Christmas in NYC!!

As many of you know, Paul and I decided to take the kids to NYC this Christmas and surprise them with a show on Broadway --- specifically the 75th annual Christmas Spectacular at the Radio City Music Hall.

We took off on Saturday, late morning, and started off on the 4 hour drive to the city. For the most part, the trip went smoothly...until we actually got to the city. Now, both of us KNEW it was going to be stressful driving in the city, but I guess you just never know HOW much so until you're actually in the middle of it all! In retrospect, I don't think I will ever drive in the city again, but hindsight is always 20/20 *wink*.

After a lot of waiting in traffic due to an accident and MASS amounts of people in the city we finally made it to our destination and were able to check into our hotel. We stayed at The Roosevelt Hotel -- right on the corner of East 45th and Madison. It's a nice hotel with a beautifully decorated lobby and we actually were able to get a room with two double beds (thank the Lord!) which we had not been guaranteed. For all you travelers out there...I actually was able to get a great price on Priceline.com but didn't realize that when you book through Priceline it is only guaranteed for a party of 2.

To make this shorter, suffice it to say that New York was spectacular at this time of year. Yes, it was cold and yes, it rained all day on Sunday while we were trying to sight see, and yes it was expensive, but it was an experience we hope our kids will always remember. And for those of you who have never been to NYC at Christmastime, I highly suggest you take the opportunity at least once in your life.

I've posted some videos from our trip and hope to have a link to our photos soon. Enjoy!


The kids first look at Times Square


a clip from the end of the Christmas Spectacular as everyone raised their lighted stars and sang some Christmas songs


a couple of workers at FAO Schwartz playing the famous piano from the movie, "Big"


a very short clip of the christmas display along a store on 5th avenue. The snowflakes light up to the beat of the music. We caught just the tail end...