No Sleep til Brooklyn

Quite last minutely we decided to spend the 4th of July holiday in 2010 with Charlie's brother, Rick and his wife, Leah, in New York City.

We drove overnight and arrived around 4am to the apartment we would be staying in Brooklyn.

To the left, you will see Times Square at night. And what a sight it was! The streets were flooded with people despite the 100+-degree weather.








Pictured at left is a street performer that scared the crap out of Baby, who thought he was a statue. We got quite a kick out of his act.












We ate at Planet Hollywood in Times Square where we saw all types of movie and music memorabilia, including these handprints of Edward Cullen, aka Robert Pattinson, outside the elevator. In fact, they had the outfits both Edward and Bella wore in the Twilight movie.














Jackson is pictured here with a DeathStar replica.

































A trip to Time Square would be incomplete without visiting a three-story ToysRUs that housed a Ferris Wheel inside the store. This was the Empire State building made out of Legos. They also had the Statue of Liberty in Lego form.
This is a picture taken of Jackson and Madison on the ferris wheel in the M&M cart.














While in NYC we couldn't not stop in Chinatown. Something tells me I'm gonna have to keep an eye on Baby?!?


















We tried Dim Sum for the first time at a real Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Madison really shocked us at all the new things she tried. I used being pregnant as a reason not to try many of the things. However, the sweet & sour chicken and General Tso's was to die for!















Later that evening, we rode the subway back to Brooklyn. We thought we were going to miss the fireworks because we had been walking the entire day in the heat, but to our delight we saw the fireworks from the subway. Much of the ride was above ground. At our stop, we stood on the decking of the subway and finished watching the fireworks. The experience was perfect, amazing.

























Back to the earlier in the day, though. The boys and girls each took separate taxis and raced to the Staten Island Ferry. The boys somehow miraculously won, without wrecking. Those taxi drivers are insane. I'm lucky I didn't go into labor! I was a nervous wreck. The kids are seen here showing off their tongues from the slushies we got while waiting for the ferry. Did I mention it was over 100 degrees?!? Needless to say, we were drinking water like it was going out of style.

















From the ferry, this is what we saw: Lady Liberty!




















Before this, we started the morning sweating. We took taxis to the Brooklyn Bridge where we got out and walked the bridge. It was awesome and I got to check off the list something I've always wanted to do. If interested, I've got a bridge for sale.

By the end of the trip my legs and feet were so swollen from the walking and heat that I couldn't even drive home. The plus side was that I got to sit in the passenger seat with my feet on the dash. I loved it! The kids absolutely adore Rick and Leah and we are very grateful to have gotten to spend this special holiday with them. They are always such wonderful hosts. If not for them the kids wouldn't have had the pleasure of spending this Independence Day in the "Concrete Jungle where dreams are made."