Thursday, March 1, 2012

Catch up - Trip to NYC for Arlington's Birthday

Almost two weeks ago now (hard to believe) Mat and I took Arlington to NYC for her 9th birthday.  It was just the three of us, and we had a great time.  We took the train into the city (it is about a 4 hour train trip from Mass. with lots of stops) and spent two nights in the hotel on Times Square - the location couldn't have been more perfect.

We arrived in the city late Friday night, so we just took a taxi to the hotel and went to sleep.  Saturday was a busy day.  We started with breakfast at Jamba Juice and then walked around for a bit before TKTS (discount tickets for Broadway shows) opened up.  We already had tickets for Lion King for Saturday night, but we wanted tickets for an afternoon show.  It was a holiday weekend, so unfortunately our top 3 choices (Spider Man, Phantom of the Opera, Blue Man Group) were not available.  So we saw Sister Act, which was pretty good.  Arlington really liked it.

After we got our tickets, we went to the American Girl store so Arlington could burn some of her birthday money.  (thank you to all of the relatives who donated to her NYC birthday trip!)  She bought the "girl of the year" Makenna, and the doll also attended all of the broadway shows with us.

Before the show we had time to eat a hot dog off a street vendor (yes you must do this when in NYC - they really do taste good), visited the Disney Store, the Nintendo store, the giant Toys R Us, and the M+M store.

After the first show, we had dinner with my cousins Kirsten and Alissa Wyatt who live in the city.  Arlington loves getting to see these two ladies every time we visit the city.  They gave her presents (thank you girls) and doted on her before it was time for Lion King.

Lion King was as awesome as I remember.  It truly is a show like no other.  And Mat and I have seen quite a few on Broadway.  Arlington had a great time during the whole show and was still wide awake at 11pm when we were walking back to hotel.  (don't worry - we didn't have to walk far).

Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast and then went to the Empire State building - Arlington's request.  That girl is a thrill seeker and wanted to be somewhere high.  It was the first time I had been up there since 9/11 and it was weird, and sad to be able to see past where the towers used to stand.  You could see where the 9/11 memorial and the new tower were being built.  It was a really clear day and we could see really far, which Arlington enjoyed.

After that, it was time to go home.  Mat was going back to Massachusetts by train, and Arlington and I were going on to Pennsylvania with my parents for a week (along with Finley and Cainan).

It was a fun weekend and I was glad we were able to do this with her.  Arlington is a great big sister, and she has to deal with because we devote so much time with Finley, so it was time to give her a chance to be with us by herself.

And she took full advantage by talking non-stop for 3 days.

Enjoy the pictures!

Arlington played on my computer on the train ride
Enjoying our Jamba Juice on Times Square
Looking for her doll at the American Girl store

The Mickey in the Disney Store
Outside the Lion King theater
At the top of the Empire State Building






1 comment:

The Kovalls said...

Love the pictures - so glad to finally see them :-)