On Saturday evening after we saw Aladdin, we had dinner reservations at:
Serendipity! We came here years ago when the girls were little & I am obsessed! I mean first off, they are known for their frozen hot chocolate & other sweet treats, but also, check out how girlie & whimsical it is:
They always have bright colors & quirky decor, but it's even better at Christmas with all of the pink, candy filled garland everywhere! I was so excited to celebrate my 2 birthday girls here & we saved it for our last night:
For those who are curious, this is not an easy restaurant to get into. If you walk up, the wait time is always hours long & it is small, but they do take reservations 30 days in advance. I actually woke up really early to make reservations 30 days out & it was booking fast. I was so disappointed I couldn't get a table for 6 so I booked a table for 3 & then had Bryan book another table for 3 & then called them several times to put us on the waiting list or some how put our tables together. Thank goodness it worked out! We ate dinner & then we let everyone order whatever they wanted for dessert. The girls both ordered custom ice cream sundaes & of course they came out & sang to them:
I ordered the peanut butter frozen hot chocolate & it was worth every single bite!
Bryan got the cotton candy frozen hot chocolate, which is right up his alley:
If it wasn't their birthday, I don't know if we would have gone this crazy, but you only turn 10 & 12 in NY once!
After dinner & dessert, we had one last surprise for them - we walked to Central Park to meet our carriage!
Unfortunately due to NY law, with 3 kids only 2 adults are allowed to go so sweet Bryan walked us to the carriage & then walked back to the hotel so we could have a girls' night!
Our ride was 1 hour long & we started in central park than it headed to midtown Manhattan so we could see all of the big store fronts decorated, the light show at Saks Fifth Avenue & even Rockfeller Center:
Look at Rockfeller - it was CRAZY! I mean way worse than Friday night. I am so thankful we went the night before & actually got pictures! The carriage ride was definitely a splurge, that's why we split it with Kimberlee & Kate, but honestly, it's one of those bucket list items that we will never forget:
After our ride, Marco gave the girls carrots & they got to feed Bruno so he would be ready for his next ride:
We walked back to our hotel afterwards but we decided to make a detour through Times Square again. Sadie wanted to make some personalized M&M's & we thought if we went at 11:00 at night it would be less crowded. Not so much! It was just as busy:
The girls had fun shopping anyway & we ended up staying out until midnight because then it was officially Sophie's birthday:
We gave her most of her gifts at home so we wouldn't have to travel with them but sweet Ellie came dressed for the occasion with a few cards for her:
Since Sunday was our last day there, we let the girls sleep in, especially since we had 2 really late nights in a row. I had made zero plans for this day but had a few suggestions for the girls. I let them pick since it was her birthday! I was originally thinking the American Museum of Natural History since we watched the movies but their NY friends told them that was boring and that we should go to the Color Factory instead. Good call!
Look at those birthday girls ready to celebrate! This art exhibit couldn't have been more perfect - it took about 1 1/2 hours to walk through & every room was a different theme with different colors & snacks! We had everything from jelly beans to macaroons to taffy to gelato:
The confetti room was so much fun:
But my favorite was the silent disco!
The last room was the ball pit & as you can see, even Bryan joined in on the fun!
Selfies from Sadie:
Did you notice anyone new in our pictures? That would be Fallon! We met her family in Turks & Caicos on vacation last summer and the girls hit it off immediately, so we spent the week together. I had already started planning our trip back then so I told them we were coming & we kept in touch over the past several months. They live about an hour outside of the city so I thought it was awesome they were willing to drive in for her actual birthday! It kind of felt like we had a little party for the girls:
Ok, I know this has been a lot of pictures, but the other cool thing about the Color Factory is the QR code you get when you check in. They have multiple cameras in every single room so you could scan your code anytime you want and they would send your pictures. Yay!
I mean seriously, this place was awesome & totally worth the money. I am so glad we chose to do this on Sophie's birthday. Thanks for the recommendation Campbell!
We booked our return flight at 8:00 Sunday night so we would have the whole day in the city so since we had time, we walked through Soho with Fallon's family & shopped along the way. The girls were cracking us up at the Nike store because they had their game faces on:
We were just killing time before dinner. We had one last Italian meal before we headed to the airport & this restaurant did not disappoint! Besides the pizza, we loved getting to visit with the Nichols family more:
Eventually we headed back to Laguardia & got home really late Sunday night. All in, we had 5 full days in New York & we had a blast! I felt like we did a lot of the touristy things, but we also met up with friends, celebrated both of their birthday & got to feel all of the Christmas magic one week before the big day. It truly was a special trip & one I will not forget anytime soon with these girls. Cheers to the city that never sleeps!
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