Back home again from another whirlwind vacation with the family.  Its always been my philosophy to see as much as a city has to offer while you're there.  A friend told me that New York City would be a one or two day trip at most, but we spent 5 non-stop days of sight seeing.

I guess it must be said that The Big Apple would not be on the wish list for vacations most years.  My daughters and I love the theatre, and my husband loves historical sight-seeing, but to be quite honest, the prices of New York are a little too rich for our blood most years.  I keep telling people that the years we could have afforded to go, the city wasn't affordable and this year when things need a second thought before we spend money on them, the city just was affordable.  It is truly a once in a lifetime sort of experience, so we just made a way and went.  When the opportunity presents itself, sometimes the only thing you can do is sieze it.

There was still some convincing to be done.  My husband, Mark only knew the New York City of the 1970's; not exaclty a place to bring the family.  But my daughter and I had gone just 5 years ago as part of her Drama Club class trip.  NYC has done a lot of cleaning up in recent decades and now it is bustling with tourists and things to do and see.

Thanks to a heap of research about tour buses and museam passes, we found ourselves on the top of an open-air double decker bus by 10:30 the morning of our arrival in the city.  The girls loved how easy it was to take pictures and Mark loved the relaxed (and safe) feeling of just being able to ride and be narrated to.  In that first day, we got to see the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.  Our hotel was just off of times Square and we all enjoyed getting to see the lights at night... and getting to take in all of the colorful characters of New York City.

What would any family trip be without a visit to some of our friends and suppliers in the area?  It always seems to work itself in there, and this trip was no different.  This year we went to visit some of our good friends and jewelery suppliers with offices in the area.  While there, we introduced the girls and swapped stories about small business and family vacations.  Our friend told us about how his 9-year-old recently refused an ice cream trip on the hopes of getting to stay behind and find Paris Hilton at their hotel in Miami.  I must say, it is interresting to see who the rock stars of today seem to be.  More than that, it is just nice getting to chat with our business partners on a friendly basis. 

It is nice to know that there are other people out there who value their families so much, and who realize just how blessed we are to stay in this business and still have time to get to know our kids.  In a world where Paris Hilton is cooler than ice cream to a 9-year-old, knowing my kids is sometimes hard, but always worth it.