I’ve already been to New York City last year with Emile for my training at Center for Babywearing Studies, but this was the first time travelling overseas with all 3 kids.
We arrived at the airport in Germany very early in the morning after a 4 hour drive to find out our Air Berlin flight had been cancelled. No, I didn’t receive an email or SMS…
Luckily they were able to rebook us on to a Lufthansa flight which was only an hour extra waiting. Bad thing is that the Lufthansa flight would land at Newark instead of JFK. Changing my plans a bit.

For my two daughters this was the first long overseas flight. They have travelled to Iceland and London earlier this year and were excited for this longer flight with movies and food!
Sadly the crew made me take the cares belts off that we usually bring for our flights, as Lufthansa apparently doesn’t allow this type of child restrain systems.
Bringing two carseats wasn’t an option for me, so this left me pretty frustrated and disappointed.
I’ve contacted Lufthansa about it and am awaiting an answer. Will update as soon as I have more information! 🙂

From Newark we took a bus to Times Square before heading to our AirBnB in Queens. We arrived around 16.30 at our room and our host waited for us to let us in.
After a short nap we went out to have some frozen yoghurt. Around 20.00 we went to bed, I’ve been hoping the jetlag wouldn’t be too bad but wanted to make sure to get some sleep too.

Jetlag caused the kids to be up very early the next day. We were out of the house at 6.00 am. First we went to Astoria park and later (well, around 7.30) we went to Central Park.
It was the best decision ever to take the kids to Central Park for our first day. Enough to explore: the Zoo, climbing rocks at the park and food and toilets nearby.
I tried keeping them awake as long as possible, to adjust them to this timezone. On our way back to Queens it was hard to keep the girls awake, but this did mean we had a ”normal” bedtime this night.

The next day we left the room around 9. As it was raining I decided to take the girls to see the Statue of Liberty. We took the free Staten Island ferry from St. George Terminal and after a snack we took the ferry back. In the afternoon we visited friends and ordered pizza!

Sunday we went to the New York Hall of Science. Maybe you saw my Instagram video where the kids play with a virtual reality wall where they could create and change the animated world with their gestures. There’s a lot to see at the Hall of Science and if the weather is nice there’s water play outside (well, it’s there if the weather is not that nice too!). I forgot to bring spare clothes and the kids got wet 🙂

On Monday I wanted to get some shopping done. First we went to Union Square park so the kids could play. There’s a nice farmer’s market around there too!
After shopping ( I didn’t buy anything, but we went to the Lego store and went sightseeing) we decided to go to Rainey Park.
This playground has a great view and has sprinklers for the kids to play with water. There are a lot of playground with water features, there’s a website where you can search playgrounds by features to find one in the area where you’re staying.

In the evening I wanted to go to Times Square with the kids. On our way there Alice fell asleep in the carrier and I took her out at Times Square, but she wasn’t excited at all. Emile was the only one who seemed to be amazed by all the lights. I’ve put Emile and Alice back up in the carrier / wrap and we went to the M&Ms store. Celine loved the store, eventhough we didn’t buy anything. It was 22.00 when we headed back to Queens and Celine was as tired as the other two but did manage to walk the way home from the subway.

On Tuesday we had a meet up planned at Hunters Point South Park. The view is incredible and there’s a ferry stop right there. I would have loved to take the kids on the boat, but they didn’t want too. (too scared)
They’ve been playing all day at the Park. There’s sand, a playground, food, drinks. Not the most affordable place to buy some food and drinks but the location is great.
It was already 20.00 when we headed back to our AirBnB room. Celine took the balloons and it was an almost magical sight seeing her in the big city with her balloons. 🙂

Wednesday would be a very hot day again so we went out to Astoria Park early. We wanted to go see the High Line so we went to Union Square to pick up some food at the Farmer’s Market and took a bus to the High Line. It was hot, very hot. The High Line is nice, but with this weather we should have just gone somewhere with water.

We’ve spend our Thursday at Rainey Park. It might sound boring to be at a playground all day but with 32° the kids were happy to be able to play with the sprinklers and not having to walk miles in a hot city. I could sit in the shade whilst they would be playing.

On Friday we went to Dutch Kills Playground before heading to the airport. Right before we left to the airport I found out our flight was cancelled (again!) but I decided to head to the airport anyway. Dragging along 3 kids and our luggage through town had been horrible enough with those temperatures. At the airport we got told they rebooked us on to a later flight, which would leave around midnight ( we arrived at the airport at 16:00 ). We got some coupons for food / drinks but keeping the kids happy for so many hours was pretty hard. Luckily I brought my tablet along and they could watch a movie (or two).

Alice fell asleep right before we had to start boarding, so I had to wear both Alice and Emile. Emile fell asleep during the short walk on to the airplane.
Getting two kids out of the carrier and install them on their seats is pretty hard if it’s just you alone. I asked a stranger to help Celine to get her CARES belt right and once we sat down Emile soon settled again and Alice was fast asleep.
Overnight the kids slept. Even Celine took a nap. The first flight she stayed awake the whole time to watch all the movies 😉

I’d love to come back to New York again. This city that never sleeps is amazing. The kids loved it too!
There’s so much to explore and many museums I’d love to visit still!

Wraps

I brought only 2 carriers and 2 wraps as I didn’t want to drag to much luggage around. I packed my Tula Toddler, a Connecta Pre-school, my Lemonlooms handwoven and my Elf’s weaving workshop handwoven.
I picked the Connecta as it’s great for tandemwearing. It doesn’t have a padded waistbelt which makes it easier to combine with another carrier when you’re planning on wearing two kids. It also doesn’t take a lot of space when folded so it fits in a handbag easily.
The Tula is quick, comfortable and easy. Perfect choice for the airport and public transport. Both handwoven wraps just look stunning and are very comfortable.
At the meet on Tuesday I’ve tried a Wrapsody Hybrid and some mamas tried my handwoven wraps.

Lemonlooms
Tula Toddler

 

Elf’s weaving workshop
Wrapsody

 

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