Happy 10 Years to US!!!!

WE WENT TO NEW YORK CITY!!!

Whew, I just had to get that out of my system...sorry.

I was going to start this post by saying how sorry I am to have taken so long to blog about our trip to New York...I was going to start that way, but now, I'm not so sorry. It's been about 3 weeks since our trip, and it is nice to look back and remember all the fun we had! So, I'm not sorry because it is fun for me to look back and remember...ahhhhh, great times.

Mike and I have been married for 10 years this year, and I have been telling him since last anniversary, that I wanted to do something BIG to celebrate it. I knew it probably wouldn't happen, since he's so sensible, and has NEVER had any desire to go to NYC, but I thought if I started early enough, and asked often enough, it just might happen. Never underestimate the persuasive power of a desperate woman!! November came, and it all came together.  My Aunt Gwen and Uncle Howard live in Queens, NY, and they are famously gracious tour guides and hosts, my parents flew up from AZ to watch the kids, and Mike and I would get to go to New York!!..until of course, it all fell apart: enter Super-Storm Sandy devastating Manhattan one week before we are scheduled to arrive, and then the great NorEastern snowstorm 1 day before we were scheduled to arrive. Did I mention that I'm stubborn too? Mike was so sweet to never say, "why don't we just reschedule", but I could see him biting his tongue about a million times in the days before we left. Thursday morning, we woke up and headed to the airport, not knowing if our connecting flight would be cancelled due to weather, and our journey began.

A 3 hour layover in Denver didn't dampen our spirits! We were ready to go!

 

We made it to Laguardia with no cancellations or complications!!! My Uncle Howard met us at the airport, and we set off on our adventure. This is us on our first encounter with NYC public transit: the bus.

 Because of Storm Sandy, there was a fuel shortage, so no driving for us...walking all the way! We walked to their church first, to drop off some humanitarian aid supplies for the hurricane victims, then walked to our first experience with Indian Food--LOVED IT, especially the Naan and Frakie Wrap!!!

It was about 9PM, but those Haglunds are CRAZY, so we were off to see the city! 

                             First Subway ride!!                                      First time in Times Square!!

They also took us to the Stardust Cafe on Broadway; a place where dream-to-be Broadway stars can serve milkshakes while dancing on tables and belting out show-tunes. It was such a great night because we had The City to ourselves!! Because of the FREEZING temps and flight cancellations, it was a ghost town. We didn't mind at all.

The next day, we were up bright and early and off on the subway again. It was still frigid cold, but we were warmed with enthusiasm--ours and our hosts'. Before heading back to The City, we walked around their beautiful Queens neighborhood and picked up some Chinese baked goods and some Turkish bread for breakfast!! It's like a little trip around the world wandering their streets...I was in heaven.

This is a tree that feel on two cars during Sandy in Queens.

Off to Bryant Park  (this is Mike's favorite building).

Then to Grand Central Station, we gave it a thumbs up...ok, just I did, but Mike really loved the backward constellations on the ceiling.

  

 St Bartholomew's and St Patrick's Cathedrals, just beautiful.

Saw the super-cool Apple Store with it's crazy glass-box entryway, and FAO Schwartz toy store.

THE Saks on The 5th avenue!! This is my Aunt Gwen in a million dollar chair there.

STREET FOOD!! I wanted to try every kind I could! Here I am enjoying my first falafel ever, and Mike's long-awaited Gyro (pronounced "year-o" in Idaho, but "jy-ro" in NYC, who knew?!?!?) You can't see it in this picture, but our feet are frantically fighting off the boldest pigeons I have ever seen.

CENTRAL PARK

We were both blown away by the real art we saw in the Moma!! we were inches away from Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and so many others!! Things we've only seen in books. 

Late that night, we caught the bus to Lower Manhattan to the Staten Island Ferry. We couldn't take the subway directly there becuase the nearest terminal was still closed from the storm. That was the only inconvenience (if you could even call it that) the storm caused us...it was such a great trip.

Here we are freezing on the ferry in front of Lady Liberty (I ran inside after these pictures were taken--it was so cold!)

That wraps up day one in the city!! While we were away, Pappa went with Lucy to her Daddy Daughter Activity for Church. It was a pinewood derby race, and her car won the "most blinged out" award. So proud.

We would not have been able to enjoy the trip at all if we hadn't known our kids were being so well cared for at home. Thank you Papa and Gramma.