April 17, New York City!

Packed our bags, took the shuttle to Reagan National Airport, hopped on the metro to Union Station, got on the train. Now it was time to sit and relax for three hours. Brad and the kids explored up and down the train and hung out in the dining car. I just sat in my seat and relished the peace and quiet. When we got to Penn Station, we were picked up my my mom's cousin in a limo. There was only room for five so Ed, Brad and Caleb opted to walk to the hotel. It wasn't that far away but it was nice to not have to drag our suitcases around. Our hotel was the Doubletree Inn, right on Times Square. I really enjoyed looking at Rachel and Emma's faces as they looked out the window of the car and saw all the big buildings. We were dropped off at the hotel and when we managed to get all the luggage into the lobby, Mom left to spend some time with her cousin and some friends. When I got checked in and into our room, the Guys got to the hotel. The kids loved the room! Rachel took about 10 pictures from everything from the view to the bathroom sink. Here is a small sampling:



They were pretty impressed that we had a room on the 31st floor. We sat rested awhile and then we set out to do a little exploring of the Big Apple. We decided that the first place to go was Central Park. You probably know this but Central Park is HUGE! I can see how city dwellers would feel like how they were a little bit more out in the open when hanging out there. We saw all kinds of people there; people walking with strollers, buddies playing Frisbee, even a Paris-Hilton type walking her teacup chihuahua that was wearing some sort of sweater (that probably costs more that anything I own.) She was telling a tourist that they shouldn't take pictures without asking first (yes, tourists wanted to take pictures of her well-dressed rat/dog). Rachel, Emma and Caleb were just glad they could run and climb on rocks. I love my little mountain goats!




We walked by Tavern On the Green and Rachel started complaining of a stomach ache. Poor thing, she was really hungry. Brad then bought her the nastiest churro on the face of the earth and we headed back to Broadway to look for a place to eat dinner. We ate at a deli-type place and headed back to the hotel room because Rachel still wasn't feeling very well. Everyone seemed glad to just relax in the room but I still wanted to go out. So when it got dark, Brad and I went out and wandered around for a bit. We called the kids and had them spot us down below. They liked that.

We went to bed that night and anticipated what was in store for us tomorrow.