Two Trips to New York City

Last weekend, we planned to take the kids to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC but Caitlin was up all night with the stomach flu so I stayed home with the twins but Paul took the two older kids and Chris, Melissa and Camille (our niece who just got home for her mission and came to visit for Easter to visit and meet her new brother-in-law, a.k.a. Chris) into Manhattan. Paul dropped the nieces and nephew at the temple and took the kids to the museum. They had a great time. Spencer's doing a unit on dinosaurs at preschool so it was particularly timely. Afterwards, they hoped to see a Broadway show but there weren't any half-off tickets for kid-friendly shows available so they did a little sightseeing (Camille had never been there) and then drove home. Unfortunately, Spencer suddenly caught Caitlin's bug and hurled all over the car on the way home. So, even though I was feeling a bit sorry for myself because I had to stay home with my sick girls and missed this outing, I was grateful I didn't have to deal with the smell, cleaning up the car, etc. Chris, Melissa and Camille and Courtney have all caught the flu this week, poor kids! Paul and I were the only ones who didn't get it, thank heavens, even though we have been the ones cleaning it up and taking care of the patients.

After being in this house with sick kids for at least a month and hardly going anywhere, I told Paul this morning that I needed a break. We talked about different things I could do but settled on going to the Manhattan Temple. So while I was taking a shower, my sweet husband looked up the bus and temple schedule and called my friend Rebecca and asked if she wanted to take a spontaneous trip to Manhattan for a girl's day at the temple. An hour later, we were on the bus headed for the city.

Once we arrived at the port authority, we took the subway to Lincoln Center, went out to lunch and made it to the temple with no hitches whatsoever. It was my first time going on the subway without Paul there but it was so easy and a lot better on the high heel wearing feet than walking, much cheaper than taking a cab and way less stressful than driving among the crazy cabs.

The spirit was so strong at the temple. You forget you are in the noisy, siren-filled, cacophony of a bustling city while you're there because it is completely soundproofed and silent inside. You can't find that peace and stillness anywhere else in New York. When we came out of our session, we were asked to do sealings. That was a sweet experience. The spirit radiated from the room. How I love going to the temple! One of the best things that happened while we were there was that several people at the temple asked us if we were missionaries! Gotta love it, baby! I love to be mistaken for a 21 to 23-year-old!

When we left, we took a quick walk to Central Park, which is just a block from the temple. There we enjoyed seeing the beginnings of spring as daffodils and forsythia bloomed in yellow splendor. Getting home the same way we came was simple and fun because we actually got to sit together and chat the whole time (the bus to the city was completely full and we were separated.)

I arrived home to find Paul had taken the kids to Friendly's for linner or dunch, whatever you want to call a 3 p.m. lunch/dinner combo, then to the new Dr. Seuss movie and to the mall so he and Spence could get a haircut. They had a great day as well. When I arrived home, we all fell into bed until Caitlin woke me up with a wet bed and I couldn't go back to sleep so here I am, writing about our wonderful trips to New York!