Our Family: Is New York Open in Summer!

Our Christmas present to the girls was a trip to New York City, with emphasis on the American Girl Place. Nobody is really sure where the idea to visit New York came from. I think that it started when the girls asked for little boy dolls. My instinct was to say "no," because we have so many toys. But, then it occurred to me that visiting American Girl Place to pick up the dolls in person would be a great gift.  We wouldn't be buying a lot of toys that they didn't really need!   decided we needed to help Lacey prepare for the trip.

Now, Lacey comes from a very large city. But, she doesn't understand the differences between a city and state, and country.  She will explain that Shanghai is like "a big hotel" where a lot of kids live.  because her knowledge of Shanghai was limited to the orphanage. To help her learn about New York, Cassie and I read Lacey the Eloise books, about the little girl who lives in the Plaza Hotel.. We also watched family movies that featured New York City. And, we showed Lacey pictures from our prior trip to NYC.   We are also helping Lacey to use all her senses to observe and appreciate the many things around her. New York was certainly an opportunity to practice using the senses!

We checked into our hotel, saved Lacey from getting pinched in the massive revolving door, and headed for the sidewalk. Immediately there was a downpour that continued until long after we had gone to bed that night. That didn't slow us down a bit. Here are a few of the things we experienced:

FAO Schwartz - Our first planned destination had been the famous toy store FAO Schwartz.   But, the massive line of people trying to enter sent us in the direction of Central Park instead. We did return to the store early the next day and it was everything that we had promised Lacey.

The life-size toy soldier out front was happy to pose for me.

The FAO Schwartz staff cheering and welcoming customers as we entered.

Introducing Lacey to "the piano."

Lifesize Legos

Don't tell the dentist.

A $25,000 foosball table made with Barbies!

Central Park - It is spectacular, friendly, human, inviting and free. We saw street performers, street people, street vendors, the bridges, the ponds, the skating rink, the playground, the horsedrawn carriages and the zoo. We were so enchanted that we made two separate visits to the park.

Public Art

The park, the skyline and the rain.

Cassie was captivated by the zoo.

A beautiful bird at the Central Park Zoo

Walking back to the hotel

A clear day in Central Park.

Looking from Central Park toward our hotel

Lacey wanted her picture taken with the Big Elmo. Cassie kept yelling, "Why's Elmo carrying a purse?" Elmo was carrying a purse because a snapshot requires a donation! Much to Lacey's disappointment we later discovered an Elmo on almost every street corner.

Just a gorgeous morning inthe park.

Ellen's Stardust Diner - A recommendation from the concierge encouraged us to wait in the rain for 20 minutes to have dinner at this landmark. Ellen's is the home to aspiring Broadway stars, who sing as they wait on tables. Yes, they actually sing while they are serving food. Members of the staff do make it to Broadway and some have sung on American Idol. Here's a clip:

American Girl Place: We had an appointment with "Sharon D," the lovely personal shopper. She had the adorable dolls waiting for us in her lounge. So, we were privileged to be sitting while thousands of little girls shoved each other around the store. Sharon showed the girls products that are unique to the New York Store and gave the girls each a poster of the doll of the year. Our visit to American Girl Place was the highlight of our trip.

Sharon D presenting the dolls to the girls

Austin and Anthony!

Proof that we were all in NYC together

People: We met many, many friendly people. We chatted with other tourists everywhere we went. It's hard not to get to know people when you're standing in the bathroom line together or crammed with them in an overcrowded elevator. I also got to know several policemen who had been detailed to Times Square. (During these brief encounters, Les was walking iin the opposite direction.) And, I encouraged the hotel doorman and receptionist to tell me stories about New Year's Eve in the city. We went everywhere in the city by foot. And everywhere we went, there were immense crowds of people. Our experience at Disney World was good preparation for NYC! We saw a line of people two blocks long waiting to eat at the Carnegie Deli. We saw about 1,000 people teeming outside the box office in Times Square. We saw hundreds of people trying to look at the hundreds of people who were watching the skaters at Rockefeller Plaza. Incredibly, we found our terrific neighbors, who conquered the crowd at Planet Hollywood and got us all dinner reservations.

Every once in awhile, Lacey says something that puts me in touch with her reality. Our first night in the city, she had grown tired of standing in line in the rain. She said, "I don't like the rain. Is New York City open in the summer?"