easter in new york city

our family of four met josh's parents and his brother's family of six in new york city for easter weekend. it was the first trip to new york city for k+r. i was waiting with bated breath to see how they would react to the stimulation, crowds, beauty, architecture, design, entertainment, good eats, and culture. would it be crash and burn or would it light their little five-year-old flames? 

well, k cried when we left and said "can't we stay another day?" bless her heart. (clearly not knowing how much a hotel night costs in the big apple:)and r exclaimed the first day we were there, "new york city is my most favorite state." (i love this age because the difference between a city and state is a little confusing.) so i guess you can say new york city delivered like she always does. 

two little girls found the magic in the city by visiting the central park zoo, walking by the plaza hotel where eloise lives, slurping up big bowls of homemade fettuccine alfredo in little italy with gelato cones for dessert, playing hide-and-go seek with daddy in bryant park and riding the carousel (that looked like it was plucked from paris), eating new york pizza, watching matilda the musical on broadway while sharing a bag of twizzlers, walking through chelsea market, the highline, falling asleep on their cousin's lap at dinner, visiting the metropolitan museum of art, and last but not least slathering syrup all over their pancakes with little individual jars from the hotel's continental breakfast (they couldn't believe they got their own personal jar of syrup). 

it was a different trip to the city then josh and i ever experienced. no paula rubenstein. no john derian. lots of sweets and syrup. but i got to see my girls' eyes light up with wonderment and awe with the new experiences they made. i would take that any day. their happiness is really what fills me up and makes me smile these days.