Happy Birthday Ella!

We're back from a whirlwind trip to New York City! I read with the JHPF's First Tuesdays event (will blog about it in a separate post), so I brought the kids for their first visit to The Big Apple. These pictures were taken yesterday in Central Park. We were looking for a carousel and found a carnival instead!

We had a great time, but the highlight of our adventure was a trip to Times Square to Toys R Us, which has a ferris wheel in the center of the store. Talk about overwhelming!

We did lots of walking as well as more firsts such as visiting Rockefeller Center, taking the subway, and buying pretzels from a street vendor. My only regret was not following through on a promise to visit the Statue of Liberty. I just ran out of time. But, as I told my son Alex, that gives us another reason to visit New York. Special thanks to BFF Suzie who came with me and watched the kids while I read poetry across town. Couldn't have done it without her.

In typical Ella fashion, she told me this was the best birthday EVER! I agree with her 100 percent.