Vacation!

We just returned from a week out east visiting my sister and brother-in-law.  They live near New York City so we were able to spend a day there.  We also headed to the Jersey Shore for a beach day.  The kids always have a blast when we're out there!

As soon as we arrived at their house the kids were able to play with their 1 yr old "cousin" Lambeau. Madeline and Duncan desperately want a dog.  We visited a very nice pet store while there.  It's a good thing Eric wasn't with us or I'm sure we'd have brought home a dog. 

 Duncan and Autie Kim

 Lambeau

We had planned to go to the shore on Tuesday but Duncan seemed to have some sort of virus so we held off.  We made it to the beach on Wednesday.  Rain was threatening but we had a really good time.  The main objective at the beach was shell collection.  Madeline has a business selling sea shells.  She was low on stock so the beach was a priority this trip.  Or course they wanted to play in the sand too.

 Looking for sea shells

 sand castle building

 At one point some military planes flew really low right over the beach.  That was a little nerve wracking. I think the entire beach went silent when this happened.

Duncan loved the foot wash station.  I think he would have spent the entire day there if we let him!

On Friday we headed into the City.  All of us had our first experience on the NYC subway.  It was gross!  Everyone was packed in like sardines.  It was also very hot underground waiting for the train.  The first train we got on was going the wrong way.  We had to then cross then street and enter on the other side.  Let's just say we didn't ride the subway again.  The EL in Chicago is so much easier and not nearly as hot! So, we rode the subway to Columbus circle and then had to find our way around Central Park. Our first mission was to find the Balto statue.  Madeline had read about Balto last year and fell in love with him.  She's been planning this activity for almost a year.

 We then happened upon a neat little playground.

 We kept walking and found a pool with remote control boats.

 Captain Duncan

 Uncle Chris, kids, and Grandma

 Grandma even got a turn.

 Because he's cute.

 Alice in Wonderland

We finished up Central Park and decided to find FAO Swartz.  It was a long walk almost back to where we started.  Neither of the kids have seen the movie Big yet but when they do they'll be glad we found this.

The store is massive.  We used to have one in Chicago but it wasn't nearly this big.  We could have spent all day here.  After the piano we found the Lego section.

The kids each got to pick out a couple of toys.  It was a very hard decision.  We then headed out for our next adventure.  Top of the Rock!  This was another mile or so away.  We did a lot of walking.  Top of the Rock is in the Rockefeller Center.  The elevator ride up is really neat.  The ceiling is glass so you can see the elevator structure along with disco lights the entire way.  The ride to the 67th floor takes 45 seconds.  There are 3 levels of the observation deck.

 1st level

 2nd level

 Top of the Rock!

 Sibling Love ;)

 Favorite Smile

We were wiped out after our long trek through New York.  We took it easy and just enjoyed family the rest of our visit.  I think Madeline is already planning the activities for our next visit.  I'm sure it will include a visit to the Statue of Liberty and maybe some whale watching.