Babies Make Four: Yankee Stadium

Woowhee! We returned home on Friday to one of the most epic trips I've ever taken. We knocked out two more stadiums in New York City, Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. I've split the trip up into two posts just because of the amount of pictures and information. We did run into some snafus during the trip with flight cancellations. We were supposed to return home on Wednesday, but the northeast somehow turned into a giant cluster and our flight was canceled. There was nothing to return home until Friday so we extended our stay and tried to make the best of it. Honestly, it wasn't a bad thing (other than the extreme cost!)

We flew out of Charlotte, NC on June 28th. It was the first ever flight for our kiddoes and I was apprehensive. Would they like it? Would they freak out while we were in the air? I'm happy to say that they LOVED it and it may have been their favorite part of the entire trip. Take off was fun, and once we got in the air, they entertained themselves with their devices. They also got extra snacks on the first flight and a set of wings from Delta!

When we landed, we took an Uber over to our hotel which was located right at 1 World Trade Center. When I booked the room, I figured that we would have a view looking into someone else's building, but when we got to our room we were pleasantly surprised to be looking straight at One World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial. The view was incredible. We could even open up the door to let air in and listen to the city noises.

That evening, we walked around the area where we were staying and found a nice little bar to have dinner. We walked over to the Battery, where we saw the Statue of Liberty from a distance and just got our bearings. We had a big day coming up!

The next morning, we woke up and walked over to Pick A Bagel, where they pile on about a pound of cream cheese for every bagel that you purchase. Dillon wanted to try and walk to Central Park, but the little legs of our group didn't really cooperate so we took our first ride on the NY Subway. For us, it took a little planning to figure out where we were going and how we were going to get there, but after 6 days in the city, we got used to it! It definitely was the most cost effective and quickest way to get around town. Plus, driving up there looks to be terrifying. It's not for the faint of heart.

We got to Central Park and started walking. It was hard to understand the magnitude of the Park until you got there. We walked maybe a quarter of the way through before we had to walk over to the Subway to catch a ride to the Yankees game.

We got to the stadium waaayyy too early, but enjoyed a slice of pizza before the game and then went in. Of course we had to stop at the merch shop and then we fought through the crowds. The Yankees were playing the Texas Rangers that day and where it was a Sunday game, it was PACKED. We had purchased "Pinstripe Passes" where you can sit in the bleachers or just meander through the stadium. Honestly, I wish more teams did this, because it was pretty awesome. We just found empty seats and moved around to see the game from different angles. We also got a free drink with the ticket which made the tickets pretty much free to get in (they were only $15).

We only stayed for a few innings and then caught the Subway back. We were all pretty much exhausted from the day and relaxed for the evening.

The next morning, we took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty up close! We weren't really interested in spending a whole morning to get over to the island and get off to the see the Statue of Liberty and had been told that the Staten Island Ferry is the next best option. The good news is, it's FREE and only takes about an hour to get over and back. It seems that most people on the ferry were commuters in and out of the city and even though we were on it early in the morning, it wasn't too busy.

When we finished with that, we made our way over to Greenwich Village to look around. This part of the city is probably my favorite, with the cute shops and tree lined streets. I also talked the family into checking out the Friends apartment!

We took a brief rest and then headed out to Times Square, the M&M store and Madison Square Garden. A few weeks prior to our trip, we were talking about concerts we may want to go to with the kids and we found out the Tears for Fears were playing at the Garden while we were in town! So we got some seats and took our first trip there. It was so cool and so massive and the show was AMAZING. Unfortunately, Charlie got tired after the opening band and wanted to go home. We tried to stay as long as we could and made it to the encore. The good news is, we missed the crowds on the Subway! Ha!

The next few days were also filled with excitement and at this point, we were unaware that we'd be given 2 more days of touring around. Stay tuned for how we filled our time!

On the plane!

Charlie's first flight!

We made it!

Yankee Stadium

Times Square and the M&M store

On the ferry!

Monica & Rachel's apartment!

The Occulus... a shopping center/subway center right next to the Freedom Tower and our hotel.

The Garden!

Inside the Garden

Too much vacationing

Going home that night... the buildings are so tall they're in the clouds

Pictures are out of order, ha! This was us on the way into the airport.

Milkshakes at Bill's Burgers.

Inside the Occulus

Charlie loved all the artwork throughout the city. And she always wanted her picture taken with it!

Across the city

Friends!

The Naked Cowboy in Times Square!

All we heard about from the kids was the M&M store. :-| So we made a stop and bought $40 worth of M&Ms.

Yankee Stadium!

Belvedere Castle at Central Park

Charlie was more nervous about the subway than flying. She grew accustomed to it quickly!

Occulus from the Outside

This statue stood outside of the World Trade Center and was a perfect sphere. After the attacks, the statue was recovered, battered, but still in tact. It stands today as a symbol of resilience.