NEW YORK, Finally!

Last Saturday we leisurely packed up and made an hour jaunt to New York. We didn't get there til 1 or 2 p.m. It took forever to get there...every road in New Jersey is a toll road, and then getting through the 6 mile Lincoln Tunnel...a tunnel that goes UNDER, not over, the river to get onto Manhattan Island was traffic the whole way. Not to be a downer, so I'll just be negative this once, but it cost us about $45 just to drive on and off the island and get back home. That was all tolls for the bridges. That didn't even include parking, which by mistake we parked at the parking structure for some 5 star hotel and it was like $55 for 2 hours. Kill me now.

Okay, so now on to how great New York is. You really can't grasp the wonderfulness of it unless you've experienced it. And pictures dont' do it justice (sorry about these upcoming pictures. I'm working from Brian's work computer that doesn't have much in the way of programs for me to fix them.) Even in the "bad parts" of New York, you can't help but just take it all in as a part of a new culture you're figuring out. The girls assimilated really well. By the time we were there for two hours, they already fell in love with it and have made their life plans to live there one day... to be fashion stylists and have two little doggies in a beautiful penthouse apartment. They were enthralled with learning what a 5 star hotel was for the first time and grasping how so many people could live in such a small place. They were in awe over the skyscrapers and the park right in the middle of the island...that was half the length of the whole island.

And even though the weather man said it was going to be in the 50's, the skyscrapers were blocking most of the sun so we were very cold most of the time. Believe me, I made it a point to remind the girls that I told them to bring coats but they refused. (How could I skip an "I Told You So" moment. "Parenting with Love & Logic" made me do it). Anyway, they are FOR SURE going to bring coats this next weekend.

So...because we only wanted to spend a few hours there, we decided to make it a "scope out" trip.

But first! FAO Schwarz. That was a must.

This is FAO Schweetz...heehee... a soldier made out of jelly beans...

The Muppet Display... $150... You design a muppet with stickers and then they literally make you your own Muppet...these are some of the clothes you can pick. Scott! Seriously! Did you see this?

The Ugly Doll

LEGOS

Wow is all I can say about FAO Schwarz. These next pictures are from the "Barbie" and "Doll" Exhibit. SUPER overwhelming. They had everything from "make-your-own-nursery" to Strawberry Shortcake and Raggedy Ann. In the Barbie Exhibit you could actually design your own Barbie. Use a touch screen computer program to plan it out, come back in 15 minutes and the clothes are made, the Barbie is made and you take home your one and only doll. They had a runway section for Barbies, old archived Barbies and big Barbie clothes for the girl...of course to match the Barbie she just made.

Brian SERIOUSLY wants to get some man time and go to the boy's section. What probably did him in was the Tutu Exhibit where the kids could decorate their own tutu starting at $60 and then walk the runway that they had set up...not any old runway...a SERIOUS runway. Looked so professional and everything.

If you didn't know, my sister Nanette introduced my girls to the world of miniatures by finding me a $5,000 miniature house (with EVERYTHING TO GO WITH IT....furniture, electrical fixtures, molding, etc.) for $100 at a garage sale. It's amazing. Well, at FAO Schwarz they had a whole section of miniatures. They loved it. But they quickly moved on when the old man behind the counter turned out to be very crotchety. I had to opine that he lost his miniature store to the competition of a big retailer store like FAO Schwarz and ended up working there. He' s just PISSED to be there.

Big Piano

Yup! The one-and-the-same "Big Piano" that Tom Hanks danced on in the movie, "Big." That was really cool. The girls had such a great time.

That was pretty much the major event of the day. The girls were pretty disappointed that it was so expensive. They have their own money to spend and couldn't believe that they couldnt' buy much with it. I'm sure they hate me that we aren't rich and can't walk out of that store like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt with tons of bags of toys (who showed them that People magazine story???), but I think I'll go read them a story about the kids starving in Africa or abandoned babies or the hotel kids. hehe. Am I mean?

We did take an hour to drive up Broadway, passed through Times Square, which everyone had their mouths open driving through there, and passed by the tip of the island to see the Statue of Liberty at night. We now have a total plan for this weekend when we spend Saturday and Sunday there.