Our "Working Vacation"

Bill and I truly would like to take a vacation after our Spring Break trip to NYC. We had a great time...it was just tiring...LOTS of walking...I never really miss my house when I am away on a trip, but this time I did. I missed the wide open spaces of where we live here in the great state of Texas! We packed in the excitement and adventure and kept pretty busy...Garrett and Christine saw 6 Broadway shows! Grant, Bill and I saw 4...we did see a New York Knicks game and Bill and Grant went to the Big East Conference Basketball Championship game in Madison Square Garden...the Knicks game was there too. We visited Ellis Island and saw Ground Zero. We bought 2-day passes on the double decker sight-seeing buses and had a great time seeing a ton of Manhattan and some of Brooklyn that way...2 downtown loops, one uptown loop and a night loop that took us over the Brooklyn Bridge and into Brooklyn. We walked around SoHo, which we learned stands for SOuth of HOuston Street. I never knew that. We attended church at the Manhattan 1st Ward which is housed in the same building as the Temple...Bill and Christine saw a taping of David Letterman. We all went to a taping of Kelly! Live...that was fun. We ate too much...but I figured the walking offset that...not...:( There were many other things we saw and did...museums, Rockefeller Plaza, Nintendo World, Central Park, FAO Swartz, Stage Deli, etc, etc, etc...It was a great trip...but one we won't be doing again any time soon...:) Although our hotel room was on the 10th floor, we could still hear the traffic loud and clear...we would much rather hear the sound of the ocean:)
Here are some pictures of our adventures...
Our ride to The Salisbury Hotel on 57th Street and 7th Avenue.

Times Square

Front row seats to see "How to Succeed In Business..." with Nick Jonas and Beau Bridges. Our favorite show. We all loved it!

Headed down and out to Brooklyn on a cold Saturday...on the subway.

Church just off of Central Park West...

Hard Rock Cafe Times Square

Loving the New York night time...it was cool and there was tons of energy.

Outside the David Letterman studio...a fun father/daughter memory:)

The Empire State Building lit green for St. Patrick's Day

The Brooklyn Bridge

The family...after seeing downtown and Brooklyn from the top of the bus...a wonderful ride.

Only in New York...a baby grand piano in a fast food joint:) We had lunch in the financial district and "enjoyed" being serenaded by the pianist at McDonald's.

Construction going on at Ground Zero...we couldn't get too close:( You had to have free passes downloaded from the internet...bummer...we were clueless.

Ellis Island

Live! with Kelly Ripa and her co-host for the day Michael Strahan(sp) former NY Giant football player...one big dude!

Fun hats at FAO Swartz

NY Knicks vs Portland TrailBlazers...Madison Square Garden...great fun watching Jeremy Lin #17 and the Knicks win by 42 points!

Yes, I was there too...

Leaving the Garden...what a fun night in the city with 2 of my favorite guys.

American Museum of Natural History(It took a while to get there...turned the wrong way out of the subway...walking, walking...grumbling, grumbling...walked through Central Park and finally arrived---all smiles---NOT! The joys of travel...:)

Rockefeller Plaza

Heaven...I mean Nintendo World!

Grant's birthday lunch at Planet Hollywood...Happy #14!

The M&M store in Times Square...yummo.

Headed to the airport in Newark...they are pooped! Spring Break in NYC...check!

I love chairs:)

I found this at the local thrift shop for a few dollars...like 4:) I thought it had potential.

This is what it looks like now. Not my best work...the fabric situation was tricky. But a definite improvement.