Life with The Snyders: Christmas in New York

New York is not one of my favorite places, but I've always said I'd love to see it at Christmas. In the months leading up to Christmas, Stephen and I were talking about how one day we would like to go to NYC sometime. Then we thought, why not this year?!

We had a place to stay with Stephen's cousin.

Chloe flies free.

We could both take a few extra days off before Christmas.

Everyone's calendar was free.

So, we booked it!

Everything was so much fun! I didn't even hate being in the city this time. The weather was awesome and Chloe was amazing! We had a blast!

We drove to Durham Sunday night after youth and spent the night at Stephen's Mom's house.

Monday morning we hung out at home before leaving for the airport a little after noon.

It took a little extra time getting through security with a baby, but it wasn't too bad.

Chloe did great on her first flight. She slept for about 30 minutes. And we kept her entertained with snacks for the last part of the flight. Other than having to circle the airport in turbulence on a hot plane for 30 extra minutes, the flight was great! The heat and turbulence did not bother Chloe at all she was just super wiggly, ready to get down and move.

We ordered a car service to get us from the airport to Jennie's apartment because we did not take her car seat. By the time we got to her apartment, unloaded and settled, it was Chloe's bed time. She was out after a long day of traveling!

Tuesday we got up and headed to Macy's Santa Land to see Santa.

Stephen was really hoping Chloe would cry because he thinks babies crying on Santa's lap make hilarious pictures, but she just stared at him.

After Macy's we headed to the Christmas Market at Bryant Park and found a spot for lunch.

Walking around for lunch, we found the first of two Chick-Fil-As. Chloe was almost asleep in the stroller so we didn't stop.

Chloe fell asleep and slept all through lunch

After lunch and a quick diaper change, we did some shopping at the market and Chloe had a little snack break.

She decided she was cold and ready to be out of the stroller and had a minor melt down. Jennie's office was close by so we headed there to warm up and let Chloe get some energy out.

Then, we went to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and lights.

After the tree and lights we headed back to Jennie's apartment and went out for dinner. Chloe was so tired she got the silly giggles. She ate and talked all through dinner, winning the hearts of everyone in the restaurant then she cackled all the way home. After a quick bath, she was out!

We hung out at Jennie's Wednesday morning and let Chloe get her morning nap in before heading out for the day.

We headed to the Financial District. As long as the stroller was moving, she was happy, but as soon as we stopped, she wanted out. This worked out well on Wednesday because the subway we took was crowded. Everyone loved talking to her and she even got a few smiles out of the few grumpy people we were sitting near.

The World's largest Chick-Fil-A is in the Financial District. Of course we had to check it out. We actually saw someone we knew while we were there. Are you really surprised? :)

Then we headed to the One World Observatory.

We got some great views of the city.

After this I walked laps around the 9/11 Memorial while Chloe napped and Stephen looked at the memorial.

Then, we walked down to Wall Street and Battery Park to see the Bull and the Statue of Liberty.

On the way to Wall Street we happened to come across Alexander Hamilton's grave. We recently saw Hamilton on Broadway and Stephen is a huge fan so he was excited about this random find!

We were going to take the Staten Island Ferry, but it was a little windy and we were running short on time, trying to avoid the subway at rush hour with a stroller. So, we headed back to Jennie's apartment. She lives 3 blocks from Central Park and The Met so we walked down to check out the view.