Two Adorable Granddaughters and Other Fun in NYC

We are not only lucky to have two sons and their wives living in Manhattan, we also have two adorable granddaughters! One just happens to have an amazing back garden that makes life in a crazy, busy place like Manhattan, not only bearable but enjoyable! I had the chance to play with this cute little two-year-old ginger snap while her parents went out and we had a such a good time playing with umbrellas and “fishing” in the grate in their back yard.

 

Is she cute enough?

Our other family just moved to the Upper West side of NYC to a FIVE story walk-up that just also happens to be a ten minute walk to the greatest playground in the world: Central Park (which makes it hard to remember that you are in a massive big city). 

There are some advantages to living in a place without an elevator when you live on the 5th floor.

They are all getting their exercise daily!

First, they have learned to send out their laundry and someone else delivers it to their door, washed, dried and neatly folded once a week:

AND Trader Joes’ which is only a few blocks away will deliver groceries to your door for SIX DOLLARS!  Perfect!  Plus a branch of the City Library is right next door:

Along with every possible thing you could want to eat from almost any country within two blocks of their house. We had breakfast at Sara Jane’s which was about a hundred steps away on the morning that we left! Take a look at Crab Cakes Benedict. YUM!

 

Since this is the first time we’ve seen their new digs, we know the family would love to see what they’ve done. Eli and Julie are into style and design and since Eli is a fabulous photographer what they have done with this new place is pretty awesome! It’s one very long hall with basically five beautiful spaces on the way down the hall:

 

And the most fun of all: Zara’s sleeping quarters so she can sleep in the dark:

What a fun place. Perfect for them! And the best perk of all: their next door neighbors were dear friends in DC so they can trade babysitting big time. It was so 

Forgot to take a picture of their cute kitchen and Eli is probably shaking his head at some of these blurry pictures but we think they have found just the right spot for the next era of their lives! In addition Eli may be the first or will at least be near the first in his huge company to reach his quota for the year. Hooray for Eli, Julie and Zara in the Big Apple!

Just two other quick things that we did in our days in NYC. We did a speech for a group on Partnerships and the Entitlement Trap and had fun meeting with some terrific parents with the help of Tal, Eli and Julie.

And afterward we got a great view from a rooftop near the event:

And we went to one of the most fun plays on Broadway ever!

That was five days in NYC/Philly that we guarantee we will never forget!