My FUN long post about my FUN trip with my FUN sisters to FUN New York!

This last weekend I got to go to New York with my two sisters- Eliza and Audrey- while Adam stayed home and took care of the chil'ren. I had been looking forward to the trip for weeks and was so excited when Saturday came and I got to travel without kids! I got to New York before my sisters so I just sat around, read my new book by Stephenie Meyers and waited. I was so excited to get Audrey's phone call saying she had landed so I ran to her and we giggled like little girls to be together again. Eliza came in about 30 minutes later and we waited for what seemed like a day and a half to get her luggage and we were off! We got Metro Cards that gave us unlimited rides on subways and city buses for our whole trip for $25, which turned out to be the best $25 we ever spent considering we had to take twice as many subway rides as anyone who knew what they were doing would. We got on the bus to get to the subway station and on the bus I realized it was my very first time being on a public transportation bus. I rode the bus to school for 4 months in 7th grade and a few times for field trips but I had never been on a city bus. Is that unusual? It wasn't that cool. It was crowded and smelly, but I would come to find out that it wasn't THAT smelly once I got to smell the subways and the people walking past me who smelled like sewer and B.O. After finding the subway station, getting on the subway, finding out we had been going the wrong direction for 15 minutes (thanks to all the really nice people who helped us to see our error), turning around and getting off at the right stop, we walked a few blocks to our hotel lugging all of our suitcases with us. We checked in, went up to the fourth floor, turned a few corners, and saw our door. Here is a picture of it. I wish I had a picture of the inside. It is almost as small as this corner- it was a closet!

We were all pretty starving so we went out to find a place to eat. Audrey was recovering from strep throat so she wasn't feeling great and we had to find a place that didn't have a long wait. We found a diner and were happily seated and looking at our menu within minutes. While we waited for our food, the mediocre waitress brought us some little individual plates and what you see in this picture (plus two more pickles that we ate before taking the picture). We were pretty sure it was coleslaw under the pickles and beets on the other plate but didn't want to try it so I guess we'll never know. What happened to chips and salsa? Who wants weird red stuff and pickle-topped cabbage- seriously? Oh well, my hamburger was okay even though they didn't have yellow mustard for me to put on it.
We were so tired that night so we just went back to the hotel and watched the movie Juno- I laughed my face off. Very funny and entertaining. Then we went to sleep. I woke up at 6 in the morning. I'm not sure whether it was because my body was used to waking up at 6 because that's when my boys wake up or because I had a sister who was snoring louder than I thought it was possible to snore but either way, I was awake but patiently waited while my stomach was eating itself until 10 when the other girls woke up .It was Sunday so obviously we planned out how to get to church. We got off the subway and had to walk 2 miles more than we thought we would only to get to church with a sign on the door saying "Closed for Renovation". It kindly directed us to another building where church was meeting and even gave us an extra 30 minutes to get there, so we took a taxi (the sign said it would cost about $8.50). The sign didn't know there was a Jewish parade going on or that the taxi cab driver was going to drive around NYC for 30 minutes so $25 and three sweaty girls later, we arrived at church 45 minutes late for church. It was a singles ward, which was just slightly awkward for me but it was church and I was grateful to be able to be there.

After church we went to get some lunch and ate it at a park nearby. It was cheaper to each get our own medium pizza than to get 1 large one to share so that's what we did. I ate almost my whole pizza and Eliza and Audrey barely touched theirs. They thought I was a fat pig. Then we walked down 5th Avenue, passed the Jewish parade and got to the cool shops just as they were closing. That night we all got our hair done. I got mine chopped by the oh so talented Eliza Parry- and she dyed out all of my gray hairs- hallelujah.

Monday was our big touristy day. We went and saw ground zero, or at least the wall that surrounds it and all the construction going on around it. We went to Canal Street and each got some knock-off purses and sunglasses and watches and such. We went to Time Square and the American Museum of Natural History, where I learned that I have no appreciation for history or artifacts or anything boring like that. I was thrilled when Eliza and Audrey seconded my opinion and we hurried through it, took some fun pictures on the way and left, our feet swollen and our calves sore. Audrey had shin splints too. Poor sick girl.

The last day we were there we went to Rockefeller Plaza. I went to the "Top of the Rock" or the top of Rockefeller Center after paying an arm and a leg to do so. Eliza and Audrey didn't want to pay so I went alone. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The view was AMAZING! The city looked so quiet and peaceful from up there- like there weren't millions of smelly loud and obnoxious people walking around down below the buildings. I met up with them after my tour and we went to the NBC store where I got to meet Matt Lauer. He didn't talk much but I think he was happy to meet me. I got Adam a shirt with "Dunder Mifflin" written on it with characters from "The Office" on the back.

I had such a great time on our trip. My sisters are the best- even when we are tired and sore and get crabby with each other- they are the funniest girls I know and I loved being with them. I hope we can do this every year.

I was glad to get home and see my 3 boys. Brody and Bridger both got sick while I was gone and Adam was a trooper taking care of them on very little sleep. He was so nice to let me leave him alone for a weekend so I could get some girl time in. When Brody woke up in the morning and said, "You're home??? I missed you yesterday". It was really sweet.