New York Day 5: New Jersey Rehearsal and more Central Park

 This day we needed to just take as it came because we completely altered all our plans/expectations due to winning the golden tickets.

We dove into the world of public transportation and took a bus to New Jersey.

Now is a good time to say something about the people of New York: They get a bad rap for being rude, and we did not experience that at all. Everyone was incredibly friendly and helpful. We didn't meet one rude person the whole time. Especially when it comes to navigating public transportation, people were very helpful and friendly, for which we are very grateful because we needed all the help we could get!

We were never planning on going to this rehearsal, but I'm so glad we did. First, it was great to see Audra and see her so happy. Second, being able to see their show was awesome! I got teary eyed seeing all that they have been able to accomplish in just 4 days. It's incredible. These kids are incredible! All of them love band, are passionate about band, and want to be great.

This is the only audition band specific to the parade. There were 12 bands. Most all of the bands are high schools are colleges who won a major competition and were invited to come. But Macy's Great American Marching Band is kids from all across the country who audition for a chance to be in the band. This is the only way Audra would ever be able to march in the biggest parade in the country. This is such an incredible experience for her and she was completely in her element with her people! She did say that the band directors were much nicer with the parents around, but they ran a tight ship, and the students listened. They would yell "Black Friday" and the kids RAN to get into their formation.

They practiced at an armory in New Jersey

She's in the middle, second person in, looking at the camera

We were told we could take pictures and video, but we couldn't share them on social media because NBC owns the copyright

This is HAPPY Audra!

Her friend Jackson is right in front of her, also in light pants

It was nice because then we knew where she was standing. Or so we thought. Turns out, in the actual parade they switched formations for the marching, and then switched back right before their performance at Harold's Square. We didn't know that until after the parade- during the parade we were like, "where is she?!?"

Afterwards we headed back into the city. We wanted to see the balloons getting blown up- along with the rest of the USA. The line was 4 hours! We kept walking and walking and could never see the end, so we finally gave up- and I'm glad we did. Very few things in life are worth a 4 hour wait.

We grabbed some pizza, which all of us except Claire loved.

We ended up going back to Central Park and walking around the city some more. We knew we wanted to get a good night's sleep, so it worked out well.

Ben was excited to ride the subway. Claire said it's "sketch" and she was worried about it, but it was fine

Here we are trying to find the end of the never ending line

Ben loved that the cops use a Mustang

Here I am finishing the NYC marathon

Here's the girls riding the Central Park Carousel

This is another band mom, Midge. We became friends and she came with us on some of our excursions as she was on her own. Her son Christian played the cymbols, but Audra never met him

Colbert show

Ed Sullivan Theater

Some pretty Christmas decorations.New York knows how to do Christmas!

Finally they got the scaffolding down

We had seen these french cream stuffed donuts several times and finally got them.  They looked better than they tasted.

Then, we went to bed early, ready for the Main Event: The Parade!

New York Day 4: Rockefeller Center and Central Park

 I went back and forth on whether or not we should ice skate at Rockefeller Center. It was expensive, and we aren't huge into ice skating- once a year is enough for us. And how cool could it be?

VERY cool, it turns out! In the end, I took the advice of a friend who said "You'll never be in NYC at Christmas time again. Do all the Christmas things!"

I'm so glad we did! It wasn't just cool- it was absolutely magical. Even though the scaffolding was up in order to decorate the tree, it was still incredible. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as we skated around for an hour.

Inside 30 Rock

This is just outside the rink, looking toward Saks

That's the tree, buried under the scaffolding

We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral- so gorgeous- and lit some candles for friends who lost their husbands this year. Claire and Camille did not appreciate the beauty, so we do not need to take them to Europe ;)

Claire really wanted to go inside Saks so we did, but she quickly said, "mom, we don't belong here." Truth.

This was in their window display, so it was cool to see a life size version, too.

This may have been the girls (and Ben's) favorite: The Nintendo Store

They have a massive gaming screen

Pizza #2. We all agreed this wasn't good. The crust was super thick.

The New York Public Library!

This is the original Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals!!!! I was SOOOOO excited to see them and I was not disappointed! What an awesome thing to be able to see!

Charles Dickens' writing desk

This is George Washington's farewell address written in his own hand.

An original Gutenberg Bible

Look at that mural! I'm not quite sure what the New York Public Library is because there's not really any books. I asked a library worker and she said it's now more of a National Historical Monument. It's so beautiful! Definitely reminds me of Europe.

Claire liked this side of Manhattan

But not this side

We headed over to Central Park, but by this time it started to rain. We decided to take a pedi cab with an electric bike. This was a GREAT decision! We all LOVED it! He had a nice warm blanket for us, and he drove us all around Central Park showing us all the sights. It was wonderful! Bonus: We stayed dry!

The Friends fountain:

This is where John Lennon lived. He was shot right outside these doors.

This is a memorial to him:

Camille was very excited to buy this hat:

Dinner at Potbelly's

And we got these super cute mini muffins because this is a pretty famous place. They were delicious!

The wooden stairs at Macy's- I went back to get an ornament Audra wanted

And then we got the best news we could imagine: WE WON THE RAFFLE! We got grand stand seating for the parade!!! We were jumping up and down with joy (OK, Ben and I were). I still can't believe we won- I started singing "I've got a golden ticket!" everywhere we went!

But, it did throw off our plans for Wednesday. We had plans for Claire and I to go to the temple, but had to switch it up because we now needed to be at Audra's rehearsal in New Jersey to pick up the tickets. We didn't want to split up, and since Camille can't quite yet go to the temple, it was always a weird thing for us to plan, so going to the temple sadly had to be dropped from our plans. I was bummed, maybe it was Satan who won the tickets for us, I don't know. We will try again next time when Camille can go, too.

At any rate, Ben and I were up until 11 PM trying to decide what to do- should I take a taxi with some other ladies who were going? Should Ben and Camille go so Claire and I could still go to the temple? Should Ben and Claire go to the temple? It was a tough decision, and in the end we had to trust our gut and we decided to all go. And it was definitely the right decision!