Jake & Joey: New York City Girls' Trip 2016

When Abbi was eight, she asked to go to New York City. I told her maybe when she's twelve. Like every good mom, I was sure she would forget way before then. She didn't. In January fo 2016, she started planning.

We left early on her 12th birthday with Marlie, Anne, and Wendy. We stayed in a little apartment in China Town. We tried all modes of transportation. We ate tons of good food. And, we walked a lot.

The best chicken macaroni of my life at The Max Brenner Chocolate Bar

Max Brenner was delicious. Our meals and dessert were so great! This was a good dinner after a long day of traveling. We planned for this restaurant for months!

Marlie and Abbi in front of Radio City Music Hall

This is across the street from Rockefeller Center. We rode up to the Top of the Rock and saw the whole city. You can see how big Central Park is and how cool it is for the park to be surrounded by all the skyscrapers. We had a little disco dance party in a room all lit up with crazy lights.

Joey and Mr. Lady Liberty

Abbi was not too happy about getting in this fun picture. It was time to have a good time!

Abbi and Mom

At the Statue, we had tickets to go up to the crown. We went up the trillion stairs in the tightest, narrowest way possible to look out the tiny window and get sent right back down. The girls ran up and down. My sisters and I had sore legs for days. On our way down, the girls wanted to take their own route and meet at the bottom. Unfortunately, our exits were not in the same place so we had little panic attacks while we searched for them. There isn't very good cell phone service there.

We got back on the ferry and headed to Ellis Island. If we weren't all so tired, we could have spent more time there. There were beautiful little exhibits and you could imagine the grand hall being all filled up with immigrants.

Abbi and Mom

The day after Abbi's twelfth birthday, we took a few family names for baptisms to the Manhattan Temple. The bishop and clerk and worked hard to make sure we left on our trip with her temple recommend. Walking through the thickest doors, the city went silent.

The baptistry was right on the main floor and they were waiting for us. Abbi and Marlie were baptized for their ancestors and Wendy, Anne, and I was able to sit right next to the font to watch. The temple workers were so excited to have a brand new twelve year old and Marlie there. We really enjoyed the experience!

Abbi making a video to scare her Dad

Anne and Wendy at the Art Cart

There was a little place in front of the New York City Library to do art for free. They had all the materials and you could sit there as long as you wanted to make pictures. We hope Salt Lake City gets an Art Cart.

We explored the library a little. The bookstore there is probably the best. We could have stayed for hours. Then we changed our shoes and headed to Broadway.

Aladdin on Broadway was amazing, of course. The music and sets were crazy. Jafar was the actual voice of the Disney Jafar so that was fun, too.

After the show, we had a reservation at a very nice restaurant. Abbi had seafood everywhere we went, except Ellis Island. And, she was sorry she didn't have it there, too!

Marlie and Abbi at the Art Cart

Joey at the Art Cart

On Sunday, we went to church, and stayed all three hours, because the girls wanted to meet the young women there. It was Abbi's first time to go to Young Women's. My sisters and I went to Sunday School and Relief Society. The girls were so chatty after church telling us every single thing they learned about New York from their new friends.

After church, we had lunch at the Chelsea Market. Abbi had a million-dollar lobster roll. Then we went to the 9/11 Memorial.

A blue tile for every person lost in 9/11

The 9/11 Memorial was somber and reverent. We did a little exploring but mostly a lot of thinking and feeling. While I took Marlie into a secluded exhibit of peoples' last phone calls and personal effects, Abbi sat with her Aunt Anne and comforted her.

Anne and Abbi

Abbi's beautiful eyes.

We rode the subway right to the doors of the Museum of Natural History. It could take days to explore the whole place. And, we had some explorers and some non-explorers. I liked the Under the Sea the best and seeing the Easter Island Head. Abbi could have looked at the fossils forever. The gift shop was two-stories of a million things we wanted.

After the Museum, we went out to decide on our next adventure. There were some things the girls still wanted to see at Rockefeller Center so we decided to take cabs through the Park and along 5th Avenue to Rockefeller.

5th Avenue was closed to closing down because of the number of protestors at Trump Towers. The presidential election was the next day so things were heating up. Both Trump and Clinton were in New York City and things were getting crazy. After a long, slow ride we made it to Rockefeller where the girls wanted to go to the Lego Store.

Abbi and Marlie outside of the Museum with the Park behind them.

On the last day of our trip, we discovered that there was a great place we could have been having breakfast all week just around the corner from us. And the building behind our apartment was a jail! We checked out China Town and loved the makeup store, the food, and getting real chopsticks.