On Wednesday, we met our friend, Mark, and went to the Central Park zoo and admired a polar bear. Then we tried our first knish. Olivia didn't love it, but Ian did. Olivia's favorite thing about NY this time is the pigeons. She just "oohs" and "ahhs" over all of them at their "patterins" and colors. She constantly wants Bryce to take pictures of them.
On Thursday, Bryce worked downtown while the rest of us window shopped and walked- for 7 hours. We went on the Central Park Carousel which was surprisingly fast and so much fun. We visited some real horses with their handsome cabs and met a man named Emil, a Russian, I think, who took a picture of the kids and drew it for us over the afternoon. We went up and down and all around the park while he worked--to the turtle pond, the Swedish Cottage, the Dairy, the Belvedere Castle, and the Great Lawn, where Ian enjoyed getting all dirty crawling around. He couldn't stand one more minute in his stroller.
Friday was a fabulous family day. We started out by going to the ponds where we rented a row boat. We bundled up and glided over the water and found neat alcoves and saw beautiful bridges and changing leaves. We spotted some turtles and we let Olivia climb out of the boat onto a rock to touch one. It was the highlight of her day.
We started Saturday out with tea and scones at Alice's Tea Cup. The pumpkin scone with warm caramel was the best thing I've ever tasted! Olivia got to wear fairy wings and was sprinkled with pixie dust. We shared some rose and lemon tea, and then Bryce took my place and I walked with sleeping Ian. It was a fun date. We all went on the subway for the first time on this trip and got off at the Brooklyn Bridge. We had fun walking across the water and seeing the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building from the bridge. It was super windy and started to rain on our way back, so we headed home and rested for the evening.
Sunday was a lot of fun. We were out walking around for 12 hours! We walked to the West side to go to the Natural History Museum. There is an amazing room with a life-size blue whale and all kinds of sea creatures and a ceiling that looks like moving water above you. I love that place! We met up with Mark again and had lunch and I decided that I like the architecture on the West Side better than the East, but the East has nicer shops. We made our way down to the south side of the park and then over to Dylan's Candy Bar where Olivia picked out a dollar's worth of candy which ended up in a dirty mud puddle. Then we walked another 30 blocks to an Ethiopian restaurant where Ian tried his first bread. He had fun being a big boy.
On Monday, we did tons more walking and went back to Dylan's for replacement candy. Tuesday was a great break. We rented a car and left the big city for the countryside of Pennsylvania. On the way there, driving through New Jersey, we hit a big snowstorm! There were cars in ditches all over the place. I couldn't have been happier...to be surrounded by amazingly gorgeous fall colored trees with the snow falling around me. Loved it. Pennsylvania was beautiful. I would love to have a back yard like the ones I saw there, surrounded by thick woods of deciduous trees. Absolutely lovely.
My greatest quest on this trip to NY was to find New York's very best cupcake. We had to try 4 different cupcake bakeries to find the perfect one. It seemed that we'd have to settle for Buttercup Bakery, but then, just hours before we were to head to the airport, we found it....the West Side's Crumbs. Ahh. My mission was complete. It was a good vacation. But I have to say, I am glad I live in Denver.
