Kimberly Schlegel Whitman: KSW Travels: New York with the Kids!

We had an amazing weekend in New York with the children last week! What a blast!

There is so much to do in NYC so the key is to whittle it down to your favorites and tackle them by neighborhood. We focused on the Upper East Side and Mid-Town on this trip.

Here is a little run down with our highlights:

Saturday Morning: After breakfast at the St. Regis Hotel, we wandered through the Central Park Zoo. On the way there, the children loved stomping on the leftover snow and seeing Trump Tower! The weather was gorgeous so we had a blast visiting the animals in the zoo. They have a fantastic 4D Theatre and a petting zoo! The zoo is quite small and manageable. It is the perfect size for a leisurely morning adventure.

Loved this sign at the Zoo!

Saturday Afternoon: I couldn't wait to treat the little ones to lunch at the very place my parents always took my siblings and I growing up, Nello on Madison Avenue. They loved the pasta, just like I did at their age. After lunch we wandered past some stores on the way to Smythson to get dad a new diary. On the way, we window shopped, talked about what life is like for those children who live in the NYC townhouses and apartments we passed and checked out the sports memorabilia at Heritage Auction Gallery!

Lunch at Nello - the food was amazing but capturing these joyful moments between these two is tops!

This smaller replica of the Statue of Liberty got them super excited!

Saturday Evening: We topped off our Saturday with the amazing Gazillion Bubbles Show. My expectations were not high but I must say this show was such a treat for the entire family! They don't allow photographs during the show but they do during the finale which was like a being at a rave for kids (not that I have ever been to a rave but that is what I imagine!) I highly recommend the show!

Sunday morning: We stopped into the newly renovated St. Patricks Cathedral to take in the majestic decor and listen to some of the beautiful hymns from the Sunday morning mass. What a joy! A ride around the Central Park Carousel helped the children burn time before the Eloise Brunch at The Plaza. As you can see from her smile, Millie loved posing under the portrait of Eloise. She loves posing anywhere actually but this was extra special! ;)

Sunday Afternoon: Our Eloise Tea at The Plaza was filling enough to serve as a brunch so we skipped back to the park to have fulfill JR's request to have their portraits drawn. I couldn't believe he wanted to sit there for 20 minutes but we did! We didn't take a lot of time to look at the artists offering their services but we got lucky with the talented gentleman. He was really able to capture JR and was very patient with my wiggly Millie!

Sunday Evening: I had to go to work to get my segment set up for TODAY so Justin treated the kids to a skate around Rockefeller Center Rink. We were excited to learn that there is a VIP entrance to skate with a short wait and hot chocolate and cookies! It was totally worth the additional fee! An early room service dinner back at the hotel was in order as the little ones had an early call time the next the morning!

Monday Morning: It was such a treat to take my kids and husband to work with me at TODAY show. JR went with me many years ago but this time was special because they both got to be a part of my segment with me! I was nervous but they were great! You can click here to see the segment on Winter Break Activities for Kids.