A new countdown!

Well, we are barely home from our Florida summer vacation trip (see this), but we have already started a countdown to our next trip...New York City! And yes, we are taking our kids!

We hadn't planned on going to New York City with the kids this year. My husband and I enjoyed our 10th anniversary trip to NYC last year and figured we'd take the kids in a few years when they are older.

However....since our trip to NYC, our kids keep asking us when they can go. They have actually been asking to go to NYC for years before our trip last year (Thanks, Spiderman and other comic books). And we had the airline miles and hotel points to go there for (almost) free, so we figured why not this year?! This is the last year that we have 2 Southwest Airlines companion passes (1 of the passes expires at the end of this year). So we only have to spend miles for 3 of us instead of 5. And we have a 3-day weekend coming up this Fall, so the kids won't have to miss any school.

I'm such a planner by nature, but booking this trip is one of the most spontaneous things I've done.

We will fly on a direct flight to NYC on a Friday night. We will have two full days to explore the city before flying back on Monday. Our plan is to explore the Times Square area on Saturday, including the Toys 'R Us that will be closing later this year (with the ferris wheel inside) and the Disney Store. We will also go to the Top of the Rock and hit the Nintendo World store (one of my kids is super excited about this!) I think that is enough to wear us out in one day. Lots of walking!

Toys 'R Us Times Square

On Sunday, we have tickets for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We managed to get 3 tickets up to the crown (my youngest does not meet the height requirement, so I will stay at the pedestal with her). I'd like to hit the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum later that day if we have time (free with our Perot Museum membership). As a bonus, my brother and his family will also be in NYC the same weekend, so we will get to meet up with them.

The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum

If we manage to see anything besides what I've mentioned above, it will just be icing on the cake. After all, we only have 2 days!

I've had it in my head that I want my kids to experience New York City before we take them to any cities in Europe. It's just such an historic, iconic, busy city...I realize this is just my own silly prerequisite for London and Paris. I think my kids are going to be shocked by NYC--it's so different from where we live. But I can't wait!