Since my parents have the boys in Utah Parker and I decided to go PLAY!!! We debated whether to go north or south and finally decided on north. Thursday night I picked up Parker from work and we headed up to our hotel in Jackson, New Jersey. The drive was nice and we didn't hit ANY traffic! That's rare out here. The hotel Parker chose was fantastic and we slept great there.
Friday morning we got up and headed to Six Flags! We each got to pick what we wanted to do and this was my choice :) I LOVE roller coasters!
Here we are waiting for The Superman...
Bizarro...
The unexpected surprise for me was how AWESOME the "Safari" ride was! Parker wanted to go and I was like, no it's for little kids it will be lame! I thought it'd be just like farm animals. I was wrong! It was amazing! Most of the animals were just walking around "out in the wild" not in cages. The elephants and rhinos were SO close to us I could've almost touched them. We saw every animal I could think of and even saw a baby that was JUST born! The mom was still eating the placenta! This was way cooler than any zoo I've ever been to!
The highlight for me was the baby lion cubs...oh my gosh SO cute! This one was two months old...
And these two were three months old...
They were wrestling and playing SO cute I could've watched them for hours. They were enclosed until they are old enough to join their pride...
Waiting to ride the Batman roller coaster...
We stayed until closing and were thoroughly exhausted after walking/standing for 10 straight hours!!!
The next morning we got up super early and headed to New York. We drove to Staten Island because Parker had found parking for only $8 for the whole DAY as opposed to most lots which were like $42. Seriously this guy should be a travel agent. Anyway we took the ferry to Manhattan and passed The Statue of Liberty...
First stop was the 9/11 Memorial which was incredible. Smart Parker had gotten us tickets beforehand which was nice so we bypassed the long line of people without tickets. We got right in and it was breathtaking. I did not expect to feel the emotions that I felt. I was overcome with feelings of sorrow, loss, and pride all at once. I was so sad for those who lost their lives and those who lost their loved ones. I was so sad for the survivors and the nightmares they must have. I was so proud of America for rising up amidst this horrible tragedy and building something so beautiful to honor those that lost their lives. The water was so peaceful and drowned out any possible noise, although people were very quiet and respectful for the most part. Our Sprague Concert Choir had stayed in the hotel right by where this pool now is in 2000 when we came and sang in Carnegie Hall...
The new World Trade Center...
After that we headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked a little over a mile across it. It was really pretty but crowded and crowds always annoy me. I'm a very fast paced person and Parker and I like to walk fast so the slow walking idiots and the people that stop in the middle of the walkway to take pictures drove me crazy BUT it was still pretty :)
We got lunch in Brooklyn at a yummy pizza place then took the Subway back to Manhattan. We walked over to J. Crew to see...MY COUSIN JOELLE!!! We grew up together but I haven't seen her in 8 years!!! It was SO good to see her and we could've chatted for hours but she had to get back to work. :(
Then we walked over to Central Park which was huge and beautiful! The weather was PERFECT and we ended up taking a little snooze on the bench because we were so worn out!
After more walking around and shopping we headed to the top of the Rockefeller Center to see the beautiful view! Again, Parker had gotten tickets ahead of time so we bypassed all the suckers in line :)
Once it got dark we headed over to Times Square...
Then we got cheesecake at Cake Boss (oh my gosh SOOOO yummy!!!!) and headed back to our hotel! Travel agent Parker made his first mistake on the way home and we hopped on an express train going the OPPOSITE direction we wanted to go. We were so tired and it was a long detour. We ended up missing the ferry and had to wait 45 minutes for the next one. We got back to the hotel about 1am and CRASHED!!!
We slept in Sunday morning, ate breakfast, relaxed, then headed out. Here we are, sad that we're leaving the hotel (Parker and I LOVE staying in hotels)...
We decided to stop at this great outlet mall to do some shopping, I bought my first ever COACH purse! Parker LOVES to shop and I HATE to shop but I actually ended up buying more than he did! Thanks to my mom and dad for our visa gift cards from Christmas...shopping spree on someone else's dime...can't beat that! :) Here's Parker all excited to shop...
We made it home in good time, Parker navigated us avoiding all toll roads, accidents, and traffic and I used my race car driving skills to get us there in no time! :) We're a good pair him and I!
It was SUCH a fun weekend! We are exhausted but we crammed as much fun into 3 days as we possibly could! Poor Parker had to get up early and get to work-someone's got to make the money so we can go on fun trips like this! ;) I am busy today getting everything caught up before the boys get home TOMORROW!!! I'm excited to see them and the Easter bunny is coming to OUR house on Tuesday so they're looking forward to that.
Pics of them in Utah coming soon!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment