Dec 21 - New York New York!

I am just a little tired of all the early starts. Delta had moved our flight forward which meant that we had to complete resort airline check in for our flight by 5am. Malcolm scored that job. I won the lottery and got to dress and feed the children. Yippee! We had to be organised to reconvene at the lobby by 5:45 for our 6:00 am Magical Express shuttle to MCO. It was somewhat sad to leave the beautiful Port Orleans Riverside. Our time at Walt Disney World seemed to have gone by so quickly and I couldn’t believe that it was over.

Our last views of the POR

Without our large suitcases, it was a smooth process for our flight to New York. Arrival at La Guardia was also very smooth and quick. Our luggage had already come through by the time we got out. Our driver from Wiro limo was already there. The big surprise of the day was that we got a big white stretch limo! I was expecting a minivan...

It appears that "Malcolm" is quite difficult to spell

Our stretch limousine!

The children thoroughly enjoyed the luxurious interiors of the limo on our journey to the Novotel, alongside our suitcases. When we arrived, our room was fortunately ready. Jonah screamed so much that the concierge gave all the kids free stuffed toys to shut him up! Most reviews of the Novotel mentioned generously sized rooms for a New York hotel. I’d hate to think what a not-generously sized room would be like! After the rollaway bed was made up, we foolishly attempted to enforce naptime and failed miserably. We decided to abandon ship and walked through the bright lights of Times Square instead, aiming for the B&H Super Store at 34^th St.

Everyone huddle up nice and close

The other half

Our room at the Novotel Times Square

Our very first New York cheesecake. Yummy!

Our collection of soft toys thanks to Jonah's screaming fit

What an amazing store! And the mind boggled at the sight of the photography section, a haven for any photographer. The shop, though large, was surprising well set out and signed, with helpful and friendly staff posted at strategic locations. . The kids were happy though because they scored free lollies and lemonade. As tempting as it was, we ended up walking out without making any purchases I didn’t think I was anywhere near the level required to justify buying the expensive lens that I had been eying. I still had much to learn about my current gear and a long way to go before I outgrew them.

We began what would become a familiar and time consuming routine of making sure the children had their hats, gloves and coats on. We then headed for Macy's. After we got our 10% discount card, we started shopping. And oh did we shop! It so happened that they had a one day sale of 30-80% off. It was madness. It was a struggle simply getting into the store. So we ended up having McDonald’s for dinner within Macy’s as we did not want to brave exiting and re-entering. We didn't end up getting Elliot’s socks or Lara's sneakers but we did get a whole heap of other stuff!

Walking through Times Square

Obviously still haven't had enough...

Lens, oh glorious expensive lens!

We were surprised to discover that it was already 930pm! This was followed by the realisation that we had lost Jonah's new Land’s end jacket. Trying to find the jacket was a lost cause. We bought a new one and caught our first taxi in NY successfully. The children were exhausted and fell asleep without fuss. Though tired, I went to bed happy and excited, eager to continue our adventure in this city.