New York, New York

A day of flying and we were back in the land of the normal. Don't get me wrong I loved the 5 weeks we travelled around Costa Rica and Belize but towards the end I'd had enough of aircon that needed to be manually turned off and on through the night as we alternated between boiling and freezing and definitely enough of the early wake up call by birds and if honest enough of only talking to Steve and the kids for the last 6 weeks. No wonder I seemed a bit eager for everyone to swim with the sharks in Belize..! I'm sure they felt the same way!

Erin has been psyched for weeks for her arrival into NY. She'd download all the songs with 'New York' in them onto a special playlist and even though we arrived at 11pm at night she pulled out the ever faithful teddies onto her lap in the yellow taxi, put on the headphones and hummed the songs as we drove in from Laguardia. She's hoping for hiphop lessons, shopping (oh my god she's only 10!) in Manhattan and to go up the Empire State building. I think we can manage that!

We are staying upper west (75th and Broadway) at Hotel Beacon. I'd booked a one bedroom suite with two double beds with a separate living room. The website had oversold the size of the rooms too and on arrival it was even smaller than where we'd been staying in central America. The double beds weren't big enough for the kids to share let alone Steve and I. Steve went downstairs and I think exaggerated the 'wife is about to lose it' line, but it worked and he came back with keys to the huge two bedroom suite all for a few bucks more a night. So much cheaper than the $5k it had advertised on line! The beds are unbelievably comfortable and we have been catching up on some much needed sleep. For the first few nights Steve and I slept over 10 hours and the kids did about 13!!

It is a great hotel with a laundry and gym (we have a decent size kitchen too) and location is fantastic.

So far we've been back (my third time) to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. If you are intending to go, they have opened up the crown of Liberty statue but you need to book about 6 months in advance. I only booked in Feb and was able to book access to the Pedestal. If you book on the day, you don't get to go inside the statue at all which is a shame as the museum is great and we got up close to Eiffels original structure that holds up the green 'madam'.

Wandering around Ellis island I reflected on the similarities between treatment of migrants there in the early 1900s and Nauru Island and Australia’s migrant policy today. Stories of terrified families awaiting processing was a poignant reminder that history continues to repeat itself even after we’ve learnt the lessons on how to treat people.

I had downloaded Pitch Perfect 1 and 2 in Houston and the kids have seen it about 15 times on our travel this 6 weeks. We couldn't believe that the International championship Collegiate A Capella finals were in the theatre next door. Real live Pitch Perfect! We had planned to go upstate for two nights to stay with my friend David but the kids became desperate to see A cappella so Steve did the right thing and left me and David and I upstate while he came home early with the kids to attend the show. When I asked him what it was like he said ' it felt more like one of Erin's dance concerts - It went for hours and was full of family and friends and the English team from Imperial College won (of course!!)'. I didn't feel sorry for him. I reminded him of the terrible time I'd just had drinking gallons of great wine, catching up with two of my best friends, shopping in Hudson and getting yet another lay in.

While in Hudson we visited Olana house which was the home of the famous landscape artist Frederick Church. A moroccan home in the middle of the green fields is a site to see and a national treasure. Well worth the visit and kids learnt a bit more on art, architecture and the history of Hudson.

This week will be shopping, visits to Empire State Building and World Trade Centre (should the weather ever move from rainy and cold) and more catching up with friends.