NYC in a day

I feel like I've been beat up with a bat-like substance. And not the flying kind, either. My thighs think that Suzanne Sommers has something against them. Turns out that you don't really need a torture device to squeeze between your knees to feel the burn. All you need is to believe that your train, which happens to be four city blocks away, leaves at 6:15, instead of the 6:50 actual time.

And do this after spending the entire day walking down Fifth Avenue from Central Park to Times Square, visiting all the relevant toy stores along the way.

But, seriously, the kids had a blast. We rode the train into Grand Central Station, got metro cards for each of us, and hit the subway running. Our goal was to make it to FAO Schwartz in time for opening ceremonies. Unfortunately, we were just a few minutes late. But Caleb enjoyed the giant piano that was in the movie Big.

Hailey was completely blown away in the American Girl Store. She had a hard time at first, wishing she could have a new doll. But $90 for a doll was not in our budget, and she only had $30 of her own. So I convinced her to buy some body wash that was going out of circulation, and on sale for four dollars. That way she could have a bag to carry around from the store.

We ate at a little side cafe next to a park where we picked up a geocache. There is a piece of the Berlin Wall in a park on 53rd street, and someone has hidden a cache there. It didn't take long to find it, and we had some nice photo ops.

The kids watched the icescaters for a few minutes before we moved on to Nintendo World, where Caleb was in heaven. Hailey and I found a corner to sit in while he played Wii for as long as his little heart desired.

Toys R Us was a big hit, as expected. Caleb accidentally left his brand new Transformer in the store, and we didn't realize it until we were getting on the subway a block and a half away. Shawn was ready to let it go, but I asked him to please go back and see if, by some miracle, it was still there. It was.

We made it to the Staten Island Ferry in time to ride past the Statue of Liberty, taking pictures and video along the way. Some nice people even took our picture.

When we got back to Manhattan, we rushed to a bus which took us four blocks from Grand Central. But, we had to run to make the 6:15. And we made it! Somehow making it with seconds to spare lost something when I realized that we actually had 35 minutes to burn.

Tumbling into bed, and not moving a muscle all night long, I am really sore today. It's a good thing laundry and packing for a 21.5 hour trip isn't physically taxing. I don't think I could do any more today, if I tried.