Trains and Frozen Hot Chocolates

{The next few posts are my love song to NY...

I tried to capture through photographs why 
I love this place so very much...}

Kate has loved the movie Eloise since she was really little.

Partly because of me, she has a profound love of NY and Paris and

probably any big city, actually. She loves it like I love it. 

When asked what she wanted to do for her 5th birthday she said she

wanted to go to NY. It didn't take much convincing on my part since

I will pretty much do anything to travel, especially there. 

Boston and Vermont were icing on the cake.

After an early morning breakfast at the Omni Parker House,
we headed back to our hotel to get our bags and catch
a cab from the Onyx to South Station.

We had tickets for an early train from Boston to NY. It was such a sight

to see; the 2 of us with the 2 little girls, trying to manage
4 suitcases and 4 carry-ons with all our other stuff trying to rush to make it on time.
I never do wellwith early morning stuff. We almost missed our train!

Once we made it onto the train though, we had a few hours to relax

and unwind while we made the 4 hour trip to our city...

  Thank god for those iPads. They saved our sanity a lot on this trip.

The views were beautiful

But this one view... it was was the very best one. My heart actually skips beats.

Try hailing a cab with this kind of baggage! They see us, laugh and keep driving to the

single girl in heels a la Carrie Bradshaw... That was the story of our lives during this trip.

Traveling with kids isn't quite as easy as doing it alone...

Kate was enamored at first sight. 

She asked for my camera so she could take photos

and not forget what she saw. I obliged. How could I not??

After the long train ride, and then the luggage/taxi fiasco

it felt oh so good to see this sight...

Of all the hotels I've stayed at, the Omni is a forever favorite. 

 I love checking in, seeing the girls sift through the backpack of 

goodies that the Omni gives them every time.

Once we were settled in though, I couldn't get out of the hotel fast

enough to go walk the streets of this place. 

Alive doesn't begin to describe what I feel when I'm here. 

We ended up at Bar Americain for dinner, a restaurant owned by Bobby Flay.

 I'd been there before during my 30th birthday trip but this time, 

he blew me away. Not only had the girls fallen asleep on our walk to 

the restaurant, we got to enjoy an entire dinner and wine in peace.

We did scare off a couple who panicked at the sight of us

walking into the restaurant with 2 strollers, I hate when that happens.

My kids are well-behaved and well-traveled so they know 

how to act in a nice restaurant. They were even asleep for pete's sake!

 

Cedar plank salmon with mushroom, cauliflower, mashed potatoes...

OMG.

After dinner, I was so excited to wake up the girls. 

The first thing they would see when they awoke would be Times Square.

The girls' favorite part was getting to go into the 3-story Toys R Us.

They each got to choose a toy. Ella bought her beloved Ruby, 

a sweet little baby doll and Kate chose 2 barbies. 

Wouldn't you know it, by the end of the night, she wanted

a doll just like Ella's... sigh. They got to go on the Ferris wheel

inside Toys R Us... Luckily, I got out of taking that ride because

I got to be the photographer. I love pulling that card.

From there, we took a cab to Dylan's Candy Bar.

 

 

Right after I snapped this photo, Kate tripped and fell flat on her face and her cookie
flew out of her hands and cracked into a million pieces... she wasnt hurt so I didn't
feel too bad for laughing because it all happened in slow motion and it was pretty funny to witness.

Kate wanted a dessert, so we ended the night with a trip to Serendipity
for Frozen Hot Chocolates. I loved bringing the girls here.

The walk home was... perfect.
We've done spring, winter... and now seeing NY in the fall was heavenly.
This is what lined the outsides of Duane Reade...
Need I say more?

 There is too much of NY to fit all into one post...