Girls trip- NYC

Instead of Christmas presents, McKinley wanted an experience instead. Some plane tickets came up for a decent deal to NYC so I booked it.

We stayed in a Hilton Inn in Times Square. It's located close to the subway access.

Here's the view from our hotel room.

Times Square

Checking out some sites around the city.

Had to try Van Leeuwen ice cream of course! We made a mistake and tried some horchata-like flavor that we both did not love.

We walked around the church and lit a prayer candle.

McKinley was a good subway navigator and nearly always had a better send of direction than I did. 

When we lived in Connecticut, I never made it to see the Brooklyn Bridge. So this time it was at the top of my must see list. It didn't disappoint.

A bit of walking to get over to Chinatown while we were nearby.

The World Trade Center Memorial. Somber.

This is one of the metal beam supports that was melted from the heat of the airplane fuel combustion.

Rode the free Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.

Grand Central Station is such a beautiful building.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Van Gogh

Jackson Pollock

The NYC library. We wanted to visit the Rose room, but it's off limits post-COVID unless you have a card and reservations to use it.

We went to the Top of the Rock, because we heard it was cheaper and gave you a nice view of the Empire State building.

We had to catch a play while we were here. 

I was so excited to see the Cursed Child. It was a magical play!

McKinley saw Wicked here when she was 8 so she wanted to relive the moments again.

It was a quick trip filled with lots to do, but we had a lot of fun just the two of us. We were able to take things at our own pace, sleep in, go to bed early, and there wasn't much complaining (just sometimes about our aching feet). I recommend traveling with adult children!

 

Winter fun

Jan 2-We had some beautiful snow, so McKinley, Kent, Josh and I went to the park for some sledding fun.

Jan 17-More January fun, McKinley had to get a root canal!

 

Christmas time

Josh's last week in Primary. He was a good sport and actually dressed up in the nativity!

Josh got a LOT of Legos for Christmas. He's got a lot of work ahead of him.

 

Jazz game

 Kent got tickets from work to some great seats and the pre-game buffet. Sawyer had to work, and Hayden was not interested at all, so McKinley, Josh, Kent and I went.

Soccer champs

Josh's team had a great Fall season and his team was the division champs. They celebrated with a parent/kids soccer game, pizza, and medals.

 

Driver's Permit

 

Hayden finally (was forced) took his test for his driver's permit. He passed! Now we have to actually drive together now.

Grand Canyon

 Tuesday-

We got to the park around 8 am and boarded the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead. We hiked about 0.9 miles to Ooh Aah Point. It was a beautiful view. The 0.9 mile hike back up was a little more exhausting.

Then we did a very quick shuttle stop to Yaki Point.

Then we got back into our car and headed towards the park exit via Desert View Drive. We stopped for views at Moran Point and the Desert View Watchtower. 

I'd heard from a friend that the South Rim was not that much different than the North Rim, but we all agreed that the South Rim had much more beautiful vistas.

Then our long 8 hour drive back home. By the end of the trip we had drive 2038 miles!