NEW YORK-GIRLS TRIP!

I have the best family ever! My mom was the best ever and took us on a girls trip to New York! (Thanks dad for letting us all go!) This was the best time to spend will all my sisters and mom and no kids or husbands (even though I love kids and husbands)! I got to fly to Arizona Wednesday afternoon and play with mom and dad for the day! That afternoon I got to play with mom and that night dad took me on a date! We went to Neds Crazy Sub and ate dinner! and I even got my favorite little apple juice in an apple! Then we went next door to Water and Ice and got Thriftys Ice Cream! It was the best! Dad and I sat outside on a bench eating ice cream and talking for a few hours. It was so fun! I love being able to spend time with my dad! He treats me so good!

 Thursday (June 8) early morning all of us sisters got together to head for the airport. 

Sadly there was a lot of turbulence on the plane and we were all getting a bit queazy. Poor Amber was not feeling to hot at all and threw up  4 times. Great thing we were right by the bathroom.

We were so excited when we finally arrived at the airport! It was the best! Hayleys plane was supposed to get there about half an hour after we arrived, but her plane ended up coming 3 hours late. Poor Hayley. We were all dying to see her! So we ate Jambas and hung out till she got here! When Hayley arrived we were all soooo excited! With Hayley living in Ohio we dont get to see her as often as we would like. Next we got in our cab and headed to the hotel to check in! Mom got us hotel rooms at the Waldorf Astoria. It was a super fun hotel to stay at! We checked in and then we were starving!

Our first New York meal. The fabouls Shake Shack! This is one of my favorite places because the burgers are so fresh and the bread so chewy! Yum! We took a taxi ride from our hotel to upper east side Shake Shack and got ripped off with a 45 dollar cab ride. We learned our lesson, only take yellow cabs, or the great subway!

First subway ride all together! Hayley(8 months pregnant and never complained once!) Aubrey, Kelsey, Amber, Mama.

A packed subway ride! After a yummy dinner we headed down to Times Square to go see the fun night life!

                                                         Pit stop to Grand Central Station.

                                                Everyone was loving looking around!

Trash day is coming. I think its great seeing all the trash on the sides of the street. Brings an old since of america back into life...

After a fun walk from Grand Central we made it to Times Square! First stop...must find the M&M factory!

                     Luckily we got there at midnight, when it closed..just in time to get some treats!

                                  Mom loves her peanut M&Ms! I agree they are quite good!

                        Who knew there could be so much M&M memorabilia? Aubrey and I!

                                                                Where is Tuna?

                                                                        Amber and I :)

Since it was such a nice night out we decided to walk back to our hotel! I was glad we did because it helped me remember a bit where things were. It has been so long since I lived in NY that I didn't remember where anything was! Here we are at the Rockefellar Center.

All the Bang daughters! That night when we got back to our hotel, we all slept great, but we excited to party the next day! A great start to a wonderful trip!

Friday morning bright  read to roll! Picture inside the hotel lobby! First stop..breakfast at Magnolia Bakery. (Aubrey, Hayley, Mom, Cami, Kelsey, Amber)

Not going to lie, Magnolia bakery isnt that wonderful. Its ok, but not anything amazing at all. I like cupcakes out of a box better. But breakfast was good never the less! My sisters got yummy muffins and I got a red velvet cupcake.

                                                          Cute Cami eating her breakfast!

Eating our breakfast and getting ready to take the subway down to the 911 sites.

Here we have arrived at the 911 tribute site. These were where the buildings used to be. Scary.

                                                  Looking up at a new building being built.

                            A new building being built next to where the trade towers used to be.

On our way over to the building with 911 memorabilia we took a pit stop at a grave yard to sit down and catch our breath.

My sisters were the best! I know no kids were allowed on the trip, but I just couldn't bear to leave Tuna. They were so good to him and made him feel really welcomed and loved. (Hayley, Tuna, Amber)

                                                                       Beautiful Aubs!

Inside the tribute building there were all these missing pictures of those that died in the trade towers or ones that were never even found. It was so sad and overwhelming to see all the pictures. There were so many! Wow.

Saw some items that were found amongst all the chaos of the towers falling. The bunny was so sad it made me cry.

This was huge piece of metal from the tower bent like it was nothing. That was scary to me.

Pictures of those that died. So sad. There are so many pictures. So overwhelming. I didn't realize what a huge place the trade centers were with daycares, shopping, offices, ext. It wasn't just parents that died, families did.

                                                    Cool cranes hanging from the celling.

      Looking at the 911 sites were quite sad. We were taking a brake hanging out on the side walk.

                               Right next door was a fire station and we saw a fire truck pull out.

Tuna ready to ride the subway! I like riding the subways on afternoons because it is nice and peaceful.

Grabbing a pretzel as we walk to our next destination.

Next stop...to ride the BEAST! A boat ride to take us to see the Statue of Liberty! Since we were there for only a short time, we didn't have time to do everything, so we decided to take a boat to see the Statue of Liberty instead of doing that tour with Ellis Island.

Oh yes when we got on the boat ready to take off, they told Hayley she could not come! That was so sad! I really wanted her to come! We read no where this was a crazy ride and pregnant women could not come. Well, after the ride we found out why....we were not warned about a couple other things as well...

Mom and Cami getting ready to take off. Look how lovely and dry they look.

You cant tell here, but we just got soaked! The driver flipped the boat aroud and we all got drenched! I was so glad I had a water proof camera!

                                The one and only...Lady Liberty! Defiantly a great site to see!

Well, after we saw the Statue of Liberty and dried off, we were about to dock the boat and the driver got us soaking wet again! Wowzers! But lets be honest..it made it really fun! We were all laughing so hard and it made it a funner story to tell!

We were all wet after the ride, and Hayley was surprised! Probably made her not to sad she missed the boat ride after that!

 yum....This made us really hungry, so we went to eat lunch and somehow ended up at Applebees of all places! But in Times Square it is all chain food mostly. It was still fun and good. (Hayley and Cami and there beef phili cheese steak......)

Next on the list.. The wax museum! So we all thought this would be fun, but lets say this was seriously one of our highlights of the trip, we had so much fun!

                   Kim Kardashian. She was very short/little and that surprised me. But she was really nice.

                               Amber and Leo

                            Edward (dont know his real name) and Hayley

                           Tupac and Tuna = friends for life!

                                       My favorite pirate man in the world!

                             Tuna and Gandhi

                             Tuna and Bill

                             Tuna and Rosa Parks

                                   Tuna and Ab.

I dont know who this man was, but he looked really real.

My favorite actress of all time! "I Love Lucy" will always be one of my all time favorite shows!

                                       The Beatles

                                                        Tina Turner

                                     We miss you MJ

                                        Spice girls for life!

                                                          Simon Says......

The wax museum had a fun candy section towards the end. It was nice to get a quick treat and finish the tour!

They had cool tables filled with candy. It was a nice background for a picture with Tuna.

One thing I love about Cami is she loves candles and cozyness. She wanted us all to smell and enjoy the candle scents.

                               Tuna and Lady Gaga

                             Cute Cami and Miley

                                    Yes, yes, Tuna has Beiber Fever.

Oh no, Hayley don't get crushed!

Aubs, Hayley, Spongebob, Kelsey, Cami

On this trip we ended up taking pictures of Tuna with everything because of an on going joke. He just made every picture look so cute and we were all cracking up putting him in everything, on everyone and every where. Tuna is such a good sport! Next on the list is to make a "Where's Tuna Book?"....

Back to Time Square to go to the Harry Potter Muesum. We realized we were short on time, so once we got there, we turned around and started walking to the hotel!

On our way back to the hotel we made a pit stop and got some pizza! Then we hurried and got ready and rushed to get to Mama Mia! Some of us walked, and the pregnant and wounded took a limousine ride there! Lucky ducks! :)

Getting ready for the play to start! We all loved it and had fun! It was a good play but it is not like other plays with huge play set changes and tons of costume changes. But the music was fun and we all ended up dancing around the play and singing along at the end! Fun!

After a fun time at the play we headed over to the Rocakfeller Center to go to the "Top of the Rock!"

Top of the Rock! Taking elevator and escalator rides to the top of the building.

Checking out the view! Time to go higher, and higher up the building!

We all really liked the view and enjoyed our time checking out the NY skyline! Aubrey said it was her favorite thing we did this trip:) I agree it was lovely!

I liked this picture because Hayley looks like a cute unicorn.

After a great time, we were all starving since it was 12:30am.. we headed to Union Square where I used to live and went to one of my favorite restaurants! Max Brenner Chocolate by the Bald Man! Seriously the food, desserts, it is all fantastic! And the display always looks appetizing.

We all enjoyed our meal and are now ready for some delicious dessert!

Everyone shared a delicious fondue and I was bad and got my own dessert below!

Roasting marshmallows !

Oh this dessert is one of my favorites! So yummy and rich! I think after two bites I was overloaded by chocolate, but somehow I managed to finish it up..

When we left the restaurant it was pouring rain! That made a fun adventure to get home!

Saturday morning we got off to a little bit of a late start since we didn't get home till 3 am, and from being soaked by salt water earlier that day we all needed to shower! We went to bed pretty late! Saturday we all woke up hungry and headed down the street to a local bakery.

Talk about a super yummy meal! I got a fruit granola cup and a chocolate crassont! It was delicious!

Cami and Amber eating breakfast out side on a lovely morning.

After a great breakfast we had a great walk down to Central Park. I love the churches, random art, and great stuff to look at while walking. Never can be board in NY.

Walking by Central Park we got to see all the horse and carriages.

                                           Lots of pigeons.

Pigeons stealing the horses hard earned food.

Wahoo! Just rented our bikes, and now we are off to explore Central Park!

Everyone looking good, about to ride bikes! Wahoo!

Cutest prego on a bike I have ever seen! (maybe the only one to!) Hayley was such a  good sport!

I loved riding bikes! We rode the whole 7 miles around it and it was great! Got a fun work out for the day! It started to drizzle quite a bit, so once again we were all wet! It made it a nice cool drive riding around on our bikes though! After we returned our bikes, we stopped at a bakery and got some pizza and deserts to eat! Then we headed down the street to go look at FAO Sharwtz because its fun there!

I have the cutest sisters ever! Aubrey and Amber sheltered from the rain!

                                            Best shopping ever! Way to expensive though..

                                                 Can you find Tuna amongst these animals?

Sadly we didn't have time to go to Dylans Candy Bar this trip, but we did have fun seeing the candy at FAO Shwartz.

I bought the pickle ones to try. They were ok, but not to much pickle flavor. I would of liked a stronger more dill pickle flavor.

                                                         Three of my favorite people!

                                                                     Barbie luggage

                                         This store has it all! Even a huge rock/geode center!

Massive world puzzle! Sadly they were out of them or else we would of gotten one for Amber because they were so cool and she is a puzzler!

When we were getting ready to leave FAO it was pouring rain! So we waited it out a little bit untill the rain became a drizzle.

Isnt this hilarious? Ambers umbrella kept wanting to flip the other direction when the wind hit it!

Next destination...Natural History Museum. We decided to walk, and didn't realize we would be walking more than half of Central Park to get there. Woops. Sorry team!

Despite the long walk, it was very pleasant, quite and pretty.

We didnt have to much time to spend at the Natural History Museum so we headed straight to the Dinos!

That is a huge turtle! We had fun checking out the store after the museum.

Now taking the subway to TimeSquare to the Discovery center!

At the Discovery Center we went to the Harry Potter Exhibit! We were not allowed to take pictures, but I sneaked one below with Tuna and a noise making plant. Anyways, the exhibit was way cool. It had there wands, clothing, beds, pictures off walls, dragons, creatures, next stuff from the movies! Loved it!

After Harry Potter we went to meet up with my Uncle Steve and Aunt LeeAnn who moved to NY a year ago and are loving it! Here we are looking around the street corner to meet them!

For dinner we met up in Greenwich village at Cornelia's Street Cafe.

Aubrey, Mom , Uncle Steve, Hayley. It was so great to be able to see Uncle Steve and Aunt LeeAnn! They used to live in Utah where I got to see them a bit and sadly not anymore! It was wonderful to see them! I love those two!

Cami, Amber, Aunt LeeAnn, me.

Inside, they had cool colored bathrooms. There were two and the other one had red and yellow pipes!

Hanging out outside, thinking of what to do next! How about souvenir shops?

Tuna found a NY thimble. He got it for sewing.

Then to my surprise I saw a wonderful treat! When I was in Italy, one of my favorite gelato stores was called GROM! I heard they had put one in NY and it was true! Even though I was so full from dinner I had to go get one! It was delicious! I little taste of Italy!

Next stop, to the Disney Store and MAC Makeup!

We had a fun time playing in the Disney Store. Tuna and I picked out some fun things for Jake to bring home to him! Then we headed over to MAC Makeup because all of us needed some new goods!

For some reason, Aubrey kept getting really dirty feet walking around. Her feet still looked cute though! And for some reason we all thought it was hilarious.

                                                            Tuna found a toy his size!

That night when we got back from our hotel rooms we were sad because we realized it was our last night of our girls trip to the wonderful big apple.

All of us showed each other what we got for souvenirs on the trip. It was fun to see all the awesome stuff everyone got!

This was the hall way to our room!

The magical room 906

View outside our window! Sadly I didn't get pictures of the other hotel room. They had a cool waiting room! Next time!

 

Sunday morning. Getting ready to leave. Not wanting to anticipate the moment we had to say goodbye to Hayley before she takes off back to Ohio.

Pictures outside of the hotel. We caught our taxi/bus ride back to the airport to make our way home!

Our last hello to eachother :( Eating some lunch before we get on the plane.

Well after lunch we had to say our goodbyes to Hayley. I love her. Hopefully next time we see her she will have her newborn baby girl! We love you Hayley!

We still had some time to kill at the airport so we looked at rings and jewelry and then got some more food to eat later on the plane! Good idea mom! Shes always so on top of things!

Party on the plane! Luckily we all got to sit by each other which was wonderful! This trip was the best ever! I am going to cry just thinking about it. What an amazing time to spend with all my sisters and my mom! It was truly a joy and a trip to always remember! Thanks mom and dad for the best time ever! I love my family! So, maybe we can all think of next years girl trip 2012? I think this could be an awesome tradition!