Welcome to New York!

Natalie pressed the play button on her iPod as soon as we crossed the state line. For most of us, our excitement came bursting out as we bopped to the beat and sang along with Taylor Swift, 

"Welcome to New York

It's been waiting for you

Welcome to New York"

Caleb was less than enthused.  His disdain for Taylor Swift overpowered all joy of arriving at this much anticipated part of our adventure.

Alyssa would tell you she'd been waiting her whole life for this moment.  Visiting New York was at the tippy top of her life's wish list and now she was finally here!  Not quite to the city yet, but it was so close she could taste it.  Giddiness all around.

But before going into the city, we had some very special business to take part in.  Cousin Anna recently turned 8.  We arrived at their Harrison, NY home just in time to see her slip into her beautiful white baptism dress.  I dolled up her hair in the perfect style for the occasion.  

Grandma and Grandpa Seely, Uncle Chad and Aunt Amy had arrived a couple of days prior. Nearly every member of our family got to participate in Anna's baptism in one way or another.  It was a really beautiful program.

Erin provided a very yummy reception for all of the baptism guests and then it was time for all of us to head into Manhattan.  We had a rental car to return, but the rest of our extended family rode the train into Grand Central Station.

Jon maneuvered his way through the maze of New York City and dropped the kids, myself and our luggage at our home for the week: Radio City Apartments.

Our most perfect NYC accommodations were an exceptionally generous family reunion gift from my parents.  

The hotel is old--built in 1910--but beautifully renovated to have all the modern conveniences juxtaposed with original features like the old-fashioned mail box that has a letter shoot running up all 12 floors.  

The girls, Jon and I got to share a penthouse suite.  I've been in other NY hotels with rooms scarcely big enough to walk around the bed.  This was wonderfully spacious!

The long hallway from the bedroom had a bank of windows on one side.

We even had a lovely little kitchen:

The stairwell was beautiful but scared me to death!  In the picture below, you can see Caleb waiting for the elevator (which is not seen, but directly to his right), with a much-too-short railing on his left. The space between the elevator and railing was very narrow.  One wrong move, trip, slip or goof-off could easily send one on a thirteen-story downward tumble.  We gave all the kids strict instructions on how to behave while waiting for the elevator.

The walkway surrounding our suite also had a fairly short railing in some places.  But look at these faces, especially Alyssa.  That's the face of a girl whose dream of coming to NYC has just come true!

Once Jon arrived from returning the rental car, which was just a couple blocks away, we all set out for Grand Central Station to meet the rest of the family arriving from Harrison.

GCT is just as its name suggests: grand!  

While the men bought all of our subway passes for the week, the girls were bonding over hand-clapping games.  It would become a sort of waiting-for-the-subway ritual during the week.

Cousin Clara decided right away that Alyssa was her best pal and Lys was really great with what she would come to affectionately call her new "appendage."  Nat and Anna went together like peas and carrots.

We were now a crazy crew of 13, some of us pulling suitcases, walking the streets of Manhattan toward our hotel.  We passed Rockefeller Center on our way.

The plaza was surrounded in American flags in celebration of Independence Day.  By the next morning, they would all be changed back to the usual state flags.

Once we arrived back at the hotel and got everyone settled in, several of us met in the lobby to walk to a nearby grocery store to stock up on snacks and breakfast items for the week.  The elevators in the hotel must be originals because they were very slow, stuffy and cramped.  When Jon and I emerged from the compact elevator with a number of other hotel guests, Amy--who was sitting in the lobby--remarked that we looked liked were getting out of a clown car.

Clown car!  That's it!  It became our mantra (and hashtag) for the week. We were one crazy family--and probably looked like a circus--making our way through the largest city in the US.

Sorta like this:

We weren't short at all.  We had just the right amout of clowns.  And let me tell you, it was one ultra fun, spectacular circus!  It would turn out to be everything Alyssa--and any of us, really--had ever dreamed of!