Happy Tuesday! I shared the first half of our trip to New York City yesterday. We walked over 10 miles on Monday, 10 miles on Tuesday, and almost 10 miles on Wednesday! We did our best to make the most of our time! I’m picking up right where I left off yesterday, so be sure to start there!

After a delicious lunch, we hopped back on the subway and got off in Times Square.

We walked around and ended up in Rockefeller Plaza. We checked out the Nintendo store. We went to FAO Schwartz and played the piano from Big.

We saw where the Christmas tree sits and the Today show area.

Then we headed to the Lego Store. There was a 20-25 minute wait to get in and it was worth it! The store wasn’t crowded and there were a bunch of neat displays. Luke was in absolute heaven! Jack and Luke designed their own minifigure and had it printed right there!

From the Lego store, we walked down 5th Avenue to our hotel. I made a quick stop to say hi to the lions at the NYPL. 😍

We rested for a little bit and showered before hopping back on the subway to go see Stomp! The Orpheum theater is tiny but that made the show so cool! It is only 14 seats across at the widest part. We were pretty close and the musicians/actors did a great job of including the audience!

We hopped on the subway right after the show because Luke and I had an early alarm set the next morning!

We went to the Today show!!

We met Hoda and Sheinelle! Luke got on tv! We peeked through some plants and you could see us during Steals & Deals with Jill, too.

After that, we headed back to pack up at the hotel and get moving with Jeff and Jack. Jack wanted to go to the MLB store and he took charge of navigating. He did a great job using his phone and directing us around the city! We went to the NBA store too. Luke decided to try to take an escalator like Buddy the Elf while in NYC.

It was getting close to noon so we made our way back to the library and went inside for a bit. The guys stayed and went to the Treasures exhibit while I went around back to Bryant Park.

I read that Jamie Brenner, Fiona Davis, and Brenda Janowitz would be at the Reading Room. So I emailed Jamie (who replied almost immediately) and did some research. It worked out for our trip so I was pumped! It was so cool to hear 3 authors tell about their newest books that are all jewelry related in the city.

I even met Rudy the Prep while we were waiting for our books to be signed. If you don’t follow him on Instagram, he’s a fun follow!

I found the guys playing chess and we hung out for a little while. Bryant Park was so cool and will definitely be on our visit list when we return.

Everyone was getting a little hungry so it was time for our last NYC destination. We walked through Times Square again and headed to Ellen’s Stardust Diner. We went around 2:45 so the line was short. All of the waiters and waitresses at Ellen’s are aspiring Broadway singers/actors and they were awesome! The food was delicious, the service was great, and the singing couldn’t be beat!

With full bellies, we walked back to the hotel to get our bags and headed to the train station.

We made friends with an Amtrak employee and got the early scoop on what track our train would be on. We ended up being the first 4 people on our very full train.

There you have it – the Parsons’ first family trip to New York City. We had a great time and everyone has something they want to do when we go back. We are off on our next summer trip right now, but I’ll be back Friday. Have a great day full of sunshine and books!