Our Stake President (who is in our ward) tapes off a big section of sidewalk at about 5 a.m. every year. Several families from the ward arrive between 5:30 to 6:30 a.m. to fill in his reserved spot. They were pretty jammed packed in there! Although we were planning to be right in there with them, we were lucky to get a spot just next to them that had a little more room. It turned out to be necessary so we could fit two strollers and have just enough wiggle room to rock the little boys to sleep.
Tanner and Nixon were bundled and cozy in their strollers. They snacked, napped, and overall did pretty good for the four hours they were stuck there!
I think they liked watching the big balloons once the parade started too!
After waiting for about 2 1/2 hours, the parade finally started!
Jade and Ridge were very entertained standing right in front! Their eyes were so glued to those balloons and floats, I could barely get them to turn around for a picture!
The parade lasted about 90 minutes, with a lot of really cute displays.
Even Cody—who had been skeptical—said he would do it again!
The dads with their cute boys.
The weather that morning wasn’t too cold. Plus, with lots of layers and lots of hot chocolate, we stayed warm until the very end of the parade. The longer we sat, the colder it got. Then just before the parade ended, a flurry of snowflakes started to fall. We were all pretty happy when Santa showed up, marking the end of the parade!
Arriving so early made it possible for us to park just a few yards from where we were sitting. We were packed up and on our way home before the snow really started to fly, and before traffic hit! The parade was so much fun! Definitely worth the early morning and crowds! Who is ready to join us next year??!
With no traffic, I think we made it back home in about an hour. We prepared Thanksgiving dinner and ate in the late afternoon. Then the kids cuddled up with their cute Uncle Jim for some stories.
On the way to the parade, the alternator in our car went out. Luckily, we made it home safe, but Cody opted to stay home with the boys the next day while it got fixed. I will admit, the day was pretty stress-free with out all the little boys with us. I have THE BEST husband!!
We started our day at Radio City Music Hall with a 10 a.m. showing of Radio City Christmas Spectacular, starring the Rockettes.
I so wish pictures and video were allowed during the show! It truly was spectacular! I think of all the places I’ve been and all the shows I’ve seen, this one just might be my favorite! The whole thing was simply outstanding… and magical. I think partly what makes it so fun is that it is a Christmas show. I would see it every year if I could!
After Rockettes, we grabbed some lunch, then hit up the American Girl Store. We walked around 5th Avenue and stopped in St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
We went to Rockefeller Center.
We viewed the famous Christmas tree and ice rink.
Then we ended our day in NYC with the sunset and night skyline at the Top of the Rock.
Now that I’ve been to the top of both The Rock and the Empire State Building, I would say Top of the Rock is better. I feel like there are more unobstructed views and the view of the Empire State Building is breathtaking!
Saturday morning we picked up our car from the repair shop and headed back into the city.
We started at Grand Central Terminal.
Then we spent most of day looking at different Christmas displays throughout the city. I will say, after living in Hong Kong and doing our “Annual Christmas Walk,” I was not impressed with NYC’s Christmas displays. They were nice, but nothing spectacular. The one cool one was a real-life ice-skater performing in a window display at Barneys.
My favorite though, had to be when we visited Times Square and spotted the “He is the Gift” billboard by the Church. Pretty cool.
The next few days, we went back to normal life while Kensley and Jim continued their vacation in NYC. We even got to babysit Nixon one of the days. I couldn’t help but snap a few pictures of these cute boy cousins in the bath together!
We had a blast with Kens and her family staying with us! That Kens is such a fun gal. Now I’m aching for the next visitors! A great perk of living close to NYC is having so many family and friends come through to visit. Who’s next???
1 comment:
Such a fun trip! I still dream about it! You were such a great hostess... hostess with the mostest! We will be back for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Round 2!
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