Day 3: HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Everyone is up and dressed in GREEN. 

 We needed to get out of Times Square as quickly as possible because of the parade.

But first.... we had to have breakfast at our favorite deli..

Then we headed to China Town for some shopping...just one little problem...

This is the way most shops looked..closed...  We did not have much luck in China Town but the girls did wait patiently while the mom's  tried to do some shopping.

Then it was lunch time.. PIZZA again...

This time we went to America's first pizzeria... Lombardi's...

Continuing our tour of Little Italy.. it was time for dessert..

We continued walking and headed to the area of Tribeca....

this is the only thing I could find to prove we had been there.

We continued to the Scholastic Book store.. it was AWESOME!!

The Magic School Bus...

Haylee reading a book while sitting on a dinosaur.

The we continued walking through SoHo.

Then it was time to hop on the subway and head to Ground Zero.

We also went into St. Paul's Chapel.

Next we headed to Grand Central Station...

We were so tired tonight that supper was from the hot dog stand on the corner.

We also had more dessert from Little Italy.

All in all... another great day!!

New York Day 2

We found this great little deli that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Since we stayed up so long the night before, we barely made it in time for breakfast.  The forecast called for rain so we all had our jackets and rain boots. 

Beautiful flowers...

Our next stop...MACY'S..  this place was AWESOME.

We spent several hours here shopping and we found some great deals.

We also rode on a wooden escalator.

After some major shopping and walking, it was lunch time. 
On the menu for lunch was pizza. 

New York pizza is the best.  We usually have pizza more than once. 

We tried a new pizza place:  Mondello's Pizzeria.  It was great. 

I have never had "bad" pizza in NY.

Our next stop was the New York City Library.  This place was awesome.

It is more like a museum than a library.  We had to go through security and

we weren't suppose to take pictures inside.  We did use our phone to take pictures

but of course, I did not down load them.  So if you want to see Haylee reading

a book at the library, check out my pictures on Facebook.

After some quiet time at the library and some needed rest,

we headed to do some more shopping.

The next stop was the Little Miss Matched store. 

This store sells socks in a set of 3 that don't match.

I guess it's the newest fashion statement for girls. The girls decided to try and make

their own style of socks which, if chosen, could actually be made.

The next stop was the one store that the girls have been dying to go to....any guesses...

the AMERICAN GIRL store... this is another amazing store for little girls.

Haylee's purchase at the store....

Then it was off to the next stop....

Since this was the birthday day.. we had to have some cupcakes.

We found the Magnolia Bakery.  Everything looked amazing.

We got everything to go and then headed back to the hotel to have a celebration.

It was finally time to try those cupcakes..OMG... those were some of the best cupcakes we

had ever eaten.  Haylee chose the red velvet cupcake.. her words "AMAZING"

We decided to go out for a late dinner and rode the subway across town.

Wish we could buy fresh produce from a stand like this...

We had dinner at Tom's Restaurant from Seinfeld. 

Didn't notice all that trash when I took the picture.

After we ate, we headed toward Columbia University. 

We saw a fire truck returning to the station and decided to stop in.

The firemen were so nice.  The let the girls get in the fire truck and put on their heavy jacket.

Then we were off to Columbia.  Since it was dark, we couldn't see much.

Then we rode the subway back to Times Square.  Since we were in the town that never sleeps..we decided to do a little more sight seeing before heading back to the hotel. 

We went to the the Hershey's store.

The girls had fun filling the bucket with kisses but we did not purchase the $25 bucket of candy.

Then we were off to the M&M store...

We had a busy day but everyone had a great time!!!

Spring Break: NYC

Haylee and I were lucky enough to be invited to NYC for spring break to celebrate her BFF's 6th birthday.  It was an all girls celebration.  Haylee was excited to ride in an airplane for the first time.

Getting our bags check and then it's time to go through security.

We got to the airport in plenty of time, so we had to wait awhile for our flight.

The girls being silly.

They did a little coloring to pass the time.

The plane had finally landed and everyone was ready to load.

Here goes Haylee....boarding her first plane..

Haylee and Grace are ready for take-off.

At baggage claim..trying to find everyones' bags..

All bags were accounted for...Now the girls are looking for our ride to the hotel.

SURPRISE..no taxi for us... we were arriving in style to our hotel.

The girls had a great time riding in the limo.

Once we were settleled in our room, the girls decided to look at the city from our 31st floor window.  Then it was time to hit the street... our first stop....DINNER!!

We had dinner at Junior's. 

It is known for it's Cheesecake but we did not have any the first night...but we would be back.

Here's some of the food we ordered...Chicken Strips

Matzoh Ball Soup and Potato Pancake with applesauce...  After dinner, we headed huge Toys R Us to do a little shopping and to ride the Ferris Wheel.

Haylee and Grace enjoying their ride.

Mandy, Sarah, and Erin were excited to ride with My Little Ponies. 

What a way to end our first day in NYC.