I took the older children up the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and Gary decided to bring the little ones up on Tuesday. I was personally NOT for this idea. We have never traveled separately, and we never will again. It was nice to spend time with the older children, but I missed Joshua and Olivia- and Gary! We arrived in New York, ate at John's Pizzeria, and then I took Madison and Haley to the hotel they would be staying at with the other cheerleaders. We were staying in a different hotel just a few blocks away. After I saw the 1300 cheerleaders/dancers scattered throughout the hotel, I decided Gary made a wise decision to stay someplace else.
Caitlin, Caleb, Bailey, and I started our sightseeing adventures. We had a fabulous Sunday brunch at 5 Napkin Burger ( I am still thinking about that french toast), visited the 9/11 memorial, ate at an authentic Italian restaurant in Little Italy, ate pastries at a cafe, and walked, and walked, and walked!!! Cailtin and Bailey went to see Harry Connick, Jr. on Broadway, and Caleb and I went to see an exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The children (mainly Caleb) decided they wanted to go to Connecticut, since, according to Caleb, we were so close. They are all on a 50 state quest- thanks to Gary!! So, we took the train to Greenwich, CT! We walked to the little downtown, shopped, and ate at a french cafe (we even sat at a communal table). Lunch was delicious, and the desserts were even better! I am sure I gained 5 pounds on this trip, but shouldn't all the walking counteract all the desserts?
We were able to get Madison and Haley on Tuesday for most of the day. They had tickets to see Sister Act, so they went to that while we went to the Pierpoint Morgan Library. Then we all headed to Macy's!! It is a huge store!! We managed to get out of there with only a tube of lipstick and a lip pencil which Madison needed for the parade.
Finally, Gary and the little ones arrived!! I talked to them on the phone while they were in route to the hotel and Olivia said, "I coming to see you Mom. I in a taxi cab." How sweet! I was so excited to see them! They looked like they had grown so much since I saw them Saturday. I really did miss them. We visited, and then Gary took Joshua and Olivia to eat while the rest of us got ready to go see Wicked on Broadway. It was fabulous!!! We had great seats, and the show was fantastic! I loved it!
Wednesday brought Toys r Us, the Zoo, the Museum on Natural History (Joshua wanted to see the dinosaurs), subway rides, and more walking!!! It was a fun day! Oh, Madison and Haley went to see Justin Bieber, LIVE! They were super excited for another "chance of a lifetime".
Of course, the day we had been waiting for arrived (earlier for one of us)! Gary got up and out to save a spot on the parade route at 6:30am. He got on the front row!! The rest of us finally got out there (later than Gary would have liked, but I was really trying). Finally, the parade started.! Floats, bands, characters, beauty queens, singing sensations…. It was great!! Then, we saw Madison's group!! I was super excited! I was waving, yelling, and then I spotted Maddie and Haley in the sea of cheerleaders!! Yeah!! I was even more excited! It was great! As Gary said, the chance of a lifetime! What a way to spend Thanksgiving! I am so thankful that we were all able to go and see her in the parade, and that we were all able to see the parade-LIVE- not just on TV!
Madison called soon after the parade, and she was ready for me to come get her. She said, hurry, please don't be like 2 hours! Well, it probably was because I couldn't get on the elevators to get the forms I needed to go get her, and then pedestrian traffic was crazy! We all went shopping around Times Square and then had a very nice, traditional Thanksgiving dinner at Langans. We invited Madison and Haley's room mates, Haley and Shelby from Texas. I didn't want them to spend Thanksgiving alone. They were grateful and we enjoyed their company. It wasn't as good as home (nothing is as good as my mama's cornbread dressing), but it was a good, traditional meal. We were all together- that was all that mattered!!
What a trip!! These are just the highlights. I can't even begin to tell you everything. Joshua and Olivia were so much fun and said so many cute things!! They are great travelers!
So, this is just a glimpse of our trip to New York for Thanksgiving!! What a great memory!
