New York, New York

We finally made it to Manhattan with the girls. We went in early and met up with Grandma A and Auntie M. First trip was their hotel as they were in town for their annual "Sisters Week" extravaganza -- a week full of shopping, good food, sporting events and relaxing.

One of my little pumpkins is terrified of elevators, so it wasn't such a fun trip up to their room for a diaper change. I wasn't about to walk up five flights of stairs with a 25 lb baby despite how much I want to fit into my jeans. So we gutted it out. Into the hotel room we went and the girls promptly began to destroy everything in their path. They were loving the room.

After a change, we walked over to Build-A-Bear. One of the girls picked a teddy bear, she really has a thing for bears, and the other picked a puppy. One always seems to get a bear and one a puppy, but I can't tell if she even really likes the puppies.

I mean she loves real dogs, but I think she is holding out for American Girl. She will be a dollie girl and the other will hoard stuffed animals in her crib, which she will probably learn to use to spring out of the crib someday. We met up with my friend D and her little J for a 20 minute Build-A-Bear session. Little J got a pink bear and was very happy. Unfortunately she had to go home for nap, but the rest of us walked up to Daddy's office to show off the girls.

We ran around the office and then stole daddy to go for lunch at Landmarc. I completely underestimated how far it was to walk from daddy's office to the Time Warner Center but it was a beautiful day so no complaints. The restaurant is supposedly child-friendly, but we didn't quite get that vibe. Aside from a very kid-friendly menu, I don't think folks were so friendly. But maybe it's more kid-friendly rather than baby-friendly. And, I totally understand.

When we arrived they said we had to wait since we needed two high chairs. I couldn't imagine they only had two on hand for the entire restaurant. Once they freed up we were seated. The girls began to test their opera voices and throw goldfish around. I will say that the food came quickly, it was delicious, we had a wonderful view and they offer a roomy, handicap bathroom with a changing table -- all very clean.

We had to abandon the FAO Swartz adventure planned for post-lunch and instead just headed to the car. The girls were fading and we didn't want to push our luck. Next time. They fell asleep in the car and daddy let us do a Pinkberry drive-by since I hadn't had it in so long. Love that place. It's all about the regular with chocolate chips, mochi balls and mango. Yummy!

We drove down to the FDR Drive to find it was bumper-to-bumper. The girls promptly woke up from their nap and screamed the whole way home in horrible traffic for three hours. So much fun. Moral of the story, don't go into the city on a Friday or on a holiday weekend with children.