snow wherever we went. Crazy that we had to go all the way to New York to see the snow when we live in Colorado Springs. In the Springs, we barely saw any snow at all this winter. :)

Times Square...trying to figure out the Subway system, eating New York style pizza, watching some black guys dance in the street, trying to get tickets for a broadway show that night. We ended up seeing "Phantom of the Opera." Very Awesome.

On our way home, we went through Grand Central Station. Had to get a picture of that, since we always see it in the movies.

The next day was Sunday, and for church we went to the Branch my mom and dad attend. Then afterwards, we went to my brother Brian's house in New Jersey for dinner. Sammy got to play with Chloe, his cousin just his age. (Just a few weeks apart!) Did I forget to mention we brought Sammy along? Poor kid. He was a trooper with all that traveling, and New York is definitely NOT a kid friendly place. We left the other two kids at home with some friends of ours, the Scotts.

My dad and Jamie.

Jamie (back turned to us), Lizzie, Gabe, and Sam.

My mom with Jamie and Lizzy.

On Monday I went shopping with my mom a bit while Gabe had to work. Then I showed him around Scarsdale and we went to my favorite restaurants. Then my dad found out there was going to be yet another HUGE snowstorm around Chicago in the next day or two, which happened to be right where our layover was to be. So rather than be stuck in New York for the rest of the week (and away from our kids), we had to change our flight plans to leave that evening, rather than the next day.

But overall, it was a really fun trip, and I had the best birthday ever!