New York Day #5

We thought Day #4 was jam packed. This was our last full day in NYC so we had to make the most of it. Unfortunately for us Jason had to leave today. The good news is it was because he was hand selected to be part of a Leadership Development program at work, the recognition dinner was that night in Kansas.

As a family we started our day out at the Today Show. Gavin had no interest in the cameras and just wanted to walk around the roped off area. We kissed Daddy goodbye and started our day.

After a breakfast and a morning nap we bundled up and headed to the laundromat to drop off diapers. This time rather than sitting in the laundromat for 2 hours, we paid $10 to have them wash them for us. Best money we spent on the entire trip!

Gavin and Barb walked back on a street called Restaurant Row (or 46th Street); tons and tons of restaurants - wish we would have known about all of these earlier in our trip. A cute young woman was standing outside trying to generate business. She was very nice, the menu was Italian, and it was lunchtime so we stopped. It was a fantastic lunch and we had the restaurant all to ourselves. The hostess & waiter were so nice, they didn't have high chairs so we got to try out our Tie Chair (another great inventions for moms that I should have thought of) for the first time. It was awesome. The name of the restaurant is Don't Tell Mama and we had a great lunch; Gavin was on his best behavior. We even got to meet and chat with the chef.

We made it! SANTA! The real deal. Miracle on 34th Street. And we couldn't have timed it any better. A store where the Santa line is usually 100 people long, we got there at a moment that NO ONE, I repeat...no one was in line. Gavin walked right up to Santa like he'd known him for years. Once he got on his lap he wanted Mommy, but we did get a cute picture.

After the visit to the North Pole & Santa's lap, we headed to a puppet show. Ms. Claus was telling all the children the rules for the puppet show and as soon as the words 'please stay seated' came out of her mouth...guess who stood up. Just a little embarrassing. Puppets weren't Gavin's thing so we left about 2 minutes into the show.

Leaving the puppet show early was worth it, because our next stop was the Empire State Building.

It is one of the more expensive tourist attractions in NY, but we figured we had to do it. Gavin was free so at least that helped, and having the stroller got us to the front of the line...thank you Gavin. We went all the way to the very, very top. One of the workers was very kind and offered to take a picture with both of us in it. The view was spectacular, very cold up there though.

It's okay he's sitting in front of glass, I didn't just put him on the ledge for a great photo :-)

Afternoon nap included a little Elmo DVD and cuddle time on the big bed.

Whew, what a day. Night, Night came early - we were pooped.