trip to the New York Botanical Gardens

Since TJ was still on break yesterday, I took the day off from work and the family went to the New York Botanical Gardens. They we having a special holiday train display where they had a bunch of model trains set up around a large number of models of various buildings and structures which are located in and around New York City. The unique thing about these models is that they were built completely out of plant materials - sticks, branches, bark, seeds, leaves and the like. It was rather awesome - and very unique! I was able to get a bunch of pictures before the camera quit on us.



There was Ellis Island



The Statue of Liberty.



Rockefeller Center



The Metropolitan Museum

The New York Public Library

The Guggenheim Museum

The Brooklyn Bridge

St. Patrick's Cathedral

and the family favorite, Yankee Stadium!

If you click on the pictures, you can see a large version of each which hopefully gives enough detail to appreciate the intricate workmanship that went into these.

Later, we stopped in the cafe for lunch, and then we headed over to a gingerbread display they had in the children's area. The kids enjoyed running around for a bit there, even though it was a bit cold. No good pictures from that part, unfortunately, as the camera decided that was enough for the day.

Afterwards, we headed to NJ to visit my parents and drop TJ off for the evening, so he could go since the Grinch today with his Nana.