The Empire State

So the infamous Emily decided to take a trip to New York with Carl and I. We rode the Amtrak from Union Station in Washington D.C. to Penn Station in New York. Although the train we took left at an unsightly hour in the morning, we were able to see some beautiful parts of the

country... and add a few more states to our list! We went straight through the middle of Philidelphia, PA, then...

Then New Jersey...

Then of course, New York!

I would like to give a little shout out to Amtrak! Seriously. We had large comfortable seats with plenty of legroom and space for our luggage (and they didn't charge us an extra fee for it either). Not to mention, we didn't have to wait through any crazy security line before getting on the train and actually could have come about 15 minutes before the train left, and have been fine! Seriously, a great way of traveling!

This is us at Grand Central Station!

We decided to start at Central Park. It is such a beautiful park right in the middle of the city. Truth be told, if Emily hadn't of been there, I would have been lost several times. I guess, coming from Utah, I shouldn't be so impressed with nature, but let's just say I have an appreciation of it!

And so does Carl.

There were musicians everywhere throughout the Central Park. I couldn't tell you what this guy was playing but Carl loved it. Oh, and if you take a closer look, you can see Carl's walking stick that he found in the park.

This look familiar? Maybe you would recognize it from... Hitch, Enchanted, or Home Alone 2.

Then we tried out the Central Park Carosoule. Obviously Carl loved it. Maybe it was due to the creepy clowns around the middle or the loud music it was blaring! Oh well.

I love this picture of a group playing baseball with the New York skyline in the background.

And then came the fun. It was a decently warm day, and there were fountains everywhere for kids (and adults I suppose) to play in. So we stripped Carl all the way down to his diaper and let him run wild. This picture makes me laugh. Check out that full diaper! Needless to say, that boy loves water!

We then walked past some of the best parts of New York City. Plaza Hotel.

The Rockefeller Plaza.

While there, we had to check out the NBC store and look up our favorite television show's souvenirs. Can you guess what Emily's favorite show is? Take a wild guess!

Radio City.

And then Times Square. What a crazy place! You feel like you are being totally bombarded by media and advertisements here! It's awesome.

Oh, and I couldn't pass up the M&M store. There's something about color coordinated M&Ms that make them taste so good.

Another big New York attraction... the I'm a Mormon billboard that is right in the middle of Times Sqaure. It's HUGE! I don't know if any of you have heard about the new "I'm a Mormom" campaign going on in New York City. It was started in response to the new Broadway play called "The Book of Mormon."

Well, the best part of the whole trip was meeting up my other sister-in-law, Emily, and her family downtown. Her sweet mother offered us New York Yankees tickets to us for the night that we got into town. And for those of you who are a little bit behind the times, before that game, Derek Jeter had 2,998 hits and was expected to hit his 3,000th hit that night! Woot!

However...the game was rained out and delayed until September. Oh, don't you worry that he hit that 3,000th hit the next night. Ugh! Maybe I'll be back for his 4,000th?

That's okay. We still got to go eat some amazing pizza ;) with Emily and her family in our Derek Jeter attire!

P.S. Remember that I mentioned that the game was "rained out." Yep, that would explain all of our crazy wet hair! Carl asked that I mention that!

The next day, we met up with Emily, her kids, and some of her family and went to an incredible diner in the middle of times square called The Broadway Diner. All the waiters and waitresses are Broadway wannabes and they sing and dance and entertain everyone as you are eating. It's so fun!

This is one of my favorite girls. She had an incredible voice. I just happen to get a picture of her in a very inopportune time. It kind of looks like me when I wake up in the morning.

After lunch, we walked down to the shore. On our way, we passed the World Trade Center site. It was basically all covered up and difficult to see. But, personally it was worth walking by just to stand at the sight of where a traumatic part of our history took place.

And then we decided to take the Stanten Island Ferry. This was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. The ferry was free, convenient, and the kids loved it.

We passed right by the Statue of Liberty...

and saw a beautiful skyline....

The girls even put on their best impersonation of the Statue of Liberty. I'd have to say that she's got some competition going on here.

Such fun!

After that, we had to say our goodbyes to Emily, her mom, Katelyn, Hailey, and Christian. And then we headed for Battery Park to look for some "goods."

Ha! This part still makes me laugh. It is such a funny part of the city but was another favorite of mine. We were looking for a particular type of sunglasses for my husband. Before too long, a man in a suitcase approached me and asked, "Do you want sunglasses?" Hmm.... I asked to take a look. Well, he took me behind a hot dog stand and began to show me the sunglasses he had in stock. After some negotiations, we came to an agreement and I got a nice pair of glasses.

Shnack that was fun! I think I was a purse too!

So, we saw these men walking about with huge laundry bags. They were wheeling them around the park and basically loitering about. So we took a bench and watched. Man after man after man approached... "You want jewelry?" "You want watches?" "You want wallets?" Nope I want a purse.

So we went up to the man and asked to take a look. "What brand do you want?" Hm... personally, I don't know many high end purse companies. So I named on the only one I could think of. He pulled me aside near a statue and opened up the bag. Jackpot!

After talking them down to a decent price, both Emily and I bought a purse.

Then we walked down to Wall Street.

The Stock Exchange.

The Trinity Church.

Did you know that Alexander Hamilton is buried here? Also, that this is the original home of Columbia College. Originally started by King George II of England. Food for thought.

Recognize this bull?

After we paroozed about the financial center, I convinced myself that I wanted a wallet too. I packed 10 one dollar bills in my pocket and after a minor argument with the wallet salesman, I got a beautiful wallet for a mere 10 George Washingtons. Awesome!

And then we made our way to the NY LDS Temple. We weren't quite sure where the temple was, but we knew that it was near the Lincoln Center. So we talked to the Security guards at the center for directions and they simply said, "Hm... I don't quite know." Oh don't you worry, we walked about half a block down the street and saw angel Moroni. I guess we should have gone back and informed them for future reference, but we didn't.

Such a gorgeous temple and right smack in the middle of the city.

Times Square at night.

Well, after a fun filled day of shopping, playing and touristing about, Carl (and I) were exhausted and his stroller was packed full of goods.

Oh, how I love New York! Such a fun place to be and a perfect place to visit for a few days. Til Derek Jeter hits his 4,000th hit...