NYC at Christmastime: Take 3

It has become our yearly tradition to visit New York City at Christmastime.  Mainly to visit the Santa at the Plaza Hotel, who, if you haven't visited before, is probably the best Santa ever.  Seems like a pretty ridiculous trip just to see a Santa, but it seems we are suckers for a good one, especially after seeing a few of the local Santas...

You remember the first time we went?  And last year?

This year was, by far, the easiest.  No worries about where to feed her, the nearest place with a changing table or whether or not she was cold or having a good time.

We had a bit of a hitch in the morning as MiniM.E. cried the whole way to the train station and then we missed our train by seconds resulting in an epic tantrum about wanting to be on that train.

But we caught the next one and after a relaxing trip we made it to Grand Central Station.  MiniM.E. looked less than thrilled, but it turned out it was just because...

It was nap time.  While she snoozed Bob and I took a leisurely walk up 5th Avenue through Central Park for a while and MiniM.E. woke up just as we were debating whether to buy tickets to the zoo. Of course when we asked MiniM.E. what she thought she said, "Yes, I DO want to go to the zoo!!!!"

We saw a sea lion show and let her escape from the stroller for a bit.

A few snow leopards and red pandas later, we'd pretty much seen what there was to see at the zoo, but it was a nice activity.

The petting zoo is actually separate and I have to say, wasn't really worth the trek over to it.  All the animals were caged and not very "pettable" and the few activities they had for kids we didn't let MiniM.E. do because it was too cold.

She seemed to enjoy herself anyway.

Then it was back to the edge of Central Park for a hotdog and a black squirrel sighting.  Have you seen these?  MiniM.E. was hilarious as she kept commenting, "Squirrels aren't supposed to be black.  That's silly!"

The highlight of the trip, by far, was FAO Schwartz.  Specifically, the giant piano.  MiniM.E. loved it last year and was even more excited to run around on it this year.

We walked back down 5th Ave. past the tree and through the Bryant Park Christmas Market to Times Square.  MiniM.E. had been begging for another hotdog since we left the toy store so we called it a day with a meal at Ruby Tuesday's, MiniM.E.'s preferred restaurant because "you get to pick out your food to eat."

As soon as we were back out in the brisk winter air, MiniM.E. was asleep.  Third trip to NYC: success!