nyc | empire state building, riverside park, and the 9/11 memorial

There wasn't a better way to spend our first morning in the city than by taking in the views from the Empire State Building. Thanks to Kyle's work connections, we got to go to the top for FREE! Brandon and I had been to the top of the Rockefeller Center at night, but seeing the city in the daylight really put the location of everything into perspective. My cousin Cheri and aunt Karen were also there with us and it was fun to hang out with them for a bit.

Hudson was really cute and was giving Blake the tour of the city. He'd say, "there's the Statue of Liberty and there is Hudsy's river and there is Blake's river." He knows his city well.  Although last time I checked, there isn't a Blake River in NYC.

We had a whole list of restaurants we wanted to eat at, so we got started right away. Sarabeth's for brunch it was! The lemon ricotta pancakes were ever bit as good as I remember. And Blake scarfed up his plate, too! Evelyn loved pulling all the silverware onto the floor. And we left a pretty pile of crumbs to clean up afterwards. That's eating with kids though. 

By this time, Blake and Hudson were ready to just run around. So we added Riverside Park to our agenda and let them play for a while. Evelyn and Charlotte had a grand old time on the swings together.

^no fear for the blakester! he loved this park. 

^Brandon is always good at playing with kids. He's such a kid at heart. 

The 9/11 Memorial where the Twin Towers once stood was under construction the last time we went, so we wanted to see it all done this time. Honestly, we didn't spend a ton of time there, but we enjoyed seeing the architecture of the memorial fountains. I loved all the names engraved around the edges. At first, they were just names. But then I  couldn't help but think about their families and how devastated they must have been to lose them in this act of terror. I don't like to dwell on these thoughts too much, but for their sake, I'm grateful there is a place to remember and honor them.

The best street Gyros (according to Brandon) and smoothies (according to me) are down in the Financial District near the memorial. When we were planning this trip, Brandon said he would be happy just eating and seeing shows. This was the first of many gyros for him. And just look at that happy face.