New York City Surprise

Mark woke me up at 3am last week Friday and told me to get ready because we were leaving for the airport in 45 minutes.  I was completely shocked and I asked him 20 questions about what was going on. All he would tell me is that we were flying somewhere and we would be coming back on Monday night. I had no idea where we could be going.  I knew he had earned travel vouchers at work, but I didn't think he had those yet. We had talked about how we would use them, but no decisions had been made (at least that is what I thought :).  He showed me detailed schedules he had typed up for each child and he had me sign medical release forms for the kids to prove that he had everything taken care of.  He also had one of my best friends come the night before when I was out and pack my suitcase.

After I calmed down a little and trusted that he had everything under control, I got ready and when our babysitter came (at 3:45am--sorry Emily!!) we headed to the airport.  Our first flight was from Grand Rapids to Chicago so it wasn't until we were in the Chicago airport catching our next flight that I realized we were going to New York City for the weekend! Wow-- what a surprise. 

By noon on Friday we were walking around NYC, pretty crazy! Mark totally surprised me; we had an incredible time together. This is a trip we will talk about for a long time. Here is a look at our weekend exploring NYC......

A quick stop at a pizza joint for a "snack". We were going out for lunch later but we were so hungry after getting up at 3am so we had a pre-lunch :)

Mark arranged for our great college friends to meet us in the city for a night. 

It was so much fun catching up with you Kyle and Katie!! Thanks for taking the bus from Baltimore!

After lunch together we went to the top of the Empire State Building. It was a beautiful day and the view was crazy good!

After walking around for awhile, we went back to our hotel to get ready to go out for the night. We grabbed a light supper at Au Bon Pain, walked through the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) and then headed to the theatre district to see Phantom of the Opera.

The show was incredible! I love the music from this musical.

 After the show we sat at a restaurant and talked with Kyle and Katie until 2am. That was the latest I had been up in a LONG time (at least by choice :), but it was so great to catch up with them.

The next morning we had a good breakfast at The Bread Factory and then we jumped into a taxi and went to lower Manhattan.

Because of the hurricane, the reservation system for the 9/11 memorial was down so we couldn't get into that, but we still saw the freedom tower and some memorials set out by the fire station close by.

We walked around the financial district for a little while. 

It was fairly quiet there because of the hurricane.

We took a look at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island across the water.

Kyle and Katie left for home Saturday afternoon.  Saturday night we ate at Rosa Mexicano--delicious! Then we enjoyed the NY Philharmonic Orchestra. Mark had these tickets and the phantom of the opera tickets purchased ahead of time; he knows I like musical shows!

Sunday we waited in line in Times Square for cheap theater tickets. We scored some for the matinee show for "Newsies". The people and congestion in Times Square was insane; we did a lot of people watching.

We had time to kill before the show, so we decided to grab lunch and eat it in Central Park.  It was a beautiful sunny day and last minute we jumped on a pedicab tour of Central Park so we could see more of the park.  I am so glad we did this! It was perfect way to enjoy the park.

What a surprise! I am very in love with my thoughtful husband. He knows me so well and he was able to plan a perfect weekend.

Thanks a lot to Emily, Mom and Dad and Michael and Jess for watching the kids! We appreciate you all making this work out for us!