New York: Day 1 Empire State Building

 I'm not sure where to start describing this absolutely perfect trip. Truly, everything about it was perfection.

We were all excited but nervous going into this trip- we simply had no idea what to expect. Audra was beside herself with nerves.

We had to get up at 2:45 AM to get to the airport. That was not great! But, thankfully, the flight went well. We love TSA Pre-Check and will never fly without it again!

We arrived at Newark at 11:30 AM. We went down to baggage claim, where a chaperone from The Macy's Great American Marching Band was waiting for Audra. He whisked her away the second she got her luggage. Once she left, Claire turned to me and said, "You realize you just sent Audra with a strange man you've never met in New York City." It was a very strange experience!

Then we caught a taxi to our hotel in Manhattan. It cost $102 and it was the scariest drive of our lives.

We dropped our bags off with the Bell Hop and then went to find some lunch. We found a pizza place, which I liked, Claire hated, and Ben and Camille thought was OK.

As we were eating, I looked out and said, "Is that The Empire State Building? That building says Empire State on it." Sure enough, we had walked right by the Empire State Building without even realizing it because up close you can't see the top so we didn't know.

We had tickets to go to the top, but had a little bit of time before our time started so we went and saw Macy's insteawd

The Macy's displays were awesome!

And on to The Empire State Building!

There was a level where we learned about the making of the building. That would have been so scary!

It was VERY windy on top, but totally worth doing! It wasn't crowded at all- I'm so glad I didn't buy the Express Pass! We really got lucky because the crowds didn't really come until Tuesday. On Tuesday, the city was packed- but until then, it was empty.

This is the iconic spot from Sleepless in Seattle:

We stayed at the Executive Suites of Soleil and it was wonderful. The location was perfect- we were literally minutes from Times Square, The Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, the Theater district, and so much more. I'm hopeful Ben and I will come back just the two of us soon and we will definitely stay here again. It's a beautiful hotel, clean, and excellent staff.

Camille decided to make a bed next to Claire so they wouldn't have to share a bed with her:

                               

I do have to admit, I wasn't feeling NYC on this first day. I needed 24 hours and a good night's sleep before I fell in love with NYC, but we definitely fell in love with this city! We were just so incredibly exhausted on the first day, we needed our sleep!

Evan's Birthday

 It was another Birthday for Evan as he turned 4! It was fun to celebrate! Happy Birthday!!

The Guacamole Queen

 Audra had a class play for her advanced theater class. She had a speaking part in "The Guacamole Queen" where she played Dee-Dee, a TV announcer. She did a fabulous job and we are very proud of her. She was very nervous, but did great! They had two performances.

Some Random Pictures

 Every year I say "never again will I canvass" and every year I'm out fighting for public education. The onslaught to undermine and dismantle education never ends, and it is maddening.

And here's cute Camille- apparently she eats pancakes by stacking them on her fork.

End of Season

Claire had another great season, and once again was the leading scorer, for the Dynamos this year. She really loves this team and  playing soccer!