Two weeks after we got our Covid vaccines, we booked our first flight out of town as fast as we could. We were so excited to travel again, and couldn't wait to bring Owen on his first big adventure! Because international travel still wasn't an option, we knew there was only one place to go...New York City.
The plane ride from SGU ---> NYC couldn't have been better. Baby O had no problem snuggling and sleeping the whole way there. He loved the one-on-one attention, and I was beyond happy to oblige. And of course, Auggie was his usual happy self, full of excitement and good vibes! Auggie was especially well-behaved when we gave him a very large lollipop that took him a very, very long time to eat. :) We couldn't be more grateful for our two travel champs.
That first subway ride with our little family made my heart swoon. It was a total rush of emotions...nostalgia, magic, love, excitement, happiness, fun. It was #allthefeels. Being back on that Bronx Bound Number 1 train was everything I needed!
We have been reading Auggie a lot of books about New York, so he already knew most of the sights before we arrived. It was the best watching his reaction as he recognized all the sights we'd read about! We created the most epic NYC touristy to-do list, and it was go-go-go from the minute we landed. He wanted to see everything from his books, right down to eating lunch at the hot dog and pretzel carts.
{Staten Island Ferry}
It's my opinion that the Staten Island Ferry is the most fun way to see the Statue of Liberty. This was a great start to the weekend!
{Museum of Natural History}
There has only been one time that Auggie has agreed to wear a mask, and it was our day at the Natural History Museum. 364 days this last year, he has refused...but not this day! It was New York City, and he was not going to miss out on his chance to see that giant whale. And he'll tell you all day long that it was worth it. He loved every minute of that museum, most especially the giant whale.
After a tasty Thai dinner (picturesque outdoor seating, of course!), we meandered through Chinatown towards the Brooklyn Bridge. It was getting late, but these kids were troopers...there is nothing like a late night traipse across the Brooklyn Bridge to look back over your shoulder and see the glowing New York City skyline, with a thousand twinkling lights, dancing across the water. Wow. Worth every tired step.
{The Met}
This. This was fun. We'd been reading art books with Auggie, so he knows a lot of famous art pieces and who painted them. We had no idea that he would get such a kick out of the museum though! He was an absolute riot. The first room we walked into, Auggie ran up to a museum worker and asked, "Do you have any Degas? I really want to see the ballerinas!". For the rest of the afternoon, Auggie buzzed around the museum excitedly identifying every painting as a Monet. Does it get any better?
Baby O was such a trooper throughout the whole trip, going with the flow and hardly complaining. Even after a long day, he was all smiles at the top of the Empire State Building. This little squish face from the observation deck is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I'm so glad we get to explore with our two minis! They are so much fun.
{Central Park & CP Zoo}
The Central Park Zoo was one of the unexpected highlights, thanks to the sea lions and penguins. We all loved them and stayed until the zoo closed. Afterward, we walked across the park to meet some friends for sushi at Columbus Circle. What a way to end an evening in the city. Dinner was wonderful on many levels, but mostly because Auggie loved all the raw sushi...most of the rolls that Don and I won't even eat. Proud of our adventurous little eater!
{Early morning run with BYU friend, Jenna}
{FAO Schwarz}
FAO Schwarz was a must-see because of how much we'd read about it in our NYC books. We caved right as we walked in and let Auggie buy a stuffed animal. Of course, he chose the brightest, most outrageous hot orange animal he could find. After an hour of entertaining toys, we made it to the Big Piano. Even little Owen enjoyed dancing on the keys! I keep wanting to say that this was another highlight, but that's just silly because New York is one big highlight.
{Empire State Building}
The city made some changes in the tour since we'd last been to the Empire State Building, namely a pretty wild King Kong room 😂. The "windows" are all screens that play a loop as King Kong tries to break into the building. Its' pretty realistic, and it's definitely one of the most memorable moments for Auggie. We heard about King Kong for weeks.
{Times Square}
Taking Auggie to New York is hands-down one of the best decisions we've ever made. It was an absolute blast, and every time Auggie recognized something famous from his books, it made the whole trip worth it over and over again. But this trip was also for Owen and here's why.
When Auggie was five months old, we took him to Italy and France where we snapped the most perfect pictures of us holding Auggie high in front of the Eiffel Tower. To this day they are some of the most special pictures we have. Since then, we promised ourselves that we would give every child an iconic five month experience just as special.
When Owen came along in the middle of Covid, it broke my heart that we wouldn't be able to travel with him, for this reason! But thank you, thank you, vaccine. Even though we still couldn't travel internationally, we knew that New York City would be every bit as magical as Paris. And it was.
So there we were, Times Square. And this moment was all about Owen. Holding our perfectly squishy bb #2 up in front of those iconic Times Square lights. We had been planning this moment since before Owen was born.
Pandemic or not, we made sure Owen got his wings! And his very special, perfect pictures too.
No comments:
Post a Comment