The Morgans Take Manhattan

The Concrete Jungle was AMAZING!  I am forever in awe of the aptly monikered city and can't begin to fathom how all of those buildings came to be.  It seems like the only logical explanation is that tectonic plates rubbed together for millions of years and, like mountains,  forced the towering buildings into existence (I'm pretty sure that's how mountains are formed so I think it'd would make sense that that's how the city came to be but something tells me I'm wrong on at least one of those counts).

It was so neat to watch Clay (and Jim) take in all of the sights and sounds of the city.  I was surprised at how happily Clay took it all in.  Jim and I were prepared to be dealing with a baby who had mega sensory overload but that was never the case.  If Clay got tired he just went to sleep.  (This definitely makes me realize that I can do so much more with Clay at home in Dallas).

We did so much in NYC so I'll do a quick list of most everything that the saw but there are pictures below of some of the more standout parts of our visit:  Saw tons of stores and their "fantabulous" window displays (The Dior store was under construction but even its construction partition was amazing - it was covered in a high def image of a quilted leather Dior bag that looked so real that even Jim marveled at how cool it was), Broadway, The Late Show, Hello Deli, Time Square, The NYE ball, Toys R Us, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts (Yes, both of those are in Dallas and pretty much everywhere else too but since they are on every corner we partook in the apparent tradition), Central Park, Central Park Zoo, The Plaza, CBS Studios, FAO Schwarz, The Apple Store, Serendipity, Bloomingdales, Time/Life Building, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Plaza, Rockefeller Observation Deck, 30 Rock, Random House Publishing, Ichan Stadium, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and loads more!

We walked along Broadway to get to dinner on our first night and passed all kinds of landmarks including the Late Show and Hello Deli.

Eating dinner at John's Pizzeria.  I'd been there before when I went to NYC for work and knew we had to go there as a family.  The pizza (brick oven) and salads are amazing and the restaurant is an old cathedral so it has all kinds of charm.  Oh, something that wasn't too charming (but quite comical) was the lack of a changing table in the bathroom.  I tried improvising by propping my leg up on the top of the trashcan, turning Clay away from me and then use my leg as the changing table.  It was at that moment that Clay decided to play "rain bird" so that got even more interesting "REAL" fast!

On our walk to dinner we got mistaken for New Yorkers.  I think it had everything to do with "what idiot takes a baby to New York for vacation" but I still felt very cool. 

At Toys R Us, T-Rex is my favorite dino (other than the Snugglesaurus who lives in our house) so we HAD to take a picture!

Around Time Square

Around Time Square

Without a highchair, feeding a baby rice cereal with one hand while holding him on my lap with the other got just a wee bit messy.

Getting his bottle before bed.  I think both of my guys were a little tired of the paparazzi that followed them around.

Clay and me grabbing a bite to eat before we toured the zoo.  I L-O-V-E the expression on his face in this picture.  He was pretty much this happy and sweet the entire trip!

Daddy and Clay by the sea lions.

Clay wanted to be the navigator during our trip to the zoo at Central Park so he took the map from Daddy.

Jim and Clay look at the Monkeys at the zoo inside Central Park.

Clay and me outside of The Plaza Hotel.  We also saw CBS studios and the Apple store right after this.

Me on the piano from "Big" at FAO Schwarz.  I had fun dancing around on the piano.

Jim and Clay in the Lego section of FAO Schwarz.  Clay was asleep the entire time; don't think we'll get out of a toy store for that cheap for much longer!

After trying to go to Serendipity for their famous frozen hot chocolate (we got there only to find out "No Strollers Allowed"), we turned around and hit up Dylan's Candy Bar.  It's a modern day, real life Willie Wonka Chocolate Factory owned by Ralph Lauren's daughter.  The store is wall papered in bright rainbow images of candy, decorated with couture dresses made of candy, has tables with candy inside of them, stools made to look like peppermints, and the songs blaring from the speakers are ALL candy related!  Downstairs is a candy shop and upstairs is a bakery/soda shop/ice cream parlor.  I got a root beer float and Clay was wayyyyyyy interested in getting some of it!

Carnegie Hall (we also saw Carnegie Deli)

Jim with Clay at the top of the Rockefeller observation deck.  The view of the city was amazing and the journey to the top was very cool.  We watched a video about NBC and NYC through the years.  Then we took an elevator ride to the top.  The elevator ceiling was glass and had images of New York that were projected as a timeline with the years progressing as you moved to higher floors.



In the interactive light and music room at the top of the Rockefeller observation deck.  Lights and music are activated by your movements, Clay LOVED this.  The more I danced him around in his stroller, the more the lights changed, and the more he laughed.  I finally stopped when I remembered that flashing lights (supposedly) have the ability to induce seizures (and that would have been no bueno).




We passed Random House Publishing multiple times; I was thrilled to see that my favorite author, Sophie Kinsella, is coming out with another Shopaholic book!







Clay had a blast but judging by the smile on his face on our last morning in NYC, he may have been a little bit excited about getting home to his kitty, his crib, and his toys!