The weekend before Christmas Ella Kate, My Mom, and I headed to the big apple for a special girls trip. I owe Dave a big Thank You for holding down the fort while we were gone and most importantly for encouraging me to go when I first came up with the crazy idea :) Love you Dave!
Dave dropped us off at the airport bright and early Friday morning to catch our flight! Ella Kate was so excited to go on this big girl trip! She did amazing! The girl carried her own suitcase, backpack, and coat 100% of the time and was truly a joy to experience NYC with! Love this little girl and so proud of the little lady she is becoming.
She was super proud to take her "own" suitcase. And insisted on rolling it the entire time. She got lots of compliments from people in the airport about how impressed they were she was "pulling her own weight". Those compliments just spurred her own - she was lovin' it.
Patiently waiting in the security line.
In her window seat and ready for our next stop to be NYC! She loves riding on planes and was perfectly content coloring and playing her leappad with earphones.
Our plane landed in NYC around 11am so we hopped in a cab and went straight to our hotel. We stayed at the Marriott Times Square and LOVED it. The staff was so nice and made a big fuss over Ella Kate and her first trip to NYC. They gave her complimentary ice cream at checkin and I was thankful that they had our room ready so early! We freshened up in the hotel room and headed straight for Tea at the infamous Plaza hotel. The Plaza hotel was amazing and was particularly special to Ella Kate because she loves to read all the "Eloise at the Plaza" books and watch the movies too. A special Thanks to Ella Kate's Kindergarten teacher, whom travels to NYC annually, for letting us borrow the "Eloise at the Plaza Christmas" movie right before we went on our trip.
My Mom, Ella Kate, and I in front of the Plaza hotel.
Ella Kate and In in front of the Plaza hotel. It was beautiful.
The Christmas Tree in the main lobby of the Plaza.
Ella Kate was thrilled to find a huge portrait of "Eloise" in the main lobby of the Plaza.
They even had a special store dedicated to Eloise! I really should of gotten a picture of the inside of the store/gift shop as it was pretty spectacular.
Checking on the amazing gingerbread house before being seated for tea.
Ella Kate of course ordered from the "Eloise" menu.
Enjoying Tea at the Plaza. :)
She loved her special pink lemonade with a cherry on top.
And she was pretty pumped when they placed this amazing tray of food and treats in front of her...
Nana and Ella Kate ready to dig in.
Pink jello was a hit.
Three generations.
Love this pretty girl.
The doorman at the Plaza made a fuss over Ella Kate in her red coat and the fact that she loved Eloise so he let us enter the "extra fancy" part of the Plaza hotel where normally only guests that have hotel room reservations can enter. This is the stairway that Eloise runs down in all the movies. Pretty cool.
After Tea at the Plaza we decided to take a carriage ride around Central Park. We had the nicest driver, an Irishman, whom pointed out where all the celebrities live and reminded us of all the movie scenes that had been filmed there.
On our carriage ride.
He even gave Ella Kate a carrot to feed the horse after the ride was over.
I have several pictures of her skipping like this which I love even though they are out of focus. She did not have a care in the world and we had fun having snow ball fights while strolling through Central Park.
By Friday evening Ella Kate thought she had this NYC life down pat. She loved it.
Our last major adventure on Friday was Ice Skating in Central Park. This was one of my favorite memories of the trip. It was Ella Kate's first time ice skating and she picked it up almost immediately. It was magical ice skating in the middle of Central Park with all the lights and Christmas music. I was in heaven.
And we are off.
Stopping to wave at Nana.
Our sweet little girl.
After Ella Kate and I had made only a few laps around the rink this sweet red headed little girl came up to us and said "Hi, I have already been around like twice and I am pretty much awesome - do you want me to teach you how to twirl?" I almost fell I laughed so hard. Needless to say Ella Kate and Elizabeth (was her name) became instant friends and had the best time skating together trying to learn how to twirl.
They were so cute!
There they go.
Taking a quick break! She loved ice skating. After both our feet were completely numb we finally decided it was time to call it a night. So we hopped in a cab and headed back to our hotel in Times Square and enjoyed a low key dinner at the hotel. We all had a good nights sleep and were ready for our second day in NYC.
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