Thanksgiving in New York City

 We decided a few years ago we really wanted to take the kids

to NYC to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and when our 

school district put out our schedule and we lost our whole week off,

we decided to do it! So I first got the ideas of where to take the kids from

Rick and I's first trip there and then we added some new things. One of 

the suggestions that kept being told to me was the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular

at Radio City at the Rockafeller center so I made the kids dress up and we went and it was absolutely amazing!! It was spectacular!!!

 First of all , walking everywhere is my favorite thing

The kids walked miles and miles like 10 or more a day and never complained

I love this pic, with the taxi in the background. Kellan told me he's made for 

New York City and he just loved it, was saying hi and good morning to everyone he passed

handing out police badges to all the officers, just loving life. He loves the cold and he loves being busy so it was perfect for him! Mia also was amazing and said I don't know if I could go to college  

somewhere quiet! I love the busy city! Oh me too Mia!! I am definitely a city girl at heart, I love the beauty of the desert but I love being busy and the city life.

before the show we went to a fancy dinner right in front of 

the Rockafeller Center so that was fun for the kids

Kellan enjoyed all the compliments from the old ladies.

 you can see the iceskating rink behind Mia 

They both said that Central Park was their favorite place in New York City

it was beautiful, fun, had a zoo, chipmunks, playsets, rocks to climb, ice skating , I mean you name it.

 Kellan of course made new friends, Mia was looking for celebrities the whole time we were there, 

and Rick was looking at real estate to buy and rent out. haha 

 Kellan could not believe he could get a hotdog at every corner, that was 

just awesome to him haha

 there was iceskating EVERYWHERE 

us at Central Park

chipmunks are soooo cute 

 central Park 

 So the first night we went to this place called Stardust Diner

They have the waiters and waitresses dance and sing and I guess they had

almost 50 of them make it to Broadway last year so it was worth the hour and half

wait in line outside, the kids LOVED it. 

Time Square  

 top of our hotel 

 kids loved the subway, thought it was too fun

everyone was super nice to the kids, even at one point 

Kellan fell from not holding on and three adults tried to save him

just super nice people everywhere.

 another suggestion was this super fun place

called The Color Factory- in Manhattan in the neighborhood and 

super artsy and fun, each room had treats and art stuff to do 

kids LOVED it. 

then at the end they had icecream and a huge ball

pit... 

 we also went to the police station downtown to say hi

to Rick's friends there 

 in front of the Jersey bridge 

 911 memorial- so kids were great but Mia got super emotional in hour 2 and just 

wanted to leave just a lot for her , Kellan didn't quite grasp it all, he was into the emergency vehicle stuff and rescue more but Mia was just devastated by it. It's hard as an adult to see it too

we also know someone who died so we got to read about his life together. 

 Kellan got some pics of the NYPD police out front 

 then we ate at EATALY in the financial district,

Kellan just loved all the buildings 

 then we took a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty

 by this point we were feeling the time change

back to Rockafeller Center

and we went to Fao Schwarz and let the kids pick out a 

Christmas gift  

statue of libery behind him 

 and the Macy's Parade- what was really cool is

they let the Police families sit in a specific area 

which would never happen in Vegas

IT was definitely cold and then had to keep the balloons lowered 

to the ground because of the wind but it was absolutely amazing

sooooo fun 

Afterwards we were trying to find food like the rest of the 4 million,

thought we could get Chinese like in the Christmas story but they were all closed

so we went to an authentic Irish pub - Kellan got Salmon and Mia got turkey

 then we went to a fun place I loved when I came with

Rick it was Bryant Park , so fun, little shops, iceskating, food, etc 

 Kellan had a blast counting all the people who

were falling on the ice 

 we even went to the huge Macys and it was sooo insane

people were singing to us as we came in and we could not move it was so crowded 

we seriously scored with our place we stayed at 

Called Manhattan Club and it was a timeshare we found last minute

 and had 2 bathrooms and a separate room with a pull out for the kids and a kitchen

it was AWESOME! I told the kids normal NYC is the size of a shoe box and how lucky they

 are and it was 2 blocks from Central Park just the perfect location. Definitely will be back here! 

 Mia and I did get to do a little Black Friday shopping while the boys did

their own 

and I didnt get pics of all the AMAZING food and DESSERT we 

had , we basically stopped for dessert every time we saw something, 

we had some great authentic chinese food, pizza, Irish food, hotdogs, did I say desserts??

Magnolia Bakery!!! Which I didn't get pics of but we had to wait in line for that even.. 

 on the last day we took the kids to the Natural History Museum

pretty cool that it's free and just a donation, it's an awesome place for kids 

and then back to Central Park while the kids played 

 look how cool 

 Kellan pretending to be a statue 

We had too much fun. The kids had a contest of who was the better traveler and

I had to tell them that it was a tie, they were both amazing and went with the flow 

and loved seeing new things. It was definitely a trip to remember!! 

even though our flight home was an extra hour long from the wind, kids got nauseaus, 

me too but Spock and Oak were super happy to see everyone!