Every Kid's Dream!: Day Twelve: Epic Shopping Day in NY

Today we were supposed to go to an outlet mall in New Jersey. After speaking to a lot of locals, they all said we were mad to go there when there was so much more to do in the city. So, we decided not to go. We had also not had a chance to go to a lot of places we wanted to head to, so we replaced a day at an outlet mall, with a day of shopping around here.

We headed first to Times Square - again... There's so much to do there and we barely scraped the surface on our previous visits, and today was no different. We went into Toys r Us again to grab some things the kids had seen on our last visit. First we grabbed tickets for the indoor ferris wheel. How fun was that! We had several goes around before coming to a stop and from up there we saw all sorts of great places we had to go check out.

There was a great Build-a-robot thing so we all built a cool robot and we can level it up on an associated computer game. It was fun being a kid! Then we went upstairs and grabbed a magic light trick thing that the kids had seen, and a cool hackey sack game. Joe got an awesome magic kit as well and a couple of other cool things. The shop has to be seen to be believed!

We walked out of there totally loaded with bags and tossed up whether to head back to the hotel to dump the bags and come back again. We decided that the next store wasn't too far away and we could manage.

So we went up to the M&M's store. What a fun place! They've got staff members at the bottom of the escalators having dance offs with the yellow M&M, Elmo and the Cookie monster were hanging around outside the store too. The whole shop is an explosion of colour. It was really amazing. 3 floors of every type of M&M merchandise you can imagine! We loaded up in there with heaps of stuff and somehow managed to carry it all along with the Toys r Us stuff.

We definitely decided that was enough and then realised we had to walk about 5 blocks to the subway... blech... On the way there we walked past the Hard Rock Cafe, so that's where we decided to stop and have lunch! Yummy stuff and a great atmosphere. The kids really enjoyed it, and I got to have my favourite American dessert - key lime pie!!

So back to the hotel, and the kids decided they didn't want to go out again. Now this is where I finally got cranky. My whole plan of our next adventure was about to go out the window, and they were being mean. So I sent them on a guilt trip about how much I had done for them - how much I had bought for them, and they couldn't even spare me an afternoon for shopping for me. The guilt trip worked so off we set on an even bigger adventure.

My plan was to go to the Staten Island Mall. The journey meant we had to catch the subway to the very last stop on the #1 line all the way downtown, to South Ferry. We popped up right at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. From there we go on the Staten Island Ferry which was my treat for the kids. We got pretty up close and personal with the Statue of Liberty and had an awesome 30 minute ferry ride. The Staten Island Ferry is free!! The kids seemed impressed with the views and also the amount of ice in the water!

Once we hopped off the ferry we headed to the bus terminal to catch a city bus to Staten Island Mall. Little did I know that with all the snow and all the traffic at around 5pm, the bus trip took us an hour and a half!! But at least it was free too. Once you've paid for a train trip, a bus trip is free within 2 hours.

We eventually got the the Mall and had 3 hours of shopping time with the mall closing at 9pm. We walked through JC Penney and picked up 2 suitcases. Then we went to the boys clothing and bought an astonishing amount of clothing for Joe at really amazing prices. And the clothes are awesome!

Then, we headed to a store Sofie had forgotten she wanted to go to.... Hot Topic. Here she bought a crapload of t-shirts that she really loved, and one that she hated, but bought to wear as a joke... You'll have to ask her to give you the punchline....

Afterwards, the kids decided they wanted to go to Build-a-Bear. I got a bit cranky then too, because it was now 7.30 and I'd gotten nothing for myself. So I told them there would be no bear building until I'd done some shopping!!! So we headed back into JC Penney and bought a few bits and pieces. At least I have a new pair of jeans to wear now! Then I decided we had enough time to go build their stupid bears... so back we went to the workshop.

Joe got himself a cute bunny, and Sofie has a rockin' bear with an iPod connection and speakers in it's feet. Pretty cool. They got some accessories to deck them out and then we grabbed a drink. After that we figured we'd better find a way out of the mall to a cab rank.

On the way towards the front of the mall, I spotted an awesome shoe shop and just had to go in. And then the kids started their whining and moaning again. I grabbed 2 pairs of boots, a pair of shoes and a handbag and paid less than $90 for the lot. Bargain!! By this time the shops were closing and the kids were at their most joyful... NOT. While I was in the shoe store, the girl in there pointed out to me that there were no cab ranks, and actually no cabs at all on Staten Island. There are only car services and you have to call them to come and get you. They asked if I had a number for one, and quite obviously I did not... So here's where my plan all started to unravel.

A fabulous lady in the store overheard my plight and called a friend of hers to get a number for a car service, and she passed that number on to us. So there was one hurdle cleared. Then we left the store and searched for a public telephone. Finally we found one, but it didn't work. The one next to it got a dial tone, but it kept spitting my coins back out. Gah!!!

So we decided to head to the other bank of phones on the other side of the mall. Bear in mind, this is an American mall and it is massive! When we reached the main entrance of the mall, the security guard took pity on us and asked if we were ok. I told him the situation and he was fabulous. He got his partner to call us a car service and then chatted to us for ages while we waited. They were a great pair. We had a lot of fun chatting with them. We then went outside to wait, and the kids amused themselves throwing snowballs at each other and trying to knock icicles off the roof of the mall.

Eventually around 10pm, the car service arrived. The driver was a young guy - maybe around 20 - named Angelo. He was an absolute gem. He had a great Italian-American accent and took us on a scenic route past some impressive houses valued around $20 million, with amazing views over the water. He took us down Jersey Street which is the most dangerous street on Staten Island. I knew it was bad when he locked all the doors before heading in there! He told us this was where gangs, homeless, drug dealers and the like hang out. And there was a police car on every corner just about! He said that it was one of those experiences that was pretty cool. And to be honest - it was!

Eventually we got to the terminal and waited around 20 minutes for the ferry. Had a great trip back seeing all the lights of the city, and the Statue of Libery all lit up. It was really beautiful. We hopped on the #1 train, again with a little help from a friendly local who pointed the way to the right platform without us even asking!

No trouble at all from that point and now we're back safely in our room. It was a great adventure and I'm really glad we did it. I feel like I could go just about anywhere and do anything now!

So tomorrow we have our day trip to Niagara Falls. Waking up early again and meeting the tour guide in the lobby at 6.30am. So goodnight! Enjoy the photos below.