We started our journey by picking up my parents in Maumelle on our way to the Little Rock Airport. We got to the airport an hour and 15 minutes before our flight. We even did valet parking to give us extra time. There was no line at the check in counter. BUT we had 10 bags, 2 car seats and 2 strollers... The US Airways lady took FOREVER to check everything in. Once our luggage was on it's way to board the plane, we realized the lady messed up my mom's ticket. By this time we were getting a little worried. We FINALLY got moms ticket and headed to security. It was SUCH a long line. Once it was our turn, they decided to take an extra look at Dad's carry on so once again, we were held up. We finally got to the gate and the door was closed. We stood with several other passengers waiting on them to OPEN that door. GET THIS: the lady who checked us in and ALL of our luggage was the one who would NOT let us through the door! So, we stood there looking out the window at our plane. We watched it back away, and take off... without us.
We were soooo mad. The other passengers who missed the flight were also very upset. I wanted to scream and cry. I told my mom I had a feeling in my stomach I had never had before. It was such a strange, helpless, panicked, clueless feeling. THEN it hit me that ALL of our luggage was on that flight- car seats, strollers and 10 bags...
The next flight to NYC didn't leave until 5 hours later.
SO, we spent 5 hours in the Little Rock Airport- the smallest airport ever- With a 3 year old and a 3 month old.
Kohen got some really neat airport toys that kept him busy...
for a little bit...
It was FINALLY time to get on the airplane mommy had been telling Kohen about all day.
Oh, one other thing. None of our seats were together. Not even Kohen's. His assigned seat was between two strangers. Luckily, the airline worked with us and fixed it. We even got to sit in first class!
Jason was in charge of Saylor (aka the baby who slept the whole time, on EVERY flight).
I, on the other hand, was in charge of a very active but very tired little boy.
Have I mentioned that having to "turn off electronic devices" while we were taking off and landing also meant "having a 3 year old scream, cry, thrust his body back and forth kicking the seat in front of him"?
When we finally did make it to NY, all 10 bags were there waiting on us. AND a man holding a sign that said "Jason Smith" was also waiting on us... to our surprise we rode in a limo to our hotel! (Thanks Jason!)
Times Square
The view of Times Square from our hotel room
When we woke up the next morning, Kohen looked out the window. I said "Kohen, where are we?" He said "A castle!".
We thought it would work out better to get two double beds in mine and Jason's room, that way we would each sleep with one of our kids... well it turned out that the days Jason had to leave early for his course... BOTH kids ended up with me in my double bed... next time we'll stick to the King!
I have to say that Jason and I both loved every minute of sleeping next to our kiddos :)
Can you see my sweet girl?
Here was my lunch date... we ordered room service while Daddy was gone for the day.
I was so mad... I forgot ALL of Saylor's headbands and bows :(
Mom and Dad watched the kids several times while Jason and I went out on the town. One night, we ate at an Italian restaurant and were told we needed to share... so glad we did... Look at ALL that food!
You can barely see it, but we even made it onto the big screen in Times Square!
(We're above the "R" in FOREVER... Jason has on a red jacket and I'm holding a white bag)
One of the days that Jason and my parents were gone, I got stir crazy and attempted to take both kids into Times Square... It was also raining.
I tried to get a pic of both of them together. You can barely see Saylor in the stroller.
No, she doesn't have red hair... just looks that way in pictures :)
Kohen is checking out all the lights...
My parents and I went to see the Christmas tree and ice skaters at Rockefeller Center
Kohen chose this Elmo hat and gloves to buy
It was so funny because right after we bought them, we were walking back to our hotel and ran into big Elmo! Kohen couldn't believe it!
We decided not to take a taxi, but to ride the subway. I followed the directions the restaurant provided online if you were traveling on a the subway. We reached our subway stop no problem. Well, the trouble started when the rain started to get heavier...
We searched and searched for that damn restaurant. We asked people on the street and they would point us in the "right" direction, just to have the next person tell us we came the wrong way. Harder and Harder the rain fell. So we decided to go into the next restaurant we saw. It just happened to be TGI Fridays. Ugh. There is a TGI Fridays right across from our hotel! So we went in and ate. When it was time to leave, it was raining SOOOOOOOOO hard. It was diagonal rain. Wind blowing very strong. We ALL agreed we would HAVE to take a taxi back to the hotel. So my Dad braved the elements and headed outside to hail a taxi. No luck. A million were driving by but they all had people in them. His umbrella started turning inside out from the wind and rain. I decided to go help. Dad and I were just standing in puddles of water (it's freezing cold by the way) getting soaking wet. By this time Dads umbrella had totally bit the dust. It wasn't going to happen. There was no way we were getting a taxi. I spotted an entrance to the subway down the street. We wrapped Saylor up in her blanket. I carried her and my umbrella, Jason carried Kohen and his umbrella, my Mom carried her purse, the diaper bag and her umbrella and Dad pushed the stroller and carried his dilapidated umbrella. We all ran for our lives through the freezing heavy rain and strong wind. We made it to the subway, got on and headed towards Times Square. You would think our adventure was over right? No. We came out of the subway station and realized we had exited the wrong street. It was still near Times Square, but our hotel was much further down. So once again, we braced ourselves for the freezing rain and wind. Kohen was screaming crying and wanted me. So, Jason took Saylor this time and I took Kohen. We headed out. Everybody loaded down with bags and kids. Jason was the fastest. He had Saylor and I said "just go". So he took off with the baby. I was holding Kohen and trying to go fast while holding the umbrella over him. Umbrellas in diagonal rain don't really work... Kohen started to get sooo heavy. By this time I was running with Kohen sliding down my body. I turned around to see if I could see Mom and Dad. I will never forget the image of them coming through that rain. Dad, soaking wet, had the completely folded out stroller UP in the air, not pushing it, holding it up in the air running. By this time Kohen was so heavy I had to put him down and have him walk. So, I was completely bent over to where I was at his height, trying to hold the umbrella over his head, and also trying to hold back tears. I kept saying over and over "I'm so sorry baby, I'm so sorry". Kohen was just crying.
We finally made it into the hotel lobby. I just looked at my parents. We were hysterical.
Moving on. We went to the big Toys R Us along with everyone else in NYC.
Jason, Kohen and I rode the ferris wheel.
You're not allowed to choose what car you want. Kohen kept saying "I want the firetruck Mommy". humm. I was just hoping we would get a somewhat "boy" themed car.
When it was our turn to get on, we couldn't believe it...
We got the FIRETRUCK!!!!
Saylor hung out with Mom while we rode the ferris wheel.
We had a good trip. We didn't take many pictures... we always had our hands full! So most of the pics are from our iphones.
Thanks for going with us Mom and Dad. Yall were SO much help. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you!
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