NYC part II

We made our way into the building and up the elevator to the 11th floor.  My cousin, Chris greeted us at the door to his extremely large 5 bedroom apartment.  He shares it with 4 people that he met on craigslist and I hope they are still speaking to him after our tornado swept through.  Chris took us to his bedroom which was very large and I don't mean just by Manhattan standards.  It had a double bed and a futon with a ton of floor space left over.  We let the kids loose and they ran down the incredibly long hallway to the living room.  They usually take a little while to warm up to new places but not that day.  They were off the wall even bouncing on the couches and climbing onto the coffee table.  There was much to do there that they shouldn't have been doing so we were constantly telling them no.  It was a little stressful for us and probably not enjoyable for the roommates to listen to either.  

We all got bundled up around 2:30 and headed out to meet our friend Shirley and her boyfriend Steve at a restaurant in the village.  Chris mapped it on his iphone and it said it was only 1.5 miles so we decided to walk rather than have a possible hassle on the subway with the double stroller.  It was a long walk but not bad although it was COLD!  When we got to the restaurant the kids decided they were going to be shy and refused to sit in a chair alone or let anyone but us hold them.  So we scarfed down fajitas while holding whiny babies (and drinking a margarita).  Of course as soon as we were done they decided to come out of their shell and were flirting with the entire restaurant.  Madison was really enjoying the salsa which was WAY too spicy hot for me.

She'd get this look of pain on her face then dive back in for more!

We bundled back up and started walking north.  None of us knew the city overly well and no one had any preference as to where we went.  I said "how about Time Square?  I've been to NYC at least 10 times and I don't think I've ever seen it."  We looked on a map and all decided it was too far to walk.  But we continued to walk and talk.  The kids fell asleep as soon as we left the restaurant which is what I was hoping for.  We walking and walking and next thing we

 knew we were in Time Square.  

It was cool but I was a little disappointed and I didn't get any great photos.  The kids woke up as we got there and we decided to go into ToysRUs, you know, the one that has a FERRIS WHEEL in it!  

The place was a mob scene.  It was almost impossible to drive the double stroller around in there and the kids were NOT happy at that point.  We ended up going to the big barbie house area of the store and let them out of the stroller and having a snack.  Jackson screamed like we were trying to cut off his arm with a butter knife when we tried to get him back in the stroller.  Poor kid.  I don't know how but we all made it out of there alive.

After Time Square we walked quite a few more blocks past Rockefeller Center to Shirley and Steve's hotel.  We hung out in the lobby for a bit and let the kids run around.  They had a blast and all the people thought they were adorable.  Steve and Shirley were going to stay in at that point but we convinced them to take a walk to Rockefeller Center with us.  

It was very beautiful even though the tree was still being decorated.  

Shirley was good enough to take a photo of Chris and me where we got engaged.

It was great to see Shirley and meet Steve.  

It really is too bad they live in Scotland.  We said our goodbyes there and tried to find a subway station because there was no way in hell I was walking back to WALL STREET from there.  So Chris decides that he really wants to go to Grand Central Station.  

I called my cousin and he said it was close to there so Chris maps it out on the iphone and 

we start walking.  It was only a couple blocks away.  Next thing I know, we're in effing Time Square again!  Chris pulls out the iphone again and admits that we followed it the wrong way!  I said it was ok because I was pretty sure there would be a subway station there but he said he really wanted to see Grand Central.  I wasn't happy but we ended up walking back toward Rockefeller to Grand Central.  It was very cool.  There was a big stairway that we had to get down.  I'm sure there was an elevator somewhere but Chris decided to just roll the stroller down the stairs.  

The kids were belly laughing the whole way down and everyone around us was laughing at them.  It was so cute and funny.

Once I determined where we needed to go we got on the subway.  

{Their first subway ride:  Chris was THRILLED I was being such a tourist and taking photos on the subway}

It turned out to be an express train.  Chris was worried that it wouldn't stop at Wall Street so he made us get off at Brooklyn Bridge just in case which was two stops away from Wall Street.  As we were getting off the train we heard the voice say "next stop: Wall Street".  UGH!  So we walked another 6 blocks back to Wall Street.  

We got in around 11pm with the kids still awake!

More later!