2013-07-14 Fifth Week in NY

Monday, July 8 - Water taxi around Manhattan. 9-11 memorial, Fraunces Tavern, Its was the last day with Brian's New York passes. We got an early start and went to the 9/11 memorial. It was very touching and feels like solemn ground. Elsa thoroughly enjoyed hearing miraculous stories of the thousands of people who happened to be somewhere else that morning, who normally would have been right there in or under the World Trade Center. Then we walked down to Battery Park and got on a water taxi and went over to South St. Seaport. Tom and Elsa and Ava walked over to Fraunces' Tavern and enjoyed seeing George Washington's memorabilia. Paula shopped in South Street Seaport and bought some sandals for her hurting feet! We bought lunch and took it back on the water taxi. The water taxi ride on the water was fabulous. We went under the Brooklyn Bridge and out past the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson river, all the time seeing the beautiful New York skyline. We enjoyed touring the Intrepid and the World War 11 submarine, and then walked up to Times Square to catch a subway. Paula returned home to make a salad for home evening dinner, and Tom and Ava went to the natural history Museum. Brian and Elsa went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was high on Elsa's list. By now we are all exhausted and don't have very many steps left! Paula made a pasta dinner and took a salad to home evening dinner. We went out to try and find some ice cream and walked several blocks and ended up getting caught in a very amazing downpour of rain! We spent the rest of the evening putting together another Norman Rockwell puzzle and eating quesadillas and some cinnamon rolls that Janet Peterson brought up to us. Elsa slept on a blowup mattress and Ava slept on the pullout couch and enjoyed the snuggly blankets that were in the apartment. Brian slept in our 4-F apartment's Queen-size bed.
Tuesday, July 9 - Chinatown and Little Italy with Brian. They leave on the subway; On our last day together in New York, we took a subway to Canal Street. It was very warm 90+ degrees and humid. We shopped along Canal Street. Elsa and Ava Bought little New York shot glasses to but in the bathroom to drink out of and the little frog toy for Greta and Anders. Ava found a darling little Chinese umbrella to keep the sun off of her and a T-shirt for Anders. Ava also bought little bags for her two friends Charlie and Callie. Elsa bought a mini Statue of Liberty for Julia to put on her dresser. We ended up in  Chinatown and went into a Chinese bakery and sampled their pastries and had some orange juice among some Chinese people.
Then we walked through Little Italy and sampled a coconut gelato. We discovered we were very close to the Tenement Museum so we went and watched 15 minutes of the movie about the early immigrants and how they lived. Then it was time to rush home on the subway in the heat and have some lunch which was ham and cheese quesadillas, and head off to the subway to transfer to the airport for the airplane ride home.
It was a perfectly timed trip. Elsa and Ava were definitely finished with touring and ready to go home and be reunited with their mom and Anders and Greta whom they missed a lot. We were so very blessed to have them come and visit and spend those wonderful five days with us in New York City.Wednesday -pedestrian hit by a taxi, bike with Clark Davis around Manhattan

Thursday -  bike with Clark Davis,Chinatown and the Tenement museum
Friday - Biked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Saturday - worked the day shift in the temple. walked in Central Park before the big baseball All Star charity concert. Lincoln Center to see

'Monkey: Journey to the West'