"I Want to Wake Up in a City That Never Sleeps..."

I think you either love it or you hate it.

There are people, like my husband, who despise New York City. The crowds, the noise, the smells...Steve thinks it's dirty and sensory-overloading and would be perfectly happy never to set foot in Manhattan again. (Crazy man.)

Then there are people like me, who step off the train at Grand Central Station, walk out onto Park Avenue and have to resist the temptation to bust out *jazz hands!* in glorious delight. I can't even explain it, but that city is in my blood.

Lucky for me, Steve's brother and his wife live just outside the city, one block from a commuter train station that takes you to Manhattan in 30 minutes. Also lucky for me, I have an incredibly selfless husband who agrees to go someplace he does not enjoy because he knows I adore it so much. And then you add in the huge blessing of generous in-laws who invite us to join them on a spring break vacation...YESSSSSS.

We don't get to see Chris, Michelle and baby Olivia all that often, and when we do, the time is often rushed and jam-packed with activity. So it was really nice to have a long weekend with plenty of downtime. We flew out on a Friday, and the plane rides went very smoothly. Elijah did great--here's a (blurry, from Steve's phone) shot of how he occupied much of his time:

The seven of us (Steve's parents, his younger brother, Chris, Michelle and us, not including the two little ones) got to play games, enjoy good food and catch up on conversation. I even got to have some fun girl time with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law at a Ladies' Night their church hosted. We also were thrilled that Elijah and Olivia (who are a year and two weeks apart) loved each other. It was fun to watch them interact.

Then on Monday, we all took a trip into The City. After arriving at Grand Central Station, we walked up Fifth Avenue to Rockefeller Center. We posed for a family photo in front of the plaza...

...and on Top of the Rock (that's the Empire State Building in the background):

As you can see, both my brother-in-law and I are rocking the Ergos. Totally, totally indispensible on this trip. I don't know how we would live without ours.

Here's another Top of the Rock photo, with Central Park in the background:

After our very windy morning up there, we grabbed lunch, and my mother-in-law bought Elijah an awesome hat. I have every intention of brainwashing him :)

We spent the rest of the day just wandering around--a (chilly) stroll through Central Park, a subway ride to Times Square (because you can't visit New York and not at least pop into Times Square, if you're going to commit the travesty of not seeing a show...). Here's the Statue of Liberty as seen in Toys R Us, made entirely of Legos:

Then we hopped back on the subway and rode down to Greenwich Village, where we checked out the Strand (motto: 18 miles of books). So not enough time to spend in that overwhelmingly wonderful place. Our time in Manhattan was over not a moment too soon for my poor patient overstimulated husband, and far, far too quickly for me.

And thus concludes our New York City vacation. Here's one last shot of the two older Kannel brothers and their wives and kids, in front of Chris & Michelle's apartment building. We're so grateful for their hospitality and the time we got to spend with them and the rest of the family!