New York, New York!

| November 30, 2018

Yesterday I pulled Sam out of school (which is a shocking thing in and of itself because I never want to let her miss school). Why did she not go to school? Because we went to New York City! My mom and I have been talking for years about taking Sam to NY to see the Rockettes Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall. She always loved the DVD ever since she was little and we wanted her to see it in person. We thought if we didn’t go soon, we would never go, because that is usually how things are. She is definitely old enough to handle the trip and so I looked for a bus trip because, let’s be real, I am not driving to New York City! We settled on Starr Tours and off we went! The bus picked us up right near our house at the ungodly hour of 7:45. It was going to be a long day but we hoped it was worth it. The bus was comfortable and we settled in for the ride.

The first order of business when we got there was lunch. Our show tickets were for right after lunch time so we needed to eat before then or we’d be starving!

Next stop was to find the Rockefeller Plaza tree. I had no intention of going all over NY, so thankfully, it was nearby. I know nothing about NY or how to get around and if it wasn’t close, we weren’t seeing it. I am glad it was right next door just about because Sam loved it!

A bit of window shopping is always in order if you are in NY at Christmastime…

Finally, it was time to go! The line to get in stretched forever! I really half thought we wouldn’t get through the security and get to our seats before the show started, but we made it! Everyone at this show got Santa hats to wear, which made it extra fun.

The show was awesome! Some parts were just like we have seen on the video, and other parts new. Sam did like sort of being familiar with the parts coming up.

One of our favorite parts is when all the tin soldiers fall over. It was so great in person!

The whole show was really worth the trip. It was so much fun and so much bigger and more elaborate in person. Sam asked us right away if we could do it again next year so I guess she enjoyed it! After the show we had a few hours before getting picked up to go home and Sam spied something that I knew was in NY, but had no idea where it was.

Yup. The American Girl store, or the “AG Store” as Sam likes to call it. I told her we’d buy her something small, but NO DOLLS. She was pretty good and actually didn’t ask for much. We did stop and take her picture in front of the Samantha section, of course!

We pretty much had to drag her out of the store, but she had fun. It was fun taking her and I didn’t even have to take out a second mortgage before we left!

We were all so incredibly exhausted and still had about an hour before the bus left but had no energy left to roam so we just sat outside and people watched. This office building had a really cool display outside and for me and my mom, and comfortable wall to sit on! Sam had to ham it up for the camera, as usual.

Sam got bored from waiting so she asked if she could take some pictures. I really like some of the ones she took!

We didn’t get back to Springfield until around 9:00 p.m. and she was toast. The poor kiddo conked out on the way home, but she had a blast so it was worth it, 100%!