This year, we decided to do something that I have wanted to do for a very long time... we booked a trip to New York and Mum and Dad met us there! We had an amazing time and got to see so much stuff and experience so many things... it was a trip of a lifetime for me!
We arrived on Christmas Eve and all met at the apartment and then went for dinner. We found this great little Irish Pub for dinner. It was yummy. Then it was a short walk home to the apartment to get organised and get ready for bed.
Before bed, we had a few treats... we dug into a few English chocolates!
The following morning, Christmas morning, we all woke up to lots of presents to open!
Kayle gave out all the presents to us and then got stuck in!
She was opening them quicker than I could write down who they were from! She loved all her presents!
She was so excited when she got her Uncle Steven's present... she had been bugging us for ages about getting some 'Stompeez' slippers, so Steven got her some!
Jason was also very excited about his present... he got a cool stylish sweatshirt from Mum and Dad!
Kayle's big present was a joint gift from Mum, Dad and Granny and Grandad. She has wanted her our 'computer' for herself because Mummy and Daddy have their own, so we all chipped in and got her a great little kiddie tablet. I got it from Walmart when I went to the Black Friday Thanksgiving sales. She was so excited when she realised what it was and continually screamed for about 20 mins!
Once we all got ready for our day, we made our way to the subway and headed downtown for dinner and to take in some Christmas Day sights. We went to a restaurant called The National which was in a very nice part of town. It was opposite the Wolfdorf Astoria! We expected it to be great... we were a little disappointed. It took a very very long time to get even drinks and our order taken! It then took even longer to get our food, and they even forgot Kayle's dinner!
Despite having to wait a really long time, we had a fantastic time!
We spent some of our waiting time playing with the camera!
When dinner finally came, it was really good. It was very tasty and we enjoyed it.
Once we were done with dinner, we went for a walk to Grand Central Station. I thought they did a cool Christmas Lights show, but once we got there, we found out that they stopped doing it so we were a little disappointed. The station itself was amazing! It was just beautiful!
It was getting a little chilly as the sun went down, so we headed home for the night. We relaxed and watched a Christmas Movie and ate English chocolate! Prefect end to a fun day!
The next day, the 26th December was a day especially for Kayle. She didn't know what we were going to do, all she knew was that it was a surprise gift from Chris, Toby and family... they are the amazing family that I used to work for when I was diagnosed with Cancer. They arranged for Kayle to go to the American Girl Doll Store and get a new doll and outfit, for us all the have breakfast and then for her doll to have her hair done and for Kayle to have her photo taken for the front cover of her own magazine! It was going to be an action packed fun day!
When we arrived at the store and showed her where we were, Kayle freaked out! She was so excited!
When we went into the store, they showed us up to the Personal Shopper Lounge and they introduced Kayle to her Personal Shopper Kim. Kim was amazing, she made Kayle feel so special. She helped Kayle pick her own look-a-like doll and then found Kayle her new outfit. Kayle asked for a horse riding outfit, but it was sold out because of Christmas... but Kim, went and worked her magic and came in with the outfit Kayle wanted!
Next stop... brunch at the American Girl Restaurant. Kayle's doll was given her own hook on high chair at our table. Kayle was so excited to have her right next to her!
We all got special pink lemonade!
Granny and Grandad got yummy Hot Chocolate!
Throughout brunch, everything was focused on Kayle and her doll... she was made to feel so special!
Kayle's doll even got her own breakfast!
Dessert came after breakfast! And boy, was it good! It was a very rich chocolate moose with Oreo topping and a fruit skewer. Delicious! Even I struggled to eat it all!
Despite Jason feeling really unwell, he had a fun time too.
Kayle loved her flower!
One of the best parts of this shop... everything is focused on Kayle and her doll... even in the toilet. There was a doll holder so that she was kept safe and clean while you pee! Genius!
Next stop on our fun day was at the hairdresser. Kayle's doll got to have her hair done!
Kayle got to watch and tell the hairdresser exactly how she wanted her dolls hair.
Another stop on the fun tour... Kayle got to have her photo taken in a professional setting. She got to have her photo on the front cover of her own magazine! It was so fun for her!
Kayle and her precious new doll all dressed up in her new outfit and hair do! Kayle was so proud of her!
Granny and Grandad had a wonderful time too...
This store was amazing. Everything about this store was beautiful. The shelves, the decoartions, everything.
While we were walking around the store, Kayle saw an amazing horse that she fell in love with. Jason and I decided that she could get one main gift, and she chose the horse. We asked a member of staff if we could get one, but they were completely sold out. We prepared Kayle for the fact that she wouldn't get this dream gift. We went back to the Personal Shopper Lounge and Kim said that she would take a look and see if she had a horse. Expecting her to say no, knowing the store was completely sold out, we prepared Kayle again for not getting the horse. Next thing we know Kim walks in with the horse! It was amazing to see how happy Kayle was!
Our fun day was almost over! We did a little more shopping... Granny bought Kayle and her doll matching t-shirts and a box of accessories for the doll.
Once we got all paid up and packed up, we took a quick walk to Rockafellar Center. We went and saw the NBC Today Show studio, which was fun and then we went for a walk around the massive Christmas Tree and we went to look at the Ice Skating Rink too.
Jason was cold and not feeling good, plus, we had been in the American Girl store for about 4 hours, so we all headed home to relax for a bit before heading out for dinner.
Our next day, 27th December, involved alot of walking and eating!
Kayle and her doll wore their matching outfits and looked adorable!
Once we were all ready, we headed downtown to take a look around Times Square. Man, was it busy... but fun! There was so much to look at and take in.
Everywhere you looked there was something crazy or bright lights..
Once we walked around for a while, we were hungry so we headed to Hard Rock Cafe. Grandad collects t-shirts from the restaurant all over the world so it was inevitable that lunch here would happen!
This wall was made up of all guitars. They were cut in half and stuck in the wall. Grandad was a little upset that there were no drums stuck to the wall!
We only had to wait about half an hour for lunch but there was lots of stuff to look at to pass the time.
We sat down, ordered our food and we got a banquet! The food was great... so were the drinks!
We all had a lovely lunch together!
Lots of laughs and silliness!
Then, of course, Grandad ordered some delicious dessert!
Once we finished eating, Jason decided to go home to rest because he still wasn't feeling well.
Granny, Grandad, Kayle and I took a walk around Times Square for a bit and got to see some new sights... including 'The Naked Cowboy'!
Some more crazy bright lights!
Once we were done looking around Times Square we headed back to Rockafellar Center to the see if we could find the FDNY store.
We found the store and it had some wonderful fire fighter items in it.
Kayle had a fun time playing in the fire engine that was in the shop!
So many patches from all over the world... these were amazing to look at!
Another fun day! We headed home once we were finished at the FDNY store because it was getting late and cold. We went home, warmed up and than went for dinner!
Following morning, 28th December, was beautiful weather, so we decided to go and walk around Central Park. I think we picked the perfect day! We got a late start today because poor Kayle was awake in the night with ear ache, so we wrapped her up in a warm blanket. It was going to be a quiet day today!
We started our walk at the entrance in the Mid West Side.
I used my panoramic camera on my phone to get this amazing shot.
We then headed south towards Downtown where all the fun stuff is.
Grandad has a special attachment to the building in the background... it was the building used in GhostBusters... one of Grandads favorite movies!
This is the 'Ramble Stone Arch'.
We went to see the John Lennon Memorial too. Very disappointing... it was very small!
Found this cute fella!
This beautiful bridge is called "Bow Bridge'. It's cast iron and very beautiful!
Once we got to the bottom of the park, we decided to take a carriage ride! We waited about 20 mins but got a great carriage! The driver was fantastic. Very talkative and even let Kayle feed the horse a carrot when we were done! We had a wonderful time.
Granny and Grandad took a romantic ride too!
We had a lovely quiet day today! Once we were done with our rides, we were pretty cold so we went to try to get a hot chocolate, but everywhere was so busy, so we decided to head home to warm up and take a nap before dinner!
The 29th December meant Chinatown and a bus tour! We headed to Times Square to pick up our tickets, then jumped on the bus to head to Chinatown to explore.
While on our bus tour, we got to see tons of cool stuff.
We saw the 'Ball' that drops on New Years Eve at midnight.
We drove past Madison Square Garden where One Direction were playing! Kayle was extremely excited to see a very large poster of Harry!
We drove past the HUGE Macy's with it's beautiful Christmas Lights.
This is an usual building that was built a long time ago. It's a unusual shape. When there was an earthquake, people came out to watch it fall over because of its shape!
We then headed to Chinatown to check it out and get a Authentic Chinese lunch. It was an extremely cold day, it was snowing, then pouring with rain... not fun weather, so it was difficult to walk around and look at things. We had to buy Kayle extra socks because she was so cold...
So, to get warm, we searched for somewhere to eat. I used my phone to search for a popular place and we found 'King Wongs'. Unusual name, I know, but it had great reviews so we headed there. It was an usual looking place and I was a little worried, but went in anyway to check it out... and... what do I find stuck to the till, but a photo of Donnie Whalberg with the owner...well, that was enough for me! If this place is good enough for Donnie, it is good enough for me, so we went in and ate!
Authentic is what we wanted... and authentic is what we got! The place was extremely busy and loud and just hectic really. The old guy serving us was hilarious. Mum wanted to order this dish that the girl next to hear had, but when it came it was different and the server said to her in very plain terms...'No change... no change'! So, she didn't change!
The food was very good! It was tasty and we all enjoyed it very much!
Once we were done eating, it was still very cold but had almost stopped raining, but we were still cold so decided to head back to find the bus stop to head home.
The city had expected a huge snowstorm that day so all the ploughs were out ready to get to action.
So... we jumped on the bus and headed home. We were all so cold that we all took showers to try to warm up, then we snuggled under blankets and took a nap!
We got up REALLY early on the 30th December to get to the harbor to go on our boat tour. We rushed there only to miss the boat by about 5 minutes. But, we were able to wait and jump on the next boat. While we waited we got some yummy hot chocolate and breakfast bagels.
Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to get in line, get our photo taken, and then get on the boat!
The first part of the trip was a little boring for us because we were sat on the New Jersey side and couldn't really hear the tour guide, but we still got to see some amazing sights.
Once we reached the turn point, things got much more interesting. We decided to head to the top deck to get some cool photos. It was windy and cold so we took it in turns to go up top while the others saved our seats in the warm.
There were 2 things we all really wanted to see...
And the new World Trade Center.
Both were amazing to see... I managed to hear some of the tour guide while I was up top and it was amazing to hear. The tour guide was doing a tour, as he was today, on 9/11 so got to see everything first hand! It's extremely emotional to hear someone's first hand story.
The view of the city from the boat was beautiful!
The Brooklyn Bridge was amazing to see!
Kayle loved seeing things everything from the top deck of the boat! It was extremely exciting for her!
Once we docked and the boat trip was over, we jumped on a free bus and headed into town for some lunch. We ran across a great Sports bar that had great food and great beer!
Kayle had some spending money of her own, so she picked this cool hat! She loved her new hat!
Once we ate, we jumped back on the bus tour to see if we could get in the last part of the tour. It was absolutely freezing!
Kayle and Jason only made it a short time on the bus and when we passed out street, they jumped off and headed home.
I am actually really glad that they went home because it was SO COLD. I was absolutely frozen. Jason sent me a text saying that him and Kayle were having a party... my text back said that we were going to the hospital to warm up! I'm glad we did the last part of the tour, but, boy was it cold!
New Years Eve... is here!
We had a very quiet day so that we could enjoy our evening... we had a quick drink before we went out to the Irish Bar for dinner.
Kayle got a posh cocktail!
Once we headed out, the fun began!
We bought a few fun things to celebrate when we pooped out to the shops in the morning.
Our food was amazing! We all stuffed ourselves silly!
Grandad's Guiness had its own shamrock in it!
We had a really fun night... it was so mellow and relaxed but fun! I had a great time!
New Years Day... made it be a quiet day! That's exactly what it was! Very relaxing.
We decided to do another Kayle day because she hasn't really had anything fun to do in a few days... so we went to F.A.O. Schwartz... the toy store!
As soon as she realised where we were, she freaked out and screamed!
Then, we went in and she freaked out some more... and some more... and some more!
This is the Giant Piano from the movie Big.
These are fantastic lego models! So cool!
One for Uncle Steven!
We had a fun time in there!
Once we were done in the toy store, we walked up the main street to head to Macy's.
The Christmas lights and decorations were amazing!
Once we got to Macy's, we popped inside to get Mum a new make-up bag, then we walked around to look at the window displays. They are so cool! Kayle loved looking at them! The animations were fantastic!
On our way home, we stopped and had dinner and then found this amazing dessert shop!
They sold all kinds of chocolate, sweets, deserts... generally amazing sweet things!
We could barely control ourselves!
We wanted one of everything!
In the end we each chose a delicious dessert... Jason has a chocolate crepe, Kayle got macaroons, I chose a seriously chocolatey cake, and Grandad had a banana toffee type thing. I think Granny got some sweets. We walked home VERY fast!
All of our choices were delicious!
Once we were done eating, we could hardly move... we just got in our PJ's and chilled on the sofa and watched a movie!
We had such a great day... every day seems to be a great day!
2nd January was an emotional day. We went to the 9/11 Memorial sight for a tour by a survivor.
We met our tour guide at the Family and Survivor Museum and got to know her a bit before we set off. It was absolutely freezing because we were very close to the River. Poor Kayle was so cold, she was sp unhappy, so I gave her my coat so that we could make it through the tour. Thank goodness I put on an extra very warm sweatshirt that morning! We went straight to security. It was just like airport security! Once we were inside, it was very surreal. It was a very peaceful place. It's been designed very well. Our tour guide was wonderful. She gave us alot of factual information at the beginning of the tour.
She told us about facts and figures and the basic story of that horrible day!
She explained the design of the fountains. Each jet of water is an individual jet and then forms a large pool. The thought behind it is that each person who died that day, began the day as an individual, but then they were joined as one when they were killed. The main hole in the middle signifies that the people who died are now absent.
The names of all the people killed are carved out of the sides of the pool. They are carved out to show that they are no longer present.
This amazing pear tree has a wonderful story. The tree was in the World Trade Center when the building fell, but managed to survive! It was taken to a special nursery in New Jersey where it was basically brought back to life! It is described as the most loved tree in NY!
It was replanted here once it was healthy enough. However, when Hurricane Sandy hit NY, this poor tree was uprooted again and so, was taken back to the New Jersey to be brought back to life again! And here it now stands... a battered tree that will not die! It has become a symbol of hope and life.
Our tour guide then gave us lots of information about the new Freedom Tower and how it is being built and what changes they are making to this building to stop the same thing happening again.
Right before we finished our tour, our guide told us her story. It was amazing. She was supposed to be at work in Tower One that day, but the night before, her best friend has taken her shoe shopping. She has bought a new pair of shoes that she wore and they really hurt her feet. Because her feet were still so sore the following morning, she waited for a train that would have an empty seat, so she could rest her feet. When she arrived at the World Trade Center, she got off the train and started walking to Tower One, but before she could get there, she was met by police screaming, run, run for your life. So, she ran! She made it out the train station before the towers fell! She now does the tours so that people can understand the real story of that day!
We also had a second tour guide. She also told us her story. Her daughter was in Tower Two on one of the floors that was directly hit by a plane. Her father was sick and she had been really tired from looking after him, but despite her mother asking her not to go to work that day so she could rest, she decided to go in and take the Thursday off so that she could spend the day with her husband on his birthday.
Both stories are amazing... they are just so touching! Every single person who died that day had a story! We left the memorial in a very somber state! It was just so emotional!
We walked back to the Family and Survivors Museum to look around. On our way back there, we passed this wonderful plaque. It was donated by a Law Firm. One of the directors at the law firm was also a volunteer firefighter. When he heard what was happening on 9/11, he left work and headed down to help. He was killed that day, so his law firm commissioned this plaque in his and every firefighters memory.
Before the plaque was placed on the wall, family members were allowed to write a personal message to their loved ones who died. Then the plaque was put up to cover and protect their messages.
The plaque is so wonderfully designed! It shows all stages of that day from the planes hitting to the buildings falling. All the firefighters faces are unfocused so that no one was identified specifically.
We continued round to the museum... I thought the day was emotional already, it only got worse!
The museum contained items on loan from families and survivors.
This firefighters outfit was from one of the men who died. The back of the jacket is ripped to pieces!
There were photos of the people killed everywhere. There were the missing posters everywhere too!
These amazing origami swans were made by a school in Japan and sent to the families. They were then made into this display. It was beautiful.
There were so many other amazing things in the museum. There were videos to watch, pictures to look at, letters to read... it was just so overwhelming. I had to really focus on not balling into tears!
Once we were done, we went and got a yummy lunch. Jason and Kayle then headed home because they were so cold and Granny and Grandad and I went to quickly see Wall Street and the Financial Stock Exchange.
The Stock Exchange looked really different than I thought it would.
Near the Stock Exchange is this huge Copper Bull. It is said that if you rub the Bulls balls, you will receive financial prosperity. Granny and Grandad jumped at the chance!
The front of the bull was more for me!
We had another wonderful day. Today especially, made me realise how amazing my life is and how blessed I am despite my situation!
3rd January meant a trip to The Empire State Building!
We got to take the lift/ elevator up and Jason was extremely impressed by the amazing design of the walls!
We made it to the 1st landing in the building. We walked around and took some photos!
The views were amazing!
We managed to get a family photo up the Building!
Granny got one too! Think Grandad was a bit scared of the height!
I bought us tickets to the very top level online, which was great, because they were not selling tickets to the top that day! So, we got in line and waited to head up!
We made it to the top... and boy, it was tiny up there. It was a very tight space!
We grabbed some lunch after leaving the Building and then we headed to the train station.
When we got there, we found this amazing group of men singing. There were fantastic! Kayle gave them some money and we bought a CD! Very entertaining!
Jason went back to the apartment to rest and Granny, Grandad, Kayle and I headed to the Firestore to get Paul, Stanley and Albert some presents! This store has everything FDNY!
We headed home after a nice walk around this part of town. Then took a little rest, then went and got another delicious dinner. Everything we have eaten in NY has been wonderful! I wish we could continue to eat out all the time here!
Our last day was a very quiet one. We did a bit of last minute shopping and got those last requested gifts. We then came home and packed and got ready to head off the following morning. We all took a nap and then headed out to dinner again. We went back to our favorite place and ate as much as we possibly could!
We had an amazing time in NY... I am so grateful for all the memories that we made together. I can't wait for Kayle to be able to read back this and see all the amazing things she got to do as a little girl!
