My parents have been incredibly gracious to watch the kids for us several times so that Tim and I can enjoy some time to ourselves.  It’s important in any marriage, but knowing that Tim will spend 40-50% of the next 3 years out at sea it seems even more important these days.  So we were able to take the train into New York City for a wonderful weekend together. 

We arrived in the city Friday afternoon and were able to get tickets to see Spamalot starring Stephen Collins and Drew Lachey.  It took us forever to get to our hotel because Times Square was packed with people trying to see Hannah Montana on TRL.  We saw the top of her head.  (I know you are all jealous.)  After enjoying hotdogs from a street vendor we dressed and went to the show.  It was hilarious and the cast was fantastic. After the show we went to the Peninsula Hotel to have a drink on their rooftop.  The view was fantastic and the company was even better!

Saturday we slept in a bit and enjoyed a tour of the highlights of the city.  The tour was a great way to see tons of things that we just couldn’t have done on our own.  We went from one end of the city to the other and saw everything in between.  You can see all of our pictures on the New York City album by clicking My Albums at the top of the blog.  After our tour we walked to Lombardi’s and had some of the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.  We shopped a bit and then had a fantastic steak dinner at Harry’s Cafe in the financial district. 

Sunday we got up and checked out of our hotel and met my parents and the boys at their hotel in Times Square.  They took the early train into the city and Mark was thrilled about riding a real train.  We had corned beef and pastrami sandwiches for lunch and walked to Central Park.  Mark loved playing in the playground and my Dad got to take him on his first Merry-Go-Round, just like his Papaw did with him when he was Mark’s age.  We then walked forever to try to have Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity’s.  But the wait was too long and we had a train to catch.  So we settled for frozen yogurt from a nearby candy store.  By then we were all pretty tired and hot.  You would think that between 4 college educated adults and 3 graduate degrees that 1 of us would have figured out that it might not be the best idea to take 2 kids under 3 to New York City for the day in a heat wave.  We had a good time with them, but we were all tired and cranky when we got home last night.  I don’t think I’d do it again, but it was really fun to get to go to Central Park with my parents and kids.  And now my parents are enjoying a couple of restful days to themselves in the city!  (They’ve earned them after watching the boys for us so many times.)