April 18, New York

Took it easy today. Mom and I got up earlier than anyone else (8:00) and walked to a deli and brought back breakfast for everyone. At around 10:00, one of her friends called her and she met with them. She had a completely different New York experience from the rest of us. She was driven around in a limousine and ate at fancy restaurants (all Chinese food) with friends she hadn't seen in 40 years. We walked around and ate at places that were nearby.

When everyone was ready to go, we headed to the M&M store. The huge screen of the gian M&M fascinated the kids. Hmm, who knew there were so many things M&M? Then we went across the street to the Hershey store where I think we all got a sugar buzz just breathing the air inside the store. Why someone would pay $4.00 for a bag of Hershey's Treasures when you could by the exact same bag at Target for $2.00 is beyond me.

We then went to the Virgin Megastore. Ed and Brad really enjoyed it there but Rachel, Emma and especially Caleb were bored within 10 minutes. For the rest of our time in New York if I suggested going back to the music store to any of them, I would get "a look." I love pushing buttons!

We were kind of tied to Times Square for the afternoon because Brad had to stand in line to get tickets to a show. Here's a tip. They only take cash at TKTS. I had to go to the ATM to get cash out but I guess we had miscalculated the cost and he was only able to get four tickets to Mary Poppins. I felt really bad about that. Especially since the person who stood in line for two and a half hours (Brad) wasn't going to be able to go. So Ed, the kids and I just walked around Times Square for awhile.

We had lunch at a pizza place called Famous Famiglia's Pizza. Is is famous? According to the napkin and all the pictures on the wall it was. It was very tasty pizza, we saved a slice for Brad.

He was feeling worn out from standing in line for so long so we went into the Marriott Marquis hotel. Here is Caleb's high point of the New York portion of our trip.

The high speed elevators at the hotel, Caleb loved them. There are about 10 glass elevators and instead of pressing a button for "up" or "down", you enter in the floor you want and then the display will tell you which elevator to take. I rode the elevator a couple of times and it kind of made me sick. It was a little bit like Disney's Tower of Terror. Brad and Caleb rode those elevators for about an hour, trying to go from the 2nd floor to the 45th without stopping. Those boys! Ed, the girls and I hung out in the lounge on the 8th floor wondering when they would be done.

When the ride was over, we walked over to the Rockefeller Center and checked everything out. Caleb, Rachel and Ed bought some memorabilia from the show "The Office."

Then a serendipitous discovery! Next to the Rockefeller Center, there is a chocolate shop, Le Maison du Chocolat. I had no idea that you could buy chocolate for $150 a pound. We bought a teeny, tiny box of six chocolates and shared them. After trying them, you could almost see why they felt justified in charging so much. That $4 bag of Hershey's Treasures was just a distant memory. Holy cats, that chocolate was good!

After that, we went back to room to rest for awhile.