For spring break we went wild and went to New York! We left on Sunday with our friends here at UVA, the Christensens. Sara and Logan have two kids, Jack and Charlotte, and they are Utah bound after school with Logan doing Patent Law. It was so fun to go on vacation with them! We all left together on Sunday and stayed at Michael and Staci's house for the night to help break up the drive.
Monday morning we left, Rochester bound. We made good time even with our crazy kiddos.
We got there a little before 5 and got settled into our hotel, the Hyatt in downtown. We got a great deal on it online and it was a really nice hotel.
We were hungry and walked to a nearby restaurant with the kids, the Dinosaur Bar-B-Q. We were pretty apprehensive at first but it was SO delicious!! If we ever go back we have to remember to get the coleslaw...amazing. It was so great to go with friends that have children because going out to a restaurant can get pretty crazy. Good to be with people who understand and are doing it with you!
Rochester....
It was a dark day but it was really gorgeous there! We were so surprised how big the city was.
Our hotel room was great! Lincoln loved exploring it.
That night we went swimming and it was so fun!
The next day we headed out for Palmyra. It was just a short drive, about 30 minutes, to the Book of Mormon Publication Site. It was incredible to feel the spirit as we drove into that sacred town. We got out and went in to be greeted by darling sister missionaries that I imagined as Andrea. I wish she would have been the one taking us around!
The actual store that the Book of Mormon was published and sold in, the Grandin Building.
The sisters taking us around were so sweet, our kids were crazy! We didn't take strollers in and that was a mistake because the kids ran everywhere! It was fascinating to see how the Book of Mormon was made and how much time it must have taken to print it. So happy it was printed!
Next we went to the Joseph Smith Farm. Lincoln and Jack were so cute outside the building. Jack would say to Lincoln, "Follow me, Lincie!" They are so darling together.
The log home...
The sister taking us around opened the back door of the home and had Brett recite the first vision in portugese. It was awesome.
Can't believe so many kids lived in such a small home!
The upstairs where the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith...
The Palmyra temple overlooking the Sacred Grove, behind us.
Lincoln loved being outside there.
In the frame home this was a replica of the box Joseph would have kept the plates in.
The Sacred Grove.
It was so neat to be in the Sacred Grove around the time of year that Joseph would have gone in the woods to pray. What a wonderful and special place the Sacred Grove is.
Next we were off to the Hill Cumorah. The kids were pretty exhausted at this point so we just went to the top and looked out over the valley. How amazing all of Palmyra is!
We got in the car, made ourselves some lunch (we packed food for all our breakfasts and lunches...this trip was cheap!), and headed for Niagara Falls. Lincoln fell asleep pretty quickly, cute little guy.
To say that Niagara was cold would be an understatement. My phone said it was 32, feels like 12. Needless to say we didn't stay long. It was really beautiful though and it was awesome to see the falls. It was really fun to see them with snow and ice covered though.
For dinner we grabbed some open face sandwiches in Palmyra and ate it up in our hotel rooms...yum!
We all went to bed comletely exhausted. We woke up and were out the door by 7, bound for New York City. We stopped in Scranton, PA in honor of the Office. We went to the Steam town mall and Lincoln got some wiggles out on the their indoor playground and, of course, the stairs.
The train store was really awesome and super detailed.
NYC!!
The man walking away on the corner is the actor from Princess Bride...INCONCEIVABLE!
Driving into New York City is awesome and crazy. It took us a while to get to our hotel...
We got a parking garage right next to our hotel. We couldn't believe how tightly the cars were parked. You pull your car in and take out your stuff and they park it for you. All the cars are just PACKED in there. Really impressive on the drivers part.
We stayed at a 4.5 star hotel, the Mansfield. Our room was really small but it was a great place. We put our stuff in the room, freshened up and were out on the streets exploring.
It was beautiful weather so we went down to Central Park to get Lincoln out of the stroller and run around for a while. It was so gorgeous! So fun to be in a huge park surrounded by huge buildings.
Dogs are always a hit for Linc...
Got our frisbee on...
That night we put Lincoln to sleep, and since our room was so small we had to leave the room shortly for him to fall asleep. We went downstairs to the hotels bar and got some dessert and a salad.
Fun to have a small fun date with Brett while we listen to Lincoln fall asleep on our baby monitor phones ha ha.
The next morning we set off on a walk and ended up at Grand Central Station...
We stopped for lunch at this fabulous Mexican restaurant called Sinigual. It was delicious!
Brett found this great free museum, the Sony Wonder Museum. We went over and spent a couple hours playing there. They had all kinds of electronic games.
The Christensens got to New York around 4 so we went to our new hotel, the Albonquin, and met them there. It was another great hotel and very nice.
We went out and did more exploring...
Times Square...
We went to the diner by our hotel, The Red Flame, probably one of the worst restaurants I have ever been to....After "dinner" we went to bed.
The next day we finished up everything else we wanted to see and FAO Schwartz was one of them. We loved that toy store! So fun to play on the piano and see all the fun toys.
And of course another walk through the park...
We went to the Rockefeller center for lunch, some Potbelly's, and on the way out we went through this magic door....The joys of strollers in NYC.
It was such a fabulous trip, we are so happy we went!
1. Palmyra
2. Niagara Falls
3. NYC
4. GREAT TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!
