Well, I'm trying to blog in Zambia, and it's working semi-ok! That being said, these pictures are in complete random (almost backwards) order - sorry about that!! First of all, a word about this trip. When we left New Day, we "promised" everyone that we would try our hardest to come back to visit in December of 2019. We thought it was important to give people (and our kids..and us!) a concrete date to look forward to. We feared if we said, "We'll come back to visit one day..." that we never would. So from almost the time we stepped off the plane, we began saving for this trip! Many people ask (or at least think), "How can you afford a trip to Zambia for a family of 5?!" Well, for one thing, our Unit Set business has a side wrap business from December - March that brings in some extra income, all of which went toward this trip. Secondly, we have 3 kids and usually get a large tax refund, which went toward this trip. Thirdly, we have super kind relatives - Paw and Bmaw paid for all of our Zambian in-country expenses (grocery, fuel, wifi, etc.), Grandpa and Mama Dee gave us some spending money, and so did Teacher Debbie! We are blessed. This is a great trip for our kids - to see New Day with different eyes after living in the USA for 16 months. Honestly, after this, we don't know when we'll be back, but we are going to enjoy this time God blessed us with!
So when it was time to buy tickets in April, we had a set amount we had set aside for the trip. We were horrified to find that tickets were upwards of $2500 each!! There's no way we could afford that. So we asked around and were told that if we purchase separate itineraries, splitting our trip up, we could find lower prices. So......that's the reason we flew from Dallas to New York to London to Paris to Abu Dhabi to Johannesburg to Livingstone. 4 separate itineraries, going and coming! Whew!
Of course, with so many stops, we had to plan a couple of layovers, so we decided to take 2 days in New York on the way! Blu and I visited in 2008 but the kids had never been. So we googled and found the absolute must-sees for our family and hit the ground running! Again, these pictures are not in order, but this was our first day (Saturday the 14th) in NYC!
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| This fresh fruit stand was at the corner of our block in Queens! |
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| Cambree was SO excited! |
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| Our hotel is the SAME EXACT one we stayed at when Blu and I came to visit in 2008 - we didn't realize it, just booked it on Expedia and got here and said, "This looks familiar..." |
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| The bridges and the massive cemeteries are just incredible! |
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| The traffic is also incredible! The car rental guy said to "Prepare for the worst traffic of your life." But nothing compares with Panama traffic...this was nothing! |
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| NYC Subway - here we come! |
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| Here we go - ready to find the subway! |
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| This is how Cason felt about the subway smells in NYC! |
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| Apparently certain people make them laugh... ;) |
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| We looked at several of the Broadway shows (most are super expensive!) but when reading the reviews, we really thought our kids would enjoy Stomp the best! |
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| Back row seats, but we loved it!! |
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| Caedmon, our Germ Freak, wore one glove at all times to protect his subway pole hand! |
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| Empire State Building in the background! |
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| After forever and ever and ever of walking through mass throngs of people..we found the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree! |
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| Cason wanted to be in the picture by himself.. |
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| ...not with these two! |
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| This street artist was amazing!! |
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| Hershey's Chocolate World looked amazing...but we kept on walking! |
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| I looked everywhere for Jamie Reagan..but I couldn't find him. :( #bluebloods |
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| Times Square was just absolutely insane...there are no words! |
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| Crazy characters everywhere! |
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| Yes, we did opt to rent a car in NYC! We mainly needed it for the ride to and from the airport - with 6 suitcases, 10 carryons, and 5 people, it was cheaper to rent a car than pay for transportation! |
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| First stop - the travel plaza near the airport for some food! (Wendy's...) And massage chairs! |
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| We made it! Navigating JFK airport... |
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| Looking like a natural New Yorker.. ;) |
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| On the plane ready for a 3 hour flight to New York! |
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| In the hotel lobby bright and early waiting for our shuttle to the airport! |
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| Can you spot the Tidwells?? |
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| Quick stop for a NYC Starbucks mug! |
We mostly spent the first day on the subway and walking the streets. Let's just say we slept SO GOOD that night! Ready for Day 2 in New York!
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