Long Island: Week 3

Well, we have been away from home 15 days so far.  We have 8 more days to go.  The food at the hotel is starting to get a little boring.  The kids are getting homesick.  We went to a little Outlet mall today and went to an Izod of all places.  I can't resist going into any Izod I ever see.  After dinner tonight we walked to a little park so the kids can play.  The weather has been great.  Low 80's and not too much humidity.  We ate at a great Italian place the other night, very close to our hotel in Long Island.  The food was really good and we got to have the leftovers for lunch.

I should have put something in the frame of this Crème Brulee.  It was as big as a plate.  I have never seen a ramekin that big.  It was delicious and the whole family got to really enjoy it.

 

Living in such close quarters, I have really been noticing what the kids do, what they enjoy doing what they like eating for breakfast etc.  Katie eats a hot breakfast every day.  She likes the eggs, biscuits and gravy etc.  I should make her a hot breakfast more often.  Anna almost always has had a bagel and cream cheese.  Emi usually has cereal.  Can't seem to get her to eat much else.

I did laundry today and the kids put their laundry away.  We each have a drawer.

 

The top one belongs to Anna and the bottom to Katie.  Pretty funny!

 

 

Philadelphia 2

This morning we went to the Liberty Bell first.

We went to the first post office.  We wanted to mail a few postcards from there but forgot it was Sunday.  Unfortunately they didn't have a drop box.  They cancel the mail from that post office with a stamp that says Be Free Franklin.

Then we went to the Betsy Ross house.

We took a tour of Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed and where the Constitution was written.

We had cheesesteaks for lunch.

We started home from New York and decided to stop at Coney Island on the way home.  It took a long time to find a place to park.  But we went to Nathan's to have a hot dog and rode some rides.  It was pretty dirty there, I guess things never look like they do on T.V.

 

When we left it was starting to get dark and was raining.  So we got our cotton candy and went home.  I have never been to Philadelphia, it was really cool to see the birthplace of our country.  I love history. The older I get, the more I enjoy reading about early American history.  I hope the girls got something out of the trip.

 

 

Philadelphia

We got up early this morning and drove to Philadelphia.  It was about a 2 and a half hour drive.  We went to Independence Square and did a walking tour called Franklin's Footsteps.  We had a great tour guide and it was very informative.  It was almost 2 hours and was all about Benjamin Franklin's life. 

We had dinner at Morimoto's.  Very cool to eat at an Iron Chef restaurant!  Gregg did the Chef's tasting.  Anna and Katie had Miso soup and edamame.  Emi had ramen.  I had a steak and we all tried some of Gregg's dishes.

The streets seem safer in New York than here.  I don't know if I would want to be walking around too late at night.  We hope to take in some more historical sights tomorrow.

 

Long Island Week 2

We checked into the new hotel Sunday night.  Here is what the room looks like:

 

It is a very nice room.  Monday I did laundry all day.  Makes me grateful for my washer and dryer at home!  It took me all day to do two loads, waiting for machines to be available.

I have been sewing some quilt blocks while we have been here.  It is a new hobby and something I could bring that didn't take a lot of room.  I have been machine quilting at home, but sewing these quilt blocks by hand has been fun.

 

I made this little portable doll house for Emi right before we left.  She loves playing with dolls and I thought this would be a portable solution.  She has really enjoyed playing with it.  One side is a house and the other a school.

 

Today we walked about 20 minutes to go to a movie theatre.  We saw Monsters Incorporated.  It was a cute movie than we went to have lunch.  We were gone most of the day.  It was a fun day out of the hotel. 

Manhattan: Day 3

This morning we went to Central Park.  Pam wanted to walk around the 72nd area of the west side to check out the neighborhood and then we walked through the park.  It is such a huge park and so much to see.  It was a little cooler today thank goodness!

After the park, we went to FAO Schwartz.  What a wonderful toy store.  We had a really fun time looking around.  We even got to go on the Big Piano! 

 

We went to the famous Carnegie Deli for lunch.  Such huge sandwiches!  They were delicious and even though we were so full, we got a piece of cheesecake for dessert.  It was so delicious we demolished it!

 

 

After lunch Pam had to go to the airport to go home and we got on the subway to come back to Long Island.  The kids are tired.  We walked a lot and in the heat, so they are exhausted.  We will look forward to a little quiet time this week.

 

Manhattan: Day 2

This morning we went to the Empire State Building.  It didn't take us too long to get to the observatory, although it was plenty crowded out there.  The views were amazing!

We stopped at Madison Square Park to play on the playground.

We then walked through a really cool market called Eatery.  It is an Italian market.  Fresh pasta, cheeses, salami etc.  My brother Mike would have been in heaven!

We had brunch reservations at Mesa Grill, a Bobby Flay restaurant on 5th Ave.  The food was great.  My favorite was an appetizer we got the Queso Fundido.  Katie couldn't get enough of the blue corn tortilla chips.

After that we came back to the hotel for a nap.  Then later in the afternoon walked to Times Square. 

We went into several stores, including the big Toy's R Us  and M&M's stores.  I don't really like Times Square, but it is kind of a must see when you are in New York.  Gregg and I really debated about taking the stroller on this trip.  Emi just turned 4 and she should walk a lot more than she does.  We had decided that no matter what we did, it would be the wrong decision.  If we had the stroller we would wish we would have left it and if we didn't take it we would wish we had it.  Well, we brought it and it has ended up being a good decision.  Times Square was a little crazy with all the people, but otherwise it has been great for Emi to ride.  It has been way too hot to carry her and it is nice to throw the water bottles in the bottom. 

After Times Square we went to New Wonjo for some Korean food.  Thanks Glenn for the recommendation!  It was fabulous Korean BBQ.  We ate and ate!

 

It rained a little this afternoon so it wasn't quite as hot as yesterday, although very humid.  Tomorrow should even be cooler!