The first thing I think of when I hear Greenwich, CT are big houses. I was hoping to visit some really nice neighborhoods and get a feel of how New Englanders live!
We arrived on a Thursday evening. The next day, after Coach came back from a morning of clinics, we headed off to the Greenwich Audubon. Unfortunately, the Nature Center was closed and we ended up just walking around a bit, because of all the snow and ice, but the drive to and from the Audubon was a really nice neighborhood and we were able to see a bunch of New England style homes that made me want to knock on the door and help myself to a snuggle on the couch with a warm blanket in front of the fire.
After being outside for a little bit, my kids kept wanting to go back to the hotel to go swimming in the pool. This was the highlight of their time in Greenwich.
After the clinic was over we headed over to New York City. Since the weather called for rain the whole day, we decided on doing the Children's Museum in Manhattan. I was curious as to how we would manage 6 kids through the streets of NYC. Not to mention parking our big white 12 passenger van.
We found the Children's Museum and a parking garage, but our van was too tall to park in it. So we spent time combing the streets for parking. Eventually, we found a parking space about a mile away from the the museum. The kids didn't mind walking in the rain. I definitely don't mind walking in the rain, but you put 6 kids in the mix - I get a bit more tense about it. I attached Max to me and off we went!
As we approached the museum, I noticed a coffee shop place that instantly looked familiar to me. The first thought in my head was it looked like the coffee shop in the movie, You've Got Mail. You know, the place they decided to meet? I kept staring at it and as I got closer, I saw pictures from the movie in front of the shop. I have watched that movie enough times to know what I was looking at! I took a very blurry shot of that coffee shop with my phone.
We got into line to enter the Children's Museum. The place was crowded since everyone wanted to be indoors out of the rain. There were five floors of activities - all crowded with people. I get a bit nervous about losing track of my 6 kids and losing one. It was also getting very hot so every one's jacket came off and we stuffed them all into a sweatshirt that we ended up dragging around. Joe had to run back to the meter to feed it every two hours.
It seems my older kids are getting too old for these museums. They were slowly getting bored, except for the little ones. We were killing some time since we were going to walk around the block to Holy Trinity Church to hit the vigil Mass. I was happy to leave the museum and head over to the peace and silence of the church. Joe had to run back to the meter again and feed it before Mass.
In the middle of Mass, Max decided to have an explosive diaper which ended up soaking through his clothes - blech! There was no place to change his diaper, so I had to wait till Mass was over. I had to hold him a certain way the whole time so I didn't get it all over me. Joe ran once more back to the car, this time to drive it back to pick us up. As we waited outside, the priest commented how rare it was to see 6 kids walking the streets of NYC!
I was very thankful to see Joe pulling up to the curb to pick us up! Our next stop was to check into our hotel.
We stayed at the Double Tree hotel near Times Square. By this time it was dark and the neon lights were bright. Immediately, you could feel as if the city just woke up! I've been to New York before and like most cities, there is an excitement, perhaps energy, in the air.
We parked our van in the garage across the street from the hotel. The hotel was really nice however the room was so tiny! We fit all 8 of us in there - snug but comfy.
We set out that evening to find some dinner. We walked around a bit and found a pizza place the size of my bedroom closet. It was mainly for delivery but we decided to eat there.
I love NY style pizza - yum.
Right before leaving the hotel, my son said his stomach hurt. My boys always complain of stomach aches and I didn't really think much of it. I noticed he didn't eat much pizza. He still seemed in good spirits nonetheless. We were all looking forward to getting some ice cream around the corner from the pizza place. Since we all gave up sweets for Lent, this was going to be fantastic! We all chose our flavors and ate happily - even Patrick. He chose chocolate ice cream on a sugar cone. He seemed happy and ate all of his ice cream.
We walked back to our hotel and got ready for bed. Patrick's stomach was still bothering him and he laid on the bed to rest. I decided to go take my hot shower and unwind! With such a small room, the bathroom seemed like a great escape. As the hot water poured and the steam filled the room, I let out a deep sigh of relaxation when the door flies open and see my son vomit all over the carpet, the tile and then into the toilet - all chocolate ice cream...blech!
Poor little guy. Coach and I just stared at the mess on the floor wondering what we would use to clean everything up with. After cleaning up Patrick and putting him to bed we used a lot of tissues and toilet paper, but had to resort to using the white towels to clean up the bigger messes. I hopped back into the shower and started to rinse off all the towels we used. I was trying desperately to get all the vomit off the towels in the hot water. I was not successful, unfortunately. I cleaned myself up and went to bed hoping I wasn't going to get sick, too.
The next day, Patrick was feeling back to normal and we pressed on into Times Square looking for some breakfast. We ended up eating at a place called Roxy's. Then we headed towards the Empire State Building so we could climb to the top and check out the view. We did a lot of walking but no complaints from the kids. What troopers!
I wish I had more time in NYC to take pictures. I was just too distracted to take shots.
The Empire State Building was not what I expected. I watched Sleepless in Seattle and thought it was a simple elevator ride up to the top floor - nope! You got to go through a maze of ropes that lead you to different places to pay for tickets, to see the exhibits on the history of the Empire State building and then took a few elevators rides to get to the top, but once you were up there, it was really a cool sight! NYC looked so small to me, but so packed with so many buildings and people. Crowded is what came to mind.
My kids wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty, but because of a past storm that went through the city, the Statue of Liberty was closed until repairs were done. So, we went to a place called Battery Park and got a view Lady Liberty there.
Parking was an issue, so the three oldest and I took a quick walk over and hung out for a bit.
On the way, we also got to see Freedom Tower. The last time we were in NYC we visited Ground Zero and now there is a beautiful building that looks like it's almost completed. It's standing tall and proud in the spot where the twin towers were. We weren't able to stop by the memorial, but perhaps we'll come back one day and visit it.
I like New York and I wish I could have spent more time there. It was such a short trip and there is so much more to do. The hustle and bustle of NYC is still a little much for me especially when you add 6 kids to the mix. Perhaps, a visit back with just adults?
No comments:
Post a Comment