New York City

After boarding the Fung Wah bus from Boston, we had an adventurous ride to NYC.  Sadie had a tantrum fit for about 45 minutes until a sweet old lady in front of us offered her "nutter-butter" cookies.  Yep, nothing like a package of bite-size cookies to calm a baby.  Sadie was fine for the final two hours.

After arriving in Chinatown, it was a bit frazzling about what we were getting ourselves into.  We are not city people.  But we finally made it Grand Central Station and walked a few blocks to where my friend, Allison, took our huge back-pack (as it was too big to be permitted in the 9/11 Memorial) before we were off to see the city.  We went to see Ground Zero and wow, what a reverent place it was.  It was truly remarkable.  

South Tower Pool with the WTC Museum behind us.

 We were there four days before the 9/11 anniversary, and lucky for us, NYC had the tribute lights one just a couple of blocks away.  It was such an incredible experience, especially as I tried to explain to Avannie why it was such a quiet place.  She really did feel something there.  She even wanted to have her picture at the "Survivor Tree".

 The next day, we were off to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  We also met up with Joseph's best friend, Justin, and his sweet little girls.  Joseph and Justin got "caught up" with the past few months/years while I had the wonderful priveledge of teaching all the girls (four including Sadie) about immigration.  I loved Ellis Island!  I can't wait to go back to these places so I can go on the audio tour.  Sadie didn't allow me to wear the headphone and Avannie couldn't keep hers on her head.  But one day....

After the Statue of Liberty, our two families were off to the USC vs Syracuse football game at MetLife Stadium.  Wow, it was huge.  Wow, USC fans are die-hards.  Wow, football games are hard to watch with four kids.  Wow, it was totally worth every penny.

This is a picture of Avannie trying to imitate the dancers on the side of the field.  I wish I would have gotten a video because it was too funny!

 After a long day, we stopped at the Shake Shack for a tasty hamburger and shake.  Sadie's favorite part was talking on the buzzer-waiting-thing.  She was charming the whole area.  Kids are so rare in NYC that we were getting smiles from all the people around us.

What a great trip to New York it was.  But one of the best parts of the whole week was being able to stay with such great people.  To the Riley's, you are great!  Thank you for opening your home to us and thank you for not kicking us out for your sleep-less nights as our children were causing a commotion.  And thank you for your generous hospitality!

Best part of New York City - being able to be with good friends!