While our exchange student, Tya, came to stay with us, we decided to spend some extra special time with her on a family overnight trip to NYC! We all had such a good time together!
She got the authentic NYC subway experience, with interesting people and all!
We went by to check out the Freedom Tower & the 9/11 memorials...
It was freezing, but we figured a boat tour was still the best place to get the best views!
Brian and I relived our very first date on the Circle Line cruise (although a bit chillier this time), and shared a kiss as we passed the Statue of Liberty again! It's hard to believe that was 24 years ago!
Our tour guide had some awesome props and took photos for us too!
A trip to the Harry Potter store for some shopping and Butterbeer was definitely a highlight!
Ben's going to be taller than Hagrid soon if he keeps growing at this rate (although the shoes do give him a bit of a lift)!!!
Our next stop was to go to the top of the Empire State Building...
The museum they have built up there is so neat to walk through!
My FAVORITE Empire State movie of all time!!!!
When we got outside, it was foggy (as we expected), but it started snowing and just felt magical! Especially since they had their Valentine's decorations up for the weekend!
The kids had fun taking pictures in the snow!
Ben even made another snowball!
We walked through St Patrick's Cathedral, but Tya said she felt like it was just like all the buildings back home...
As we walked down the snowy streets, we came across crowds and decor everywhere, celebrating the 50th anniversary of SNL that weekend!
We had to get a pretzel from a street vendor!
Times Square was wet and cold, but not as busy as we've seen it in the past, so we had a blast exploring!
We had fun at Tya's first hibachi experience for dinner...
... she even tried her first dumplings!
Having two hotel rooms a block away from Times Square was awesome, and super convenient, as the girls and Brian got to go back out at night for some Boba tea, and we all enjoyed fresh, NY bagels in our rooms in the morning before heading out!
Our flight got changed a bit coming home, so we had to shorten our plans a little, but we still had time to pack up and go see the MET for the afternoon! We could have spent days in there and still have had so much to see!
The scavenger hunt map kept us busy in the LONG coat & bag line, but it made it more fun and the museum more enjoyable as we walked through!
We found the most famous painting in the museum, "Washington Crossing the Delaware"...
I loved this sculpture called, "The Hand of God"...
We saw some beautiful works by Renoir, Monet, Surratt & even Van Gogh!
Seeing the famous stairs that we all know from watching the "Met Gala" was cool!
A busy, taxi-heavy, quintessential NYC street was a fun view as we headed off to the airport...
Saying that our flight home was "turbulent" would be an understatement (just ask Abby and Tya about the vomiting in their section of the plane), but it didn't ruin a moment of our fun adventure!
