NYC in December

We wanted to take the kids into the city this year to admire all the beautiful Christmas decorations in the city.  Our plans were almost foiled by a grumpy parking attendant who wouldn't let us park despite our "guaranteed" parking printout.  I guess that's what you get in downtown NYC during Christmas.  After circling around (which took about 45 minutes) we came back and by then he was ready for us.  

It really is a magical time to visit, if you can handle the crowds.  The buildings are decked out in huge wreaths, twinkling lights, and Christmas trees are all over the place.  We admired the window displays, sampled candy at Dylan's candy store, and tried to be the first to spot each new decoration display.  We took the kids into F-A-O Swartz and let them pick out a small toy, enjoyed 5th Avenue, and headed for Rockefeller Plaza. On the way we passed the Unifcef crystal snowflake. You wouldn't know it when its hanging there between those huge sky scrapers, but it is 23 feet wide and over 28 feet tall, and weighs more than 3,300 pounds!

F-A-O Schwarz was fun...they had workers demonstrating all kinds of toys and games, amazing Lego displays, and all the old-school original toys.  We'll definitely go back in the Spring and let the kids try out the huge step-on keyboard but the line was too long for us.  

Seeing the Rockefeller tree and Plaza was my favorite part, despite the crazy crowds. The kids liked watching the ice-skaters.  I couldn't believe the 74 ft. tree was just from someone's yard in PA!   

We ended our evening with a yummy slice of NY pizza.  Its so fun to be able to spend an evening in the city!