The BIG apple.... We left w/5 kids and we came home w/5 kids, the weekend was a success. It rained and thundered all night Fri. night at Bear Mnt, and I lay away dreading the race that lay ahead, but it stopped by morning and was just misty, perfect for a run, except for the MUDDY MESS it left behind, but it was still a lot of fun. The race was more of a RUN-hike than a normal 10k (I'm fine w/running down, but up the mnt?) than I'm used to. I'm sore in places I didn't even know I had muscles, but it was fun nonetheless. And hey, it was sponsored by North Face and I've never gotten so much free gear before.

After the race we cleaned up and headed to the Big Apple for the remainder of the day. We started by finding the Navy Lodge on Staten Island, then taking the ferry to Manhattan. We walked to Ground Zero, which was very humbling, then took the subway to Times Square. There we found the biggest Toys'R'us in the world w/a ferris wheel inside and everything. Then on to 5th ave where we found a huge Build-a-Bear and the American Girl Doll store. The boys got to make their first build-a-bear, and the girls got their dolls' hair done at the salon.

It was a late night getting back, by the time we finished all that up, along w/meals, about 50 bathroom stops, the subway back, a 30 minute wait for the ferry, then the ferry back. Luke was so wound up by the time we got to our room, he didn't go to bed till 1am! We slept till 930 the next morning, then my adventurous husband drove the Suburban into Manhattan, found parking, and the boys and I went to the Children's Museum while he and the girls found Central Park. The girls relayed the entire movie "Enchanted" back to Adam while strolling through.

Jake could only take so much before he checked out on Times Square.

Luke back pack was intended for Luke, but he insisted on walking quite a bit of the day.

We didn't get any "rich snob" comments, but we did turn more than one head. Sat. night when we got on the subway, we walked down the entire train car looking for a few safe, empty seats to sit together, after we sat down on the other end Adam looked back and every head on the train was looking at us.

I put more pics on the slideshow to the side for anyone interested. Couldn't figure out how to put the slideshow right on the blog entry....anyone?