The Young and the Restless

New York: Day 2

Lady Liberty
Once again, amazing to see such an historical and iconic American symbol up close and in person.  Another Kylie fun fact: she is made of copper but the oxygen causes the copper to turn green over time.  Am I the only one who didn't know that?  Jason and I had our own version of "are you smarter than a 3rd grader" on this trip.

We thought we were safe getting a fellow Chinese tourist to take our picture, but maybe the stereotype isn't correct since half of the statue is cut off :)

The last time we were at Ellis Island I remember being amazed by the history there.  I could have spent hours reading about all the stories and studying all the pictures, but for some reason it didn't have quite the same effect on the kids.  Hopefully one day they'll appreciate it.

"If you drag me to one more historical site or take one more picture I'm going to scream."

Wall Street

Jayden didn't understand what was so important about the New York "sock exchange".

Jason craved the noodles, but I was dreaming in Pizza.  Huge, greasy, floppy, cheesy thin crust street corner New York pizza.  I kid you not when I say all we ate the whole entire time was noodles and pizza (unless you count the complimentary breakfast where we horded all the fruit and granola bars and stuffed them into the backpack)

WTC site

 I hope the kids never forget this.  Not that I want them to remember such a horrible tragedy, but I want them to remember all those who sacrificed to help others, I want them to remember those who are fighting the wars to prevent things like this, I want them to remember to never take for granted each and every day that we have with our loved ones.  Standing in that exact spot, seeing just how many people there really are walking the streets and any given time, seeing how many buildings there are surrounding it and then imagining what it would have been like to be there.  The chaos, the panic, the shock, it's unimaginable.  It's crazy to think that it has been almost 10 years yet when you are there it is obvious that the rebuilding is slow and the wounds are still fresh.

 This statue was found in the rubble, it used to sit in the entrance of one of the towers.

Union Square
I must say, this is one of my favorite places.  I love the urban grit. I love that it shows the raw beat of the city. I love that it is a true melting pot.  You see it all, street dancers, pick up ball, chess players, chalk artists, people of every race and background all just hanging out, chilling and having a good time.  It's my favorite place to people watch.   Kylie and I would always get excited to come across the street performers, but these were my favorite.  All the others were doing it for the money, but these guys were doing it for the pure love of dance.  Anyone could jump in and show what they got, there was even this kid that couldn't have been older than 13 who schooled them all. I could sit and watch for hours. (this guy was my favorite, he channelled "Twitch" from SYTYCD)

 ...and then this guy struts in with his 1980's Polo shirt and pegged leg jeans to singlehandedly confirm the fact that white men CAN'T dance. 

They have one of the best playgrounds there with really cool and innovative equipment.  It was fun to see the kids making friends and letting loose, kids will be kids no matter where you are. We stayed there until the sun started going down then we headed back to Chinatown for another round of noodles before calling it a night.