Day 5

We all woke up sad that it was our last day.

We started with a walking tour of lower Manhattan including Trinity Church, Wall Street, and South Street Sea Port.

On the boat to see the Statue of Liberty!

Lastly, our sad farewell to our fantastic tour guide, Ms Erica!

 

Day 4

After our daily delicious breakfast, we headed into NYC and stopped first at the High Line.  This is a newer, gorgeous piece of NYC.  It used to be a railway above the streets in the meat packing district.  Since it was no longer in use, it was turned into a gorgeous new park. 

Next we went to participate in Broadway Classroom.  We were split into 2 groups where actors and staff from the cast of Phantom of the Opera led us through a song and dance lesson in a real rehearsal studio.

Central Park!  What a gorgeous green space in the middle of such a bustling city!  We saw Strawberry Fields, discussed the type of rock that makes building on the island possible, hung out around the Bethesda Fountain (seen in MANY movies), and found a pile of snow where we got to have a huge spontaneous snowball fight!

 

 

At Madame Tussauds Wax museum we got to "hang out" with all of our favorite celebrities.

 

The kids especially loved sight seeing and souvenir shopping in Times Square.

To end the night, we had fantastic seats to see Phantom of the Opera! 

Day 3

We started the day at Arlington National Cemetery where we visited the grave of John F Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, learned the history of the cemetery (did you know George Washingtons step- great grand daughter married General Robert E Lee??), and watched a changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

(Note: it felt wrong to take big group photos of smiling posing children today so most pictures are of what we saw)

It wasn't the warmest morning... This is without the windchill factor 

Then on to NYC!

Here we are at the 9/11 memorial. The kids were so reverent and interested. Very somber time spent at this memorial. 

The Survivor Stairs. This staircase was how hundreds of people were able to escape and survive the falling towers.

Day 2

Ok so I am just heading to bed at midnight but wanted to post pictures of our loonnnnnnggg day. I'll add captions later. Everyone has been so fantastic despite the freezing weather.

We started our day at the home of George Washington, Mt Vernon.

Next, a little pit stop to say hello to the Obama family.

We had a guided tour of the capital.

We were able to visit two Smithsonians- Natural History and American History.

It was a freezing but gorgeous day!

FDR Memorial

Martin Luther King Memorial