This Spring we decided to take a family trip to New York. My husband, 3 year-old son and I flew into La Guardia airport and took a bus ride to Grand Central Station (which was less of a hassle than trying to take the bus and train). We walked a couple of blocks to our hotel, checked in and proceeded to head out in search of a late lunch and some exploring. We found a small Thai place near the hotel which was tasty, decently priced and kid-friendly, then walked towards Broadway. There, in the Garment District’s pedestrian plazas (between 36th and 41st streets) we encountered “A Fancy Animal Carnival“, a great display of eleven large sculptures created by artist Hung Yin. Our son loved looking at all of these and recognizing the different animals, it was a fun and colorful welcome to New York.

We continued our walk up to Times Square to give our little guy the opportunity to see all the lights, screens and people. Thankfully we brought a pair of kid’s head-cancelling headphones for him and with that he was happy to look around without having to cover his ears the entire time. Our walk took us to the Rockefeller Center, where we enjoyed pointing out all the flags and going into the Lego store to look around.

Then we headed to Fifth Avenue to walk by the library and see the lions before it got too dark. We ended up in Grand Central Station‘s Main Concourse, where we pointed out the constellations on the ceiling and admired the four-faced brass clock and the old ticket booths. After a full day of traveling and exploring we were ready to head back to our hotel, but not before picking up a slice of pizza for dinner.

Our second day was a beautiful, sunny Sunday, so we decided to spend the day outdoors. First we rode the subway to the Meatpacking District to walk along the High Line. Needless to say, for a 3 year-old boy, the subway (or train, as he called it) was one of the highlights of our trip and he wanted to ride it everyday.

The High Line was great, we loved walking in a place where we didn’t have to worry about cars, and our little guy had fun climbing on every bench he encountered. It was a great stroll where we just relaxed and enjoyed the contrasts that make up this incredible city.

After our walk we got on the subway and made our way to Columbus Circle, where we picked up some sandwiches and headed into Central Park for a picnic lunch. We spent the rest of our day in this glorious park, letting our son play at the Heckscher Playground, climb the Umpire Rock with dad, and play soccer with a mini inflatable ball we brought along. We also rented a boat at the Loeb Boathouse and spent a fun hour  rowing and people watching in Central Park Lake.

Spring in New York city is absolutely stunning! I was so happy to see the cherry blossom trees in full bloom, it reminded me of beautiful Victoria, B.C.

We ended our day having dinner at Shake Shack, before heading back to the hotel. Our little guy fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow!

For more of our trip to New York with a 3 year-old click here