New York City

Some really good friends live in NYC and Josie and I (and Tim on a few occasions) have been lucky enough to get to take advantage of their generosity and hospitality quite a few times over the past 3 years. Josie talks about the trips for weeks prior and weeks after. She loves the public transportation we usually take to get there (trains, planes, and buses)! She loves the subway and "really tall" buildings. Mostly, though, I think she loves visiting her buddy Colman (who is the same age as her) and his little brother Blake.

Our last trip was no exception. My friends have made the decision to leave the city by the end of the year and raise their ever-growing family closer to where we grew up. I am excited for them to be able to afford to buy a house and purchase milk for less than $6, but I am sad we won't have the wonderful 'home' feel for future visits as we will have to stay in a box-sized hotel versus a comfortable two-bedroom apartment. So, several of our college classmates decided it was time for a group trip to the city.

The weather was lousy - it POURED pretty much the entire time we were there. While it put a damper on our plans of walking, walking, walking, it didn't damper our spirits. We still had a wonderful time hanging out, catching up, watching the kids reunite, and trudging our way around the (wet) city - mostly via public transportation (did I mention the 45 mph winds?!?!).

Our trip, in pictures (well, some of it as I didn't take the camera out in the rain too much!):

Waiting for our train in Philly (they look pretty chipper for 6-something in the morning!):

Day 1: While Tara stood in line in the pouring rain to score us some tickets to Fela, Tim, Kelly and I took the kiddos to Toys R Us to enjoy a ride on the big ferris wheel:

Close up of the riders:

On Saturday, during the torrential downpours and 45 mph winds, we decided to check out the Museum of Natural History. While it was crowded beyond belief (understandably), the kids still loved it. The dinosaurs were a hit:

Josie even thought she was funny and tried the "look like you are holding the dinosaur" trick:

The rain let up, a little bit, Saturday early evening. So, while Jeff stayed home and slaved over a hot stove (thanks for the yummy meal, Jeff!), the rest of the group shuffled our way down to Times Square to get a touristy event under our belts!

Josie and friends at the top of the new, big red stairs - smack dab in the middle of Times Square:

Group shot:

Looking out into Times Square from the top of the steps/platform:

Josie and Maddie, drying out and sharing some love in the M&Ms store:

After dinner, we had a mini-celebration for Tim's birthday with a huge, yummy cupcake from Crumbs Bakery:

Due to a last minute trip and a complete stroke of luck, we shared a train ride back to Philly with most of our friends (including our hosts who were heading out on a trip of their own). So, Josie and Colman got to hang out a little bit longer. Aren't they adorable?!? :

What a great trip and fun with such good friends! Thank you, again, Tara and Jeff, for being ever-gracious hosts!