Our unexpected day in New York!

On Tuesday evening, our friend Toshi called. Turns out her family was supposed to go to NYC the next day, but their son was running a high fever, and they didn't think they should go. She GAVE us three bus passes to NYC AND three tickets to see "The Lion King" on Broadway!! Oh, my goodness, what a HUGE and unexpected surprise! We hurriedly made plans to pick up Morgan from VA, re-arrange our day on Wednesday to accomodate this, and got up early on Wednesday to meet the bus. Here are a few shots from our fun day!

Yes, it WAS cold!!

Signage outside the theater

Girls in front of another "Lion King" sign, with Morgan sporting her new hat and scarf bought from a street vendor

We visited the Toys R Us on Times Square -- the one with the huge in-door ferris wheel! Of course, the girls had to take a ride. Here's the car they ended up in!

The Lego displays are incredible. Check out this huge tower and the helicopter hanging from the ceiling behind it.

Morgan checking out a Lego replica of the Empire State Building.

Mackenzie posing in front of the "chandelier" in the Barbie house!

The girls found these pincher-type grabbing gadgets -- and of course, a pinching battle had to ensue!

Hanging out with King Candy in the Candyland section!

The gross-out moment of the day -- in the candy section, we found this disgusting item -- "Larvets"!! These are actually crispy larva, and in this case, cheddar-cheese flavored...... uck. (And no, we did NOT try them!)

Back outside on Time Square, we were amused to see that the crystal ball already had the sign in front of it for 2012! They stay ahead of things in NY, don't they?

A view up Time Square in one direction.....

....and then the other!

Inside the theater was an ENORMOUS wooden sculpture of Mufasa (which ended up also being a pivotal prop in the play).

Think they were just a BIT excited to be at the play??

The costume for Scar.

What an amazing and completely unexpected day!! Thanks again, Toshi, for this wonderful gift!

~~~