5th Avenue

On our last day of our trip we made it over to 5th Avenue. It was so fun to see all the stores I doubt I will ever shop in (unless my Mr. Wonderful had an awfully large bank account).



We made our way down one side and ended up at this plaza, just in front of The Plaza...

The Plaza...
The other side of Central Park...
Brooke loved Louis Vuitton Store, the colored lights and everything looked so cool...
Waiting for FAO Schwarts to open...
The Toy Soldier who opened the store...

Playing The Big Piano...
Love this place!
This shoe department has it's own zip code, love it!
Outside the enormous Macy's
5th avenue was so much fun! I loved it all!

Grand Central Station

Seeing Grand Central Station (or Terminal and it is called most places) was so fun to see! It was an old, impressive building. It is too bad that places aren't built like this any more with cool architecture and grandeur...

Central Park

Sunday after dinner we headed over to Central Park. It had rained all that day but luckily it had stopped in order for us to walk around.

Just outside the park, as we walked closer Brooke noticed that there was moss on the rock wall and she asked "Is that real?" I guess she thought maybe we had entered Disneyland and they had added that for effect...

In front of Tavern on the Green...
On the Shepherds Lawn (or something like that)...
Us on the Mall...

In front of the fountain featured in Enchanted...
Eating our treats overlooking the lake and the boathouse...
A cool over-grown tunnel...
Jake made us walk a while promising a great view of the city, we kept walking and walking, but in the end it was worth it. We ended up at this reservoir at dusk and the sunset was beautiful. All of it was so pretty...

It was a lot of walking, but it was so cool to be in the park and see so many neat things.

Top of the Rock

The last time I went to New York we visited the top of the Empire State Building, it was a memorable night for many reasons, but this trip we decided to try "Top of the Rock." This is the observation deck at the top of the Rockefeller building. I think that the view from here is so much better than the Empire State Building. Let me share with you the views...

The awesome view of Central Park (you don't realize how really big it is until you get a good perspective of it like this)...
The Empire State Building and the other side of the city...
It was so windy...
All of us on top...
I love these cheesy view finders, it's not like there is all that you need to see up close when you are on top of the building...

Me and the Park. I am not a huge fan of pictures just of things and not people, so I always try to throw someone in them...
Us and the park...Overlooking the Empire State Building, and Jake wanting a lot to do with the photo opp..

Despite the wind, the weather was perfect, it was a clear day with blue skies. The wind actually turned out to be a good thing because it blew all the smog out and created clear views. It really was breath taking.

Harlem

Having the danger seeking, adventurous Mom I have we decided to venture into Harlem one day. We made sure we were going during the day, and we just so happened to pick Malcolm X's birthday. I'm not really smart enough to know all of the history behind him, but it seemed like a big deal, big enough that everything was going to shut down from 1:00-4:00 that day.
I think that Harlem is proud of what it is, everything is either named Harlem, has the name on it, or welcomes you..

This is Malcolm X street. We tried to get a good picture due to his birthday, but it didn't work out so well.

It was so fun to go into this culture that is totally different than anything I had experienced. We were a little on edge the whole time being there, being three white girls and hearing so many scary things. The time we spent there was so fun and interesting, I am really glad we decided to go explore. Way to be daring Mom!

Brooklyn

On the rainy, Monday afternoon we headed over to Brooklyn to eat at the famous Grimaldi's. We took the subway over and walked to the resturant, making sure to get there before the big dinner rush. Along the way we had several photo opps, some I'm not quite sure to think of...

We found this toilet turned into a flower pot, and dare we ask what Brooke is doing?

A funny blue pig that we thought we needed to ride...
Posing with our one dollar umbrella...
A self-portrait attempt to get the bridge in with us... clearly that didn't work.
The Brooklyn Bridge...
How cool is that bridge? Its just too bad the sign is in the way of it.

Lunch at Grimaldi's...
The other half of the party...
After dinner, in the cold rain, Jake and I walked down to the pier and got ice cream. Makes sense right? Ice cream on a cold rainy day? The peir is right under the bridge and I couldn't help but get a picture.

This is one thing I didn't do on my last trip and I loved it! I only wish the weather would have been better so we would have been able to walk across the bridge. I guess I'll have to go back one day and do that.

"It's Hairspray!!!"

The surprise favorite of the trip was going to see "Hairspray." There were so many things that made this so fun: no expectations for the show, being center 4th row, the energy of the show, Ashley Parker Angel, and the best was meeting the cast after...

Pictures of the show on the side of the theater...
Intermission...
Trying to get the cool curtain behind us...
A little blurry, but us outside the theater...
Anxiously awaiting Ashley's appearance out the stage door...
The beloved moment (I realize I have taken this a bit far) Ashley Parker Angel who played Link...

Tracy Turnblad...
Penny Pinkleton...
Little Inez...
One of the "Negro" kids...

I loved this movie and seeing the play added a whole new dimension I just loved it! Thanks Mom for funding the entertainment.