Day three in New York and we woke up….tired. After a full day 2 exploring the city, we were worn out and Maxwell was weary. I was nervous that we weren’t going to have enough to fill up the day. We did head up to Sarabeth’s on Central Park South for breakfast which was a good start. Pancakes are always a plus!

After that there was a little bit of twiddling our thumbs while I tried to figure out what to do. Maxwell thought he wanted to go back to Nike Town again so we walked over there…but they didn’t open until 11:00 on Sunday and it was only 10:00. So, we headed back towards the park and stopped in the Plaza to check it out. (Maxwell was unimpressed! ha!)

We then decided to take a carriage ride in the park. In all my years of living in New York this was something I had never done! Well, it was money well spent! Not only was it a fun ride but it showed us all the neat areas in the park we wanted to go explore. Maxwell wanted to hop out of the carriage mid-ride to go start climbing rocks!

We spent the next 2.5 hours in Central Park and it was FANTASTIC. It was a beautiful 72 degree morning with a slight breeze. Just perfect weather! Maxwell has no idea how lucky he was to experience such a beautiful day in New York.

He was the happiest camper around climbing on all of those rocks and running his heart out!

It’s like a game of Where’s Maxwell?!

The carriage ride also showed us that they set up a carnival in the Wollman rink space during the summer. We obviously had to go ride some rides and play some games!

We needed to check out of our hotel by 2:00 so I had to drag him away from the park to go pack up our bags. He was having the best time! I should have known better than to worry about finding things to fill our time – New York always delivers! After checking our bags with the bellhop, we headed to the Upper West for a quick lunch at Shake Shack (note the Nike jacket – best purchase of the trip!).

We then went across the street to the American Museum of Natural History. We got lucky there – apparently there was a huge line to get into the front entrance. We had to walk around the whole building to get there so passed the Planetarium entrance where there was zero line and you could walk right into the entire museum from there too! If you ever go, skip the main entrance! We spent about 2.5 hours there and had just enough time to hit up all the floors and see the things Maxwell wanted to see…

We took our souvenirs and went back down to the hotel to get our bags…

But it wasn’t quite time to go to the airport yet. I had kind of planned on grabbing dinner but we weren’t hungry so we did what Maxwell wanted to do – climb rocks! We went back to Central Park (with roller bag in tow!) and I let Maxwell run around, climb up and down, and have fun. We also saw the most gigantic raccoon I’ve ever seen in my life! ha!

Playing in the park was the perfect ending to our trip! We got to the airport in time to eat some dinner and then wait for our plane to be delayed for over 2 hours! ugh.

We finally made it home around 12:45am…completely exhausted but so happy for all that we had gotten to do and see!

Maxwell was the best travel partner and I can only hope that he enjoyed it all as much as I did. For the record, Maxwell’s favorite part of the trip? Climbing the rocks in Central Park. I have to agree – as I sat in the park on Sunday watching him run around and enjoy the city that means so much to me…well, it just doesn’t get any better. I’m so thankful for this awesome kid and loved surprising him and creating memories that I hope he never forgets…I know I never will.

I ❤️ NY and I ❤️ Maxwell.

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We can make it anywhere! And we definitely made it in New York on day 2! We packed a LOT of fun stuff into the day. After a quick Starbucks stop, we headed over to the Empire State Building. Unfortunately, it was a pretty overcast morning and they said the top was only at 5% visibility at that point. Not the best for viewing! So, we quickly changed plans….and took Maxwell’s first subway ride!

We got off at Grand Central and I got to show him where I worked (he was completely unimpressed! ha!) and then we walked over to Rockefeller Center.

While neat to see, Maxwell was growing a little weary of my sight seeing plans! Luckily we saw a Lego store right there in Rockefeller Center and I promised we could go as soon as it opened! Retail therapy to the rescue! In the meantime, we headed up to the Top of the Rock which I had actually never done before. It was awesome – and, I think, a better experience than the top of the Empire State Building.

I even paid for the cheesy pictures and am so glad to have them!  🙂

We then went to the Lego store and Maxwell was a happy camper!

We grabbed a sandwich in Rockefeller Center and then cabbed it back down to The Empire State Building to try again. The conditions were much better and we had great views from the top!

We had a little time to kill before our next adventure so we went up to the top of 5th Avenue to check out Nike Town…and also grabbed Maxwell this great jacket which proved to be a VERY good purchase for the rest of the weekend!

We then walked a bit back to the west side and I got to show Maxwell my first apartment in New York (again, completely unimpressed! ha!)…

Next stop was Chelsea Piers where we sat by the river for a bit…

before getting onto our boat cruise!

We cruised down the Hudson circling lower Manhattan and getting great views of the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge!

After the cruise we stopped for a treat and some souvenirs! Go Yankees!

We then had time to get a little bit of (much needed!) rest in the hotel before heading out on our night adventure! We had dinner in Times Square at Dos Caminos…

and then went to see Lion King!

It was a fantastic show! Maxwell thoroughly enjoyed it I think!

We finally made it back to the hotel about 10:45pm…worn out but happy from a FUN and FULL day in NYC!! More tomorrow!

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As I mentioned, Maxwell read 100 Books this summer and earned a fun surprise. I decided to combine that surprise with an early birthday present and took him on a trip – just the two of us – to New York City! We left on Friday and I didn’t tell him we were going until that morning. His reaction was very reserved – not surprising at all! ha! I could tell he was super excited though!

At the airport, ready to go!

Maxwell learned a lot of things this trip starting with the joys of flying Delta through the Atlanta airport! Our flight was delayed 1 hour because of air traffic issues then delayed another 2 because of a mechanical issue! Arrgh! After getting a new plane and a complete terminal change, we finally took off to NYC! While we waited Maxwell spent the time with his new favorite hobby – putting emojis on pictures on my phone! ha!

We landed at LGA around 8pm. Welcome to New York! 🍎

Maxwell then got to take his first taxi ride!

We got to our hotel (which was right in Times Square), threw our stuff down, and headed out to see the sights! I forgot just how insanely crowded and overwhelming Times Square is!

We had planned to go eat at Ellen’s Stardust Diner but, since it was so late, the wait was way too long. We decided to just walk through Times Square and grab a piece of NY pizza instead. Perfect!

We also stopped into the M&M store (crazy crowded) and then got Maxwell a giant pretzel!

We made it back to our hotel just before 10pm to finally eat our pizza. It had been a LONG day but Maxwell was so hyped up and excited (as was I!) I wasn’t sure we were ever going to be able to go to sleep. But, we had to get some rest because we had a FULL day planned for Saturday! Details tomorrow!

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