NYC!

Before I get started on our AMAZING trip to New York, I would like to encourage you to click here, press play, and picture Wip singing the song (Alicia Keys can still be his backup:). You see, very early on in the trip I declared it "Wip's Trip". Seeing the city through this little boys eyes was truly one of the most special and amazing moments I have had as a parent.

Ready to head out of Louisville

Waiting at the airport

The "trip fairy" stopped by and brought a little treat for the boys (isn't she sweet?)

Lollipops = Lifesavers

William is ready to take on NYC

Our first night we went to Serafina, a family friendly Italian restaurant. William and Duncan were hilarious. You would have thought we were starving them, both somehow took down three slices of pizza each!

The next day was Thanksgiving. Duncan was under the weather and so he stayed back with Patrick at the hotel and the rest of us headed over to 59th & 7th where we were so lucky to be included in a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade viewing party in a New York City apartment overlooking Central Park. Wip was beside himself. The people watching, his new friend Luke, and don't even get me started on the floats. We had the best of both worlds because we could stand out on the balcony and watch some of the parade go by and then when we got cold there was plenty of hot chocolate and cookies to help keep us warm. Truly a wonderful experience.

View from the balcony

Wip watching with amazement 

One of the first floats to arrive!

Mama's Boy

Is that Santa?

Wip was pumped about the sighting of the "real" Santa

William was wise and stayed indoors most of the time

Wip and the gang (his new buddy Luke is standing next to him:)

gobble, gobble

Cousins

Getting his best Spiderman hands ready 

Over 400 cheerleaders!

Peanut!

Having a ball

Voted best float (by Wip)

Bye, bye parade

After the parade we went into some good eating at The Lotus Club (where we were staying). The food was really good, but the desserts blew me away. There were SO many options for something sweet from pies to cookies to ice cream. Out of everything...Wip picked sour patch kids. Come on kid!

Lunch in the Library

This is one of three tables full of sweet stuff

This is Wip's choice 

Duncan started perking after a looooong morning of rest 

It was hard to imagine eating again...but I did. For dinner we went to a place call Landmarc in the Time Warner building. Burgers and beers were just what the doctor ordered. Oh yeah, and cotton candy!

Friday was another big day in the city. We had some down time in the morning so we just hung out at the hotel and then went for a walk in Central Park. We headed over to Radio City Music hall in the afternoon for the Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes. Man, did they bring it. The boys stuck it out the entire 90 minutes. Just when I thought that they were going to have a melting point, the manger scene came on the stage equipped with REAL animals (camel, sheep, donkey)...needless to say Wip's mind was blown. After the show we headed over to a wonderful dinner party at the Capra's. Good food, good wine, and amazing folks to hang out with, it was a special way to end the night.

No more monkeys jumping on the bed

down time

Wip was pretending to ice skate

It is a good thing that he is cute!

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day. We headed to the Bronx and went to The New York Botanical Garden. The Garden was displaying a holiday train show that was unbelievable. The exhibit features all of the landmarks of New York and is created with twigs and sticks and all made by hand. After the exhibit we headed over to Arthur Street where Dr. McGowan took us through his old stomping grounds (he was the president of Fordham University years ago). We popped into a restaurant for lunch called Dominick's. No menus, family style, lots of wine. It felt like I was in the scene of Sopranos. Very, very cool. And the food was. out. of. this. world. good. After lunch we walked the streets and it seriously felt like I was in Italy. Authentic. 

Checking out the donor list (smart boy:)

Train show...Radio City Music Hall

Having a snack at the Garder

Drawing animals

Daddy's boy

Our last night in New York was spent with adults...and it was fantastic. The sweet McGowan's arranged for a sitter to watch the boys so we could enjoy a dinner with the adults. We went to Rosa Mexicano and had lots of food and lots of laughs. It was pretty cool to have a menu with your name on it when you walked in (requirement of a party of 6 or more:). 

The car was picking us up for the airport on Sunday at 1pm so we decided to squeeze in one more adventure and headed over to the American Natural History Museum. While Duncan was being less than anything remotely resembling a well behaved child, Wip really enjoyed it. 

If you ever go to New York with a child during the holidays and are not overcome with a holiday spirit then you are probably made of stone (or maybe you don't celebrate the holidays...that is fair). We had a wonderful trip and now are ready to start December with a bang...bring on the eggnog!

He finally decided to take a nap in the airport on the way home