Then it was off to New York City!!

Like many others, traveling to The Big Apple had always been on my list of things to do.  You catch glimpses of the city on the Today show or my favorite, Project Runway, and you get the grand tour when watching a Woody Allen movie.  I know people who have visited NYC before and even a few friends of mine have lived there... and LOVED it.  So we made it a point to swing in for a day to see it for ourselves... I just never thought I'd be experiencing it with two kids in tow.

Not knowing what to expect in such a large city, I could feel my anxiety getting the best of me as we got closer and closer.  We entered the tunnel and when we came out on the other side, we were smack dab in the middle of a traffic jam amongst the hustle and bustle.  People were everywhere, skyscrapers filling the blue sky, and yellow taxi cabs and city buses filled the city streets.  Scott and I looked at each other and said, "what in the hell are we doing here?!"

It was right then and there that we realized NYC wasn't for us, but we decided to drive our ridiculously large, diesel truck through the city to find a parking garage and explore the city for a few hours.

Central Park was practically across the street from where we parked, so that was where we headed.  It was the beginning of the epic heat wave that hit the east coast, so finding some shade among the tall trees sounded like a good idea.  Scott and the girls ate a street vendor hot dog while we all sat on a park bench and observed the people passing by.

I still wish we would've gotten a drawing of Maria and Ginger together, but getting them to sit still long enough kept us from doing so.  It would've been a nice souvenir, but instead we got Maria an I ❤ NY t-shirt and another for her cousin Luke.

We continued to mosey around the park when we came across the place where city dwellers play chess.  I asked these two men if I could take their picture and they happily obliged. :)  I would've been so mad at myself if I wouldn't have asked, considering it's a scene you often times see in movies... but this time I was seeing it for myself.  LOVE!

We intended to venture further into the city and check out the east village to do some shopping, but ornery children and extreme heat got the best of us.  We decided to grab an icy cold treat and head back to the truck.

I know that our time would've been more enjoyable if we had more than one afternoon to explore such a large city.  The heat was hard to handle and keeping track of two small children made everything more stressful.

Perhaps a few years down the road we'll get another opportunity to come here and check out what else NYC has to offer, but for right now I think we'll live the city vicariously through some really great movies.