Fabulous NEW YORK City!

While Garrett still has an apartment in New York, we decided to take advantage of the holiday weekend to fly out and visit.

Grandma Thompson came to stay with Aiden & Aleah (THANK YOU!!!), while Zach, Parker & I spent four days seeing the sights with Garrett. We planned a packed itinerary, then added even more when we got there. And for only four days, we saw an amazing number of things!
Here are a few of the highlights ...


After a quick taxi ride from the airport to the apartment, we dropped our bags and headed right out. We started our walking tour at the United Nations building. We decided not to take the guided tour, but enjoyed the artwork display inside and the flags outside.

Unfortunately, most of the outside area had been closed for construction and one of the inside displays had just been taken down that morning. So we only spent a short time there before heading out for Rockerfeller Center. On the walk there we also passed the Chrysler Building (most impressive at night), the Daily New Building, the Helmsley Building, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Our first stop in Rockefeller Center was the LEGO Store.

This was very high on our 'to do list', since Lego's are Parker's favorite thing EVER!

The serpent is built entirely out of Lego's and comes out of the ceiling in sections all throughout the main level of the store.

Each of these little colored bins is filled with a different color & style of Lego. For a nominal fee, you can fill a large cup with as many Lego's as you can fit inside it.

There were many fantastic Lego displays throughout the store, but this was one of the favorites. It is a Lego replica of Rockefeller Center. It was encased in glass, so I couldn't get the best picture. But look back up behind the serpent in the second Lego store picture and you can see the full size of it. It was quite amazing.

We spent more than a little time picking and choosing the favorite items to bring home. But we left with two very happy boys.

Rockefeller Center's most famous sculpture is the gold-leaf statue of Prometheus.

And during the winter, this cafe area is turned into the world's most famous ice-skating rink.

The elevator to the 'Top of the Rock' takes you to the 67th floor. Then you can walk up a few more flights of stairs to the 70th floor for the best sights in the city.

Looking north, you get a fantastic view of Central Park (843 acres of paths, lakes, ponds, and meadows).

Looking west is the Hudson River, with New Jersey sitting on the opposite shore.

And the view to the south includes the towering Empire State Building.

Regardless of the direction, you are surrounded by skyscrapers and an amazing view of the New York skyline.

Since the night was still young, we decided to walk to Times Square after leaving Rockefeller Center. We passed 'Radio City Music Hall' and the NBC Studios on the way.

I'm sure that 'complete sensory overload' would be a fitting description for Times Square!

(Look at all the people!)

In the center of Times Square sits a big red section of stadium seating. There is SO MUCH to see, that you just sit there gawking and trying to take it all in.

Also near Times Square, you will find many theaters hosting Broadway shows. The show we picked was The Lion King. And it was fantastic!
(No photography was allowed inside the theater, so you'll just have to take our word for it.)