Lady Liberty

New York City rules! We always have a sensory explosion here and I just relish it. One of my very best friends (Aunt NYC with hubby Tio) lives in Brooklyn so we made our way there first.

Hey, check us out driving in NYC! That's a first for me and it was quite the harrowing experience indeed. None the less, we made it, parked our car for the weekend and took a couple of trains into The Big Apple.

Staring at the subway tracks, the kids came up with every imaginable scenario for me to let them climb down there. They wanted to see rats. When Little Man actually spotted a small rat running across the tracks, I thought all three of them were going to combust.

It's been a while since I've navigated NYC by myself but we only made one error -- getting on a train going out to JFK. That was nothing compared to our wait for the correct train back.

Doodle squatted down on the platform floor and started rubbing her hands on the ground. I'm not a Germaphobe but I too have limits. I told her to get up - right away - that it was filthy down there. She got up all right and promptly stuck out her tongue and licked her palms!

I have no idea what she was expecting but it can be stated with certainty that Doodle has tasted the absolute worst NYC has to offer.

We had a couple of hours to kill before Aunt NYC got off work so we ventured over to the Seaport and took a water taxi around the biggest symbol of freedom in this country, the Statue of Liberty.

If you come to NYC, take this tour. It was incredible, especially with kids. Our guide was knowledgeable, respectful of foreigners and inspirational to Americans. We got a great overview of the harbor, the BMW bridges (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg), the NYC skyline and of course, Lady Liberty herself.

Patriotism is something that needs to be felt occasionally and this boat was oozing with it. I actually had a chance to talk to the kids about freedom and why all these foreigners (we were in the minority as Americans) would want to see her and why she's such an important symbol to us. When the sun started to sink behind her, it was truly a spectacular sight.