The Best Gift any Mom Could Wish For....

Today when I came home from a busy morning, my kitchen was meticulously cleaned to a high sparkling level. Madi was so kind to surprise me today. Cleaning the kitchen is a daily chore (mostly hourly) and it's so nice when it's just magically done! I'm so grateful for this BIG favor - it really made my day! 

Mid-Week Visit to see Alli

Snow Hall - Alli's apartment in the background

Alli and Madi made a plan to spend 1.75 hours together yesterday. Somehow I believe Madi was just looking for an excuse to miss school. The plan worked and I came along.  The drive up to Logan was an adventure with Mads. She brought the ipad and we made a "Would You Rather" video on the way up, sang Wicked songs at the top of our lungs, and joined in some very meaningful conversation. The time cruised by. Too bad we were in such a time crunch to return by 2:40 to pick up girls at school and get to dance by 3:15.

Alli was so excited to take a break from classes and studying for finals. Noodles and Company was where we went for a fun girls lunch. Good Times!

Okay, part of the biggest reason for our visit was to bring Alli's new camera up!

Alli sent me this picture today - She is overjoyed with her new purchase and it was so worth taking it up to her! I mean just look at this face!

Finally, to the Empire State Building & Central Park

It's our last full day in New York City and we finally made it to the top of the Empire State Building! We have been watching the top from all angles below hoping for the clouds and fog to disappear. Today (Saturday) brought perfect visibility! In fact, I don't think it could get any better than this!A perfect view of the Crysler Building with the Brooklyn Bride in the background. Seeing these places up high and knowing we have already been there makes seeing them even more meaningful.Crowds were an understatement today. Everyone must have been thinking like us and waiting for the "Best" day to go up on top. We had to weasel our way to the edge to lookout, but we did it! We had to get these girls up here. So happy the sky cooperated for them to see these magnificent views!These two girls have been charming to travel with! They were up for anything and everything no matter how much effort it required. Another group selfie with Lower Manhattan in the background. If you could really zoom in you could see the Statue of Liberty in the harbor.Freedom Tower - Statue of Liberty - Ellis IslandGrimaldi's Pizzeria was a hit - a new favorite pizza place!

The weather was the best today, so after lunch we ventured to Central park, rented bikes and biked for 3 hours. What a great way to see the entire park. Spring break was apparent here with many people taking advantage of being outside on the warmest day so far.

We hiked up to the huge reservoir - lots of really cool things to see in this park.

So this happened somewhere in the middle of Central Park - Enjoying the sunshine and getting in a little nap! But, really who has time for that? Let's go!

Off we go to see the north/west side of the park.

My sister in law, Michelle made a suggestion for us not to miss! Levain Bakery Cookies were the most delicious cookies EVER! Oh, they were served hot right out of the oven too! Sara got Milk Chocolate Chip, Derek chose Oatmeal Raisin, Madi decided on Dark Chocolate Chocolate and I ordered Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. So now my mouth is watering and I'm wishing we could go again. (Well, we did go back before heading to the airport). Thanks, Michelle for the great idea...Our new favorite bakery in Manhatten!

That night we saw Matilda. It was clever and awesome! Matilda's voice was unbelievably perfectly clear. Miss Truchable was so hilarious and we really enjoyed it.

I had to include a photo of our New York 'to do list' started by Derek and a few more things added as the week progressed.

With so much to see and do here, spring break in the Big Apple was definitely busy and memorable!

Another Great Day in The Big Apple

 Future model?  She is poised and has the right expression....haha.

It's unusual to find any flowers amongst all the tall buildings and asphalt. Madi was the crafty photographer of flowers whenever she found them.

 

She looks like she fits right in -- Madi on Madison Ave!

NYC Library - I can't remember if I've ever been inside before. It's amazing inside with all the beautiful marble.  Scenes from the Ghostbuster movie kept coming into our minds while walking around.

 Murals on the ceiling...

 Sara's favorite - fruit tart and we all had to try the yummy Black and White Cookies - It's a tradition!

 Busy as always....GRAND CENTRAL STATION...such a fantastic building with everyone going millions of different ways.

Derek is the ultimate NYC tour guide...He keeps everyone going towards the right trains and moving in the right direction. He was made for big city life!

Next we made it to China Town and as usual there was tons of stuff for sale. So many deals to be made and we were invited into every shop. I don't know how they can tell, but we must have 'Tourist' written all over us.

As we were walking through Little Italy, the girls thought these murals would make great backgrounds for photos!

 

 These shoes have seen alot of miles...

Somehow we ended up just 6 blocks from this deli...hmmmm...was this planned by someone? This is one of Derek's favorite places and it was just as crowded as ever. 

Not sure what was so funny...some of the BEST smiles! 

This has been here forever - The Famous Katz's Deli!

 Back on the subway and off to the nine story Macey's with authentic wooded escalators...

 The closet Sara got to the Statue of Liberty...

The closest they came to buying this 5 lb Hershey's Bar...

Madi's in the middle of the huge Times Square billboard. She loved finding the camera and watching it focus in on her.

Can you find us? We're all in this picture somewhere...

We also found the NYPD - They were pretty serious about smiling NOT.