New York City / Niagara Falls

Our trip to New York was a special one because Jose's mother, Aurora joined us.  She had never travelled other than from California to Mexico.  This was fun for all of us to spend so much time together.  We surprised her from the start with a limo ride from the airport to our hotel.  We all felt like celebrities.

 

Our first day we boarded the ferry to Liberty Island.  We visited the museum first to see some info about the Statue of Liberty.

The actual size of Lady Liberty's feet

 

 The kids enjoyed some run-around time.  Not a lot of that in NYC!

 The ferry ride back to the city...Camille's cute souvenir hat

 

We couldn't miss the greatest candy store in NYC!

 

 Ground Zero

 

Central Park...so beautiful.  Horse-drawn carriage ride.

Wish we could spend more time here with a book or to sit and people watch.   

 

 

Next stop on the following day was to the American Museum of Natural History. 

Kids and I could've spent the entire day posing/ taking pictures in front of every exhibit.  There was so much to see in there.  No rush through this museum for the kids.

 

 

Rockefeller Center...Top of the Rock

We were told to get a great view and to skip the crazy long lines of the Empire State Building to go directly to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center).  We went right up to the top and enjoyed spectacular views of the downtown and Central Park. 

 

 

Our next stop was at eh BODIES exhibition.  This was kind of questionable for our kids and Aurora.  The kids loved every bit of it.  I was more queasy and shocked by the bodies than anyone else. Glad we went...very interesting.  We split up for a few hours.  Jose and Aurora went to see the United Nations and the kids and I got a taxi to Greenwich Village.  Our first stop was Peanut Butter & Co.  All sandwiches and desserts with peanut butter.  It was great.  We walked for a while to see an old firehouse, NYU and then on to Central Park.  We hitched a ride in a Pedi cab. 

 

 

That ended our stay in NYC.  The next morning we flew to Buffalo, NY and rented a car.  We drove to Ontario, Canada.  This is where we viewed a magnificent site, Niagara Falls.

We first rode on a boat that drove right beside the falls.  Our blue ponchos kept up from getting wet from the thick mist of water.  We didn't dare ride on the top deck!

 

We couldn't leave the falls without getting another poncho and stepping out onto the observation deck.  We got seriously wet.  Notice, Aurora didn't join us.  She was much smarter than us.

 

Before heading back to the airport, a stop at the Butterfly conservatory.  There were thousands of butterflies in the greenhouse. 

 

 

 

Yosemite

March 2008- Not a long drive from home to Fish Camp (Tenaya Lodge).  This is short drive to entrance of Yosemite.  Kids feeling car sick on winding road so we stopped to build a snowman.

 Lots of snow to play in...great for sledding.  The weather was great.  The sun was shining bright during the day so it kept us a little warm.  At night it was cold!

 So many places to explore...

 ice rink at the resort...

 this is the life...lunch outside in the snow

 Dinner...it's nice to be cozy and warm after a full day outside in the cold.

 more ice skating at night...much colder this time.

Snow shoeing-this was a new experience for us and so much fun.  It took a while to get the hang of how high to take a step with the snow shoes.  We wandered all around the property.