live and learn

Soooo...we thought we'd try something new to celebrate black Friday. "We" being 4 SUV's full of shoppers, some excited, some not so excited. We hit Tanger outlet in Branson about an hour before they were scheduled to open at midnight. It's a good thing we got there early as parking spaces got scarce really fast. The deals turned out to be not so good and it was so busy you could hardly move in the stores. The lines to check out would of taken us hours so we walked away with very little to show for our efforts. We were home and in bed by 2:30. But.....I must say.....it sure was fun!

santaphobia

All of my kids hate Santa. I thought for sure Oliver would be my one child who could be brave enough to get within 6 feet of Mr. Claus without screaming. I was wrong.

It's official!

New York

In list form:

Thursday
Got to our hotel around 7:00
Times Square- wonderful
Maxie's Deli- very authentic
Ferry to and back from Stanton Island- the best scenery we had

Friday
Woke up at 6:00
Breakfast at Pershing Square- the only overpriced meal we ate
Gray line bus tour of downtown Manhattan- the best way to see New York, did you know most of lower Manhattan is built on a landfill?
World Trade Center site- more interesting than I thought it would be
Lunch at the Stage Door Deli- reasonable, authentic, and good!
St. Paul's Chapel- I think this is a must see
Central Park
Apple Store
H&M with a kids' section- thank you to Missy for telling me the exact location
Macy's- the highlight being the old wooden escalators
Gap
Our hotel room to rest up and change clothes
Dinner at Mesa Grill- wonderful!!
Empire State Building- we miraculously didn't have to wait in line
Off to bed at midnight

Saturday
breakfast at McDonald's in Times Square- not planned, it's a long story
Gray line bus tour of uptown Manhattan- Our tour guide was great, he told us where the stars lived, where movies and TV shows were shot, and where to get the best deals on food and knock-offs.
The Guggenheim
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Rockefeller Center
lunch at a pizzeria
Anthropologie
NBC studio tour- got to see the SNL and Today show sets, they are both way smaller than they look
ABC Carpet and Home- the most beautiful store I've ever been in
Fishs Eddy- I think this was one of my favorite things of the whole trip
Wholesale district- gross
Strawberry- a lot like a gigantic Rue21
back to the hotel to rest a bit
Grand Central Station- unbelievably beautiful
Dinner at a deli on Times Square
Souvenir shopped on the streets
Dessert at a pizzeria
Hershey's store
M&M's store
Had to buy the 5 for $10.00 I heart NY shirts!
Toys R Us- to take pictures of the 4 story tall ferris wheel for the girls
Back to the hotel room for the girls while the guys explored the Chrysler building and the Waldorf Astoria

Sunday
NYC marathon day
breakfast at Grand Central Station
shuttle to the airport
left for home!

Things we learned
Food is not as expensive as we thought it would be.
New Yorkers are nice, we didn't encounter one rude person the whole trip.
Don't prepay for a shuttle to and from the airport.
Ellis Island closes way early.
For 4 people, a taxi is just as cheap as taking the subway.
That Bryan and Holly are great travel companions/roommates.

Halloween

Live from New York....it's almost friday night

I'm doing a quick blog from the Apple store. We are having a great time, our hotel is wonderful, the weather is cold enough that we need a coat but it's still comfortable, and we are seeing a lot more than we thought we'd have time for. We got to our hotel last night around 7, we walked 10 minutes to Times Square where we had a great dinner at Maxie's. We took the subway to the Stanton Island Ferry and sailed that to the island and back. (Thanks Mark, we loved it!!) After one more walk around Times Square we headed to bed around midnight. We woke up early this morning, ate a yummy breakfast at Pershing Square, and hopped aboard our grayline sightseeing tour bus. Thank you to the 20+ people who insisted we take the double decker bus tour, it's been so informative. We feel like Manhattan experts now after listening to the tour guide talk about the history and culture of NY. We've seen more than we would of any other way, too. We stopped for an authentic NY deli lunch and then sightseeing at the WTC site. We also toured St.Patrick's church. We are now doing some shopping before heading over to Central Park. Tonight's plan includes dinner at Booby Flay's Mesa Grill followed by the Empire State Building. I hope to post pictures soon! Miss you all!