Beaver's 95th | New York - Part 1

We arrive in New York City after an enjoyable Amtrak trip up from DC.  The kids liked the idea of a cafe on the train which was better than a flight... So to date we've had around 36 hours in NYC, and we've tried to pack in as much as possible... Today we racked up another 14km walk, and ended with 8 very sore feet and legs... thankfully the hotel has a bathtub so we can all soak them for a while before getting out and doing it all again tomorrow!

Our first afternoon in NYC dad forced us to go out to a laundromat for a true living-in-NYC experience, and walked around for a while during that time... After which we explored the few blocks around the hotel, which happened to be Times Square!  We visited the Disney store (the first of a few stops which are repeats of our last trip to NYC (see here).

We liked the huge range of police (or Po-Po as Claire has been referring to them) vehicles both big and very small!

Although not pictured, we took the girls to Applebee's for dinner, as they'd been seeing the ad's since first arriving in the US and wanted to try it... Keira had her first Mac & Cheese and wasn't disappointed.  We then treked out to try one of dad's insta-finds... And boy were those cookies and peanut butter shakes delicious!

The girls in Times Square

This morning, knowing we were facing another massive dad-forced-march across the city, we started with a hearty diner meal.

 We then visited Grand Central...

And got told off by security for taking a photo of the MetLife Building (if you look carefully you can see them coming out from the revolving door to tell us off).

Next stop was Top of the Rock... and another recreation (see here)

We then recreated some videos which were originally just Claire... but are better with two!

After a visit to the NYC Lego store, we decided to cross off another NYC must-do, the Pretzel...

And Cupcakes & Cheesecake from Magnolia Bakery!

Too yummy!

Dad then forced us to make a 25 minute walk, to get in line to go on the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier that he didn't go on last time he was here.  It was scorching hot, and we ended up in line for something like 45 minutes (it was Open Museum Day, meaning free entry, and lots of interest)

The girls taking aim at dad for forcing them to walk!

Dad finally got a photo with his dream plane, the F-14.

The girls then chose their favourites...Mum and Claire shared this one...

While Keira liked the helicopter.

Inside the carrier Claire & Dad tried the flight simulator...

Whilst the photo's not too clear, this shows them both upside down and spinning, with Claire holding on for her life.

After walking back to the hotel and resting for a while, we headed out again for dinner and shopping... The girls looked so sweet sharing a drink...

So the parents had to have a go too...

When we said we were going to the states, Claire was most excited to try a Sloppy Joe, which we fulfilled today...and she thoroughly enjoyed it too...

We then spent a couple of hours shopping...and passing yet another Claire's...before heading back to the hotel and crashing...exhausted from both the heat and the dad-forced march...waiting for tomorrow's plans!