We went to the BIG APPLE for our Spring Break vacation.
The funnest part was keeping it a secret from the kids the entire time.
The funnest part was keeping it a secret from the kids the entire time.
Joaquin and Diego have never flown before so we wanted this to be a surprise for them. We knew New York would be an awesome trip for us all to experience.
The boys could totally relate movies/cartoons they have seen from our
NYC trip.
NYC trip.
* Enchanted
* Night at the Museum
* Big
* Home Alone
* Jungle to jungle
* Elf
* Madagascar
* King Kong
Once the boys went to sleep on Thursday evening, I immediately started to pack our bags for the trip. I quietly did all the packing in our room and loaded the luggage's into the car so we could be ready to leave first thing in the morning.
We left Friday morning so Joaquin & Diego thought they were going
to school the next morning.
We left Friday morning so Joaquin & Diego thought they were going
to school the next morning.
I had Joaquin and Diego design their own luggage name tags.
They thought they were making "Hello/We Love you" cards for grandma Norma.
The morning of the trip I found them sleeping together.
They always sleep in their own beds and somehow they sneak into each others bed in the middle of the night. CUTENESS..................
Getting dressed for "school".
My dad showed up early in the morning asking us for a favor.
He wanted to know if we could drop him off at the airport because he had to fly out last minute to see Aunt Bert (his sister) in Kansas.
Joaquin & Diego thinking we are dropping off Papo at the airport
before we head to school.
I LOVE LOVE these confused little faces!!!
Once we were at the airport we SURPRISED them with our New York trip.
After all the: Huh? What? When? How? questions
they head towards the airport doors.
Once inside the airport, they asked why we had them bring their backpacks
if they weren't going to school.
We had them open their backpacks to find out they were filled
with toys they could play with in the airplane
(Lego's, coloring books, crayons/markers, reading books/magazines & headphones for music)
We had them open their backpacks to find out they were filled
with toys they could play with in the airplane
(Lego's, coloring books, crayons/markers, reading books/magazines & headphones for music)
A close friend of ours that works at the International airport was able to get bags filled with goodies for the boys to play with during the flight.
They were super excited!!!
No words needed for this picture.
They still can't believe this trip is happening for them.
Time to board the plane.
Getting ready for take off.
They are holding on tight to their "mono's"
(monkey in Spanish)
All of the stewardess's and pilots were very nice and welcoming to the boys. They got to visit the cockpit to all our flights going and coming from our trip.
Most of my New York pictures of the outside were taken
while running across crowded streets, dodging the ever dangerous taxis,
and trying to beat the flashing pedestrian sign.
while running across crowded streets, dodging the ever dangerous taxis,
and trying to beat the flashing pedestrian sign.
Wall Street was on the way to the 9/11 Memorial.
The Memorial was so breathtaking, so humbling, so beautiful.
The names of the victims line the sides of continuous waterfalls that flow into a footprint of the buildings.
A picture of the new world trade center.
Below Grand Central Station is Grand Central Terminal where we
learned how to ride the NY subway.
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We were able to have the whole sub to ourselves "only" because we didn't realize it had reached it's FINAL STOP, so we just stayed on until it started the whole route again.
That's what happens when you are not an experienced subway passenger.
This is what a normal ride on the subway looked like.
On our very first "squeeze/tight" subway ride, Joaquin said:
"so this is what crayons feel like when we put them back in the crayon box".
So of course Joaquin turned our sub rides into a game (as usual).
Every time we got on a subway that was crowded and we had to stand we said what color we were and what we loved coloring.
(ex: mine was red and I love coloring hearts, Santa Claus, candy canes, apples, tomatoes, etc
ex: Diego was green and he loves coloring, grass, money, frogs, alligators, trees, etc
ex: Joaquin was blue and he loves coloring oceans, the sky, Rio the bird, smurfs, etc.
ex: Robert was brown and he loves coloring, bears, branches, turkeys, boots, horses, etc.)
Game Rule: we had to change our color every time we road the subway.
Joaquin was totally ready to join these guys under the subway.
He even worked on making a tip can out of our hotel ice bucket naming it Philip (so people could fill it up with $$ for him).
Of course we made him leave it in the room.
(if video does not appear above just click on this link to see it)
Here are a few pictures of all the other neat attractions
we were able to visit during our trip:
We took the ferry to Staten Island to see the Statue of Liberty.
We rode the subway to the Bronx to visit the Yankee Stadium.
We spent Monday afternoon at Central Park enjoying
the "best" weather since our arrival.
Visiting the Empire state building.
Eating at the famous Ellen's Stardust Diner.
This restaurant has singing waiters making lunch a great entertainment.
Our waiter/singer was Jon Jon.
At TIMES SQUARE!!!
The place to be at night. The lights are amazing and the amount of people on the streets is crazy.
~it really is the city that NEVER sleeps~
We took the boys to the famous Dylans Candy Bar store.
A story filled with all sorts of delicous sweets.
The floors and the stairs are filled with candies. Super Neat!!
Eating a New York hotdog in the park.
I was totally looking foward to this store:
This neat store has been around since 1862 and it has real life
soldiers standing at the entry doors to greet all their guest.
soldiers standing at the entry doors to greet all their guest.
This store is best known for its large piano played in
the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks.
We got to visit the 3 story M & M Store that carries
M & M candy of every imaginable size, shape and color.
We can't forget about the famous Toys R Us located in Times Square.
These pictures were taken on our flight back home.
(Hence....you can totally see my tired eyes........ready for a long long nap)
I'm THANKFUL to have had a great and safe trip with my family.
Despite the cold weather (30°) we made the best of every day we were there.
Despite the cold weather (30°) we made the best of every day we were there.
