New York City!

Last weekend, John Grayson and I flew to New York City to visit his godmother, Aunt Sarah, and to see all the sights the city had to offer. John Grayson was so excited about going to "NEW YORK CITY!!!" (he always said all three words, very clearly, with lots of enthusiasm). We were supposed to fly directly from Richmond to NYC, but there was horrible weather up north, so our flight was canceled. We ended up flying from Richmond to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to NYC. We arrived several hours later than we should have (7pm vs. 1pm), but JGray was a doll on both flights. He especially loved the onboard satellite television on the flight from Atlanta to NYC. JGray couldn't have cared less about our canceled flight---he was actually thrilled to be able to fly on two airplanes in one day! He was even more excited for the cab ride into the city. He jumped up and down in the line for the cab stand and seemed in awe of the cab riding experience.

Since we only had one day for sightseeing, Sarah and I created an ambitious plan of attack. Luckily, Sarah's husband JT was able to spend the day with their 1 year old daughter Bea (who JGray adored and keeps saying that he's going to marry someday). We (JGray, Sarah, and I) left the apartment around 10am and headed out for the day. He brought Bea's stroller with us because I knew JGray would poop out if he had to walk the entire time and (1) I was not interested in carrying him around the city; (2) nor was I interested in losing him somewhere on a busy street. John Grayson loved the stroller. I think he thought it was cool to have a prime spot for sightseeing.

It was sunny so JGray borrowed Sarah's extra sunglasses. Don't they look fashionable??

Our first stop was the NYC Fire Museum in the Lower East Side. The building was an old fire station and they displayed new and old fire trucks and equipment.

First stop---the NYC Fire Museum!

JGray kept asking if this was a "real" fireman

Trying on a real oxygen mask

Our next stop was the American Museum of National History to see dinosaur bones. He carried his model T-Rex around the museum and knew every dinosaur that he saw. Sarah and I had a lot of trouble keeping up because he jumped from dinosaur to dinosaur. We also saw sharks and whales and other wild animals. It was hard not to have fun when it was so obvious that JGray was having a blast.

JGray had so much fun on the subway!

Waiting patiently to go into the museum

Telling Aunt Sarah all about the animals

T-Rex!!!!!

JGray ran across the exhibit to point out his favorite sea lizard, dunkleosteus. And yes, he knew the name without any prompting and pronounced it perfectly!

After leaving the dinosaurs, we were starving (or at least Sarah and I were starving). As luck would have it, there was a vendor outside the museum, so we had hot dogs and soft pretzels for lunch. We walked across the street from the museum and ate lunch in the park. Saturday was such a beautiful day and it was great to be able to relax and enjoy the sunshine.

JGray and his Aunt Sarah having lunch in the park

JGray and I after our yummy lunch

After lunch, we decided to take John Grayson to see Times Square, which is quite a distance from Central Park. Since the weather was so great, Sarah and I decided to walk it and show JGray some more sights in the city. Our first stop in Times Square was M&M World. What a crazy store! Everything M&M that you could possibly imagine. We decided to stick with candy. John Grayson wanted green and blue M&Ms. He wanted to get the candy himself, but left the slot open a little too long. The end result was over a pound of candy, which JGray loved!

JGray chilling in the stroller with a very blue mouth from his M&Ms

After Times Square, John Grayson was eager to see even more of New York City. What visit to the big city would be complete without seeing the Statue of Liberty. We took the Staten Island Ferry and got the most incredible views of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty. John Grayson loved riding on a boat and was such a trooper on a very long day.

JGray on the Staten Island Ferry

Statue of Liberty from the ferry

We ended our busy day of sightseeing with pizza at Sarah and JT's apartment. We had a little time to play with Bea on Sunday morning so Sarah and I took the kids to a nearby park. It was freezing but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Bea and JGray at the park. Aren't they adorable together?!?!

JGray teaching Bea to go down the big slide

My sweet sweet boy

Sarah and Bea

10 years after college graduation, and we've traded NYC shopping weekends for all day sightseeing trips and early morning park play dates. I wouldn't want it any other way!