Back Blogging: Empire State Building

I know this is old material, but it's gotta make the blog because, c'mon -- it's the Empire State Building. Very cool, I promise. The evening after Thanksgiving (it wasn't THAT long ago, was it??), we decided to take the kids into the city to see some of the Christmas lights and go up to the top of the Empire State Building. 

They love the train, even Natalie, so we headed down to Grand Central, then walked over to Bryant Park, where they set up a huge ice-skating rink, lots of holiday lights and decorations, and a whole village of shops, just for the holiday season. It was really pretty, unfortunately I didn't get a picture. 

But I did get a picture of Minnie Mouse... 

Not a bad gig, if you ask me... Some lady (or man??) dressed up in a Minnie costume and a Snow White dress, to boot. She waves at the kids, then charges Mom and Dad a couple bucks to take a picture with their little darlings. Not a bad way to make some extra cash, eh? Once I get me a Minnie suit, you'll know where to find me in my free time. 

And on to the big event. Pretty cool, eh? I'm glad Brian thought to take this picture, because really, when you get to the top, it's not like you actually get to SEE what the Empire State Building looks like. Especially at night, eh? Our kids were super enthused (read with sarcasm), after the not-so-long-but-not-so-short serpentine line to the elevators...

And then, finally, the views...

Worth the wait, even though it was cold and windy, and dark. New York just looks really good at night, I think...

Looking "up" at the rest of the tower -- turns out they don't really take you ALL the way to the top, but it sure feels high enough, to me...

And down again. In the lobby, they had these really cool Christmasy displays -- not sure if they're there year-round, or just for the holidays? But they were really pretty.

The kids especially liked this one, because the entire "city" is made of candy -- like a giant gingerbread house. Awesome!! (I love Spencer's "smile" here... and Samantha's, come to think of it. Okay, and mine's a little forced, too. ha! But really, we were loving it!)

Brian was smart enough to take a picture of this cool display, highlighting all the "tallest" buildings in the world at the time the Empires State Building was built, and how they all compare...

And he also caught this picture of King Kong...

Seriously, there was a guy dressed in a gorilla costume, standing outside of the elevators on the 66th floor. (They make you change elevators at 66th and ride up another short elevator to the top.) We were standing in line, and we turned around and --WHOAH! Freaky and funny. He didn't say anything, but he looked pretty imposing. Luckily Spencer didn't see him. (He gets really freaked out about "costumes" -- among other things.)

And a few pics of the kids at the top. Natalie looks like she's crying right? Well, I think she was actually just smiling really big. I don't remember her being too upset by the whole adventure....

Spencer on the other hand...

Remember back at the first when I posted a picture of Minnie and me and the kids? Umm... I think that was Spencer's best moment. After that, he just wanted to go home. Part of it was that we mentioned Bryant Park (which is actually just a "square" in the middle of town), and he thought we were taking them to a playground. Oops. 

Another reason for his not-so-happy attitude was that he was sick, but we didn't know it. Poor guy! He was wiped out on the way home, on the train. And by the time we got him into bed, he was running a fever of 103F. We took him to the doctor after a slow, miserable weekend, and found out he had bronchitis, bordering on pneumonia. Not good. 

So, I guess he had a good reason to be a little sad for our outing. The worst of it is that he STILL isn't all the way recovered... He's been congested in one form or another ever since then. I just got him on another course of antibiotics for a double ear infection. We're hoping he makes a full recovery soon -- he's supposed to have a little minor surgery in a couple of weeks here (Jan 23). Prayers for a better boy, eh?




Anyway, that's our story of going to the top of the Empire State Building. Memorable? yes. Enjoyable? sort of. Advisable with three kids at night? ummm... I'm glad we went. Check it off the NY list, eh?