New York 2014

Ava's first flight was a success!

We got invited to our niece's Bat Mitzvah in New York, and we jumped at the opportunity to see family and visit NYC. I have to admit though, pre-kids I would have been so excited and planned our activities and booked reservations at restaurants weeks in advance. This time around, I was a little anxious at the thought of traveling with two kids for the first time. Matt and I made tentative morning and afternoon plans for each day, but did not set anything in stone depending on what family activities might be occurring that day.  Overall, we had such a great time. Leah was so happy to play with her big cousins, and Ava happily let everyone hold her! 

Tuesday night we walked around our hotel neighborhood for a place to eat and stumbled upon Mad. Sq. Eats. It's a semi-annual culinary pop-up market with a variety of food stands like pizza, asian fusion, Momofuku Milk Bar, Greek, Lebanese, and so much more! It was the perfect stop for our first night. 

Meeting the youngest cousin!

Wednesday, we headed to Central Park Zoo. Leah and Ava enjoyed seeing all the animals, and Leah had a fun time feeding the goats! That night, we went to Matt's brother's apartment for dinner. We had been prepping Leah about going to New York City to see her cousins for at least a month now, and to see her excitement when she finally got to see them face to face was such a priceless moment! They also go to meet Ava for the first time!

Thursday, it was raining, so we headed to the American Museum of Natural History to stay indoors, and pretty much every family with kids decided to do the same. It was packed! We saw the dinosaur and whale exhibit and pretty much called it a day. Afterwards, we ate lunch at Shake Shack with the NY cousins. I think I have to declare that I do like Shake Shack better than In and Out. Ack!

Gorgeous view from the apartment

3 generations of Kellys

That night we went back to the apartment for dinner. All the girl cousins sat at the kitchen nook for dinner, and the older ones took such good care of Leah - holding, feeding, and entertaining her. She was so spoiled this trip!

How sweet is this photo taken by my sister-in-law?!

Asking what everything was inside Eataly.

Friday, we did a little bit of shopping and visited FAO Schwarz. Leah wasn't feeling the big piano too much until her cousin stepped on it with her, and we surprisingly made it out of the store with only a $9 Anna toy! We headed back to the apartment for a special pre-Bat Mitzvah luncheon. We got to meet my sister-in-law's family, and her brother's family flew in from Paris! That evening we walked through Eataly which is a cool Italian food market. I could probably sit there and eat/drink all day if I could!

Proud parents!

Running through the streets of NY

Saturday was the big day! The Bat Mitzvah was beautiful, and we were so proud of our niece. She did such a great job! There were childhood photos of our niece posted on all the walls, and Leah was happy to find herself in a couple of the photos. She also loved taking pictures in the photobooth. There was so much excitement that she ended up taking a 3 hour nap afterwards!! Amazing! After her nap, we had a yummy steak dinner at Westside Steakhouse, and strolled through the streets of NY enjoying our last night.

Ava decided she didn't want to sleep that well on this trip, but besides that we had the best time. We are so blessed to have been given this opportunity, and we hope our kids are able to look back at the photos and realize what a great family they have. We're looking forward to going back in 2 years for another celebration... :)

P.S. I learned a lot of things about traveling with 2 littles on this trip. I will post some tips soon!