Monday, August 3, 2009

Statue of Liberty

I've got so much to post in the next while! We had a wonderful trip to the US, spending tons of time with Grammie and Grandpa Bond, time with Nathan, and we visited some fun stuff. I'm going to start with the end of our trip -- a few days in New York City. Nathan and I heart NY, so we had a lovely time. The kids enjoyed it, too, but it was obvious that after a month away from home, they were ready to get back to Prague. It's hard to be away from your own bed for so long!
This picture cracks me up. I couldn't get them to look at me because they were so busy watching the signs in Times Square. It was E's favorite place in NYC. She loves to have fun stuff to look at. The kids liked the M&Ms TV the best. We went into ToysRUs and wished we hadn't. Cool to see the indoor ferris wheel, but such a crush!
Happy baby at a park close to our hotel. We lucked out with the hotel -- Nathan did the research and booked us into a suite at the Lucerne in midtown. As it happens, I spent a couple of weeks in the Lucerne some years ago when I was doing some work training. I highly recommend it, especially for families. Walking distance to the Manhattan Children's Museum and the National Museum of Natural History. And a Chipotle, hee hee.
Bedraggled -- it poured in the afternoon a couple of times and we got caught. Again, E loved it. Rain is exciting! The big kids thought it was fun as well.
The pretty lady herself. We took a boat trip to see her, and it's definitely worth it. Some things are really powerful in person and the Statue of Liberty is one of them. Our guide on the boat was hilarious. He sounded like a radio announcer and kept up a fast-paced banter about NY and the US of A for much of the trip. It brought home to me how much New Yorkers think of themselves as the epitome of Americans -- in Texas, tourist info is all about being Texan, but in New York, it's all about being American. An interesting difference.
Dinosaurs! The museum of Natural History was amazing. Most impressive were the dinosaurs (many, many of them) and the blue whale. Huge, or kuge if you prefer V's description. I'm really glad we made it this year. We fly in and out of JFK to get to the grandparents' house, and it seemed a shame to be so close to all the dinosaurs and not visit while the kids are excited about them.

1 comment:

Susan said...

Awesome photos and interesting comments. It's cool that New Yorkers think they represent America, but I'm glad there's a lot more to the US than NYC just as I'm glad there's a lot more to France than Paris. I agree that Texans are all about Texas but I don't think anything's going to change that. It's just part of its wonderfulness.