1 chaperone 5:00am wake up. 6:30am departure. 28 teenage girls. 3 chaperones. 1 bus driver. 1 check-in. 1 girl missing. 1 late wake-up. 29 girls on the bus. 30 bagels.
2.5 tubs of cream cheese. 2 broken plastic knives. 12 bananas. 15 apples. 11 oranges. 2 cases of water. 45 minutes in 1 chaperone without any money. 5 minutes laughing. 7:32am sunrise. 1 photo of chaperones “sleeping”. 
29 smiling faces. 184 miles on a bus. 1 movie, 1.5 hours long. 34th street Macy’s.
3 chaperone phone numbers. 8 floors. 2 more adults appear (a brother and an alum). 1 Santa, floor 8. 1 very long line. 3 photos with Mrs. Clause. 454 raindrops. 3 umbrellas. 9.5 city blocks. 10 minutes counting students. 1 line-up. 1 restaurant, Hard Rock Cafe. 29 cheers. 7 tables. 11 Hard Rock Cafe souvenir glasses, 1 Hard Rock Cafe umbrella, 4 total. 1st group photo.
29 excited girls. 597,634 raindrops. 4.5 city blocks. 5,127 m&m’s purchased and eaten.
3 floors. 23 secret snowflake gifts. 826,957 raindrops. 11 umbrellas, $5 each. 1 alum departs. 2.5 city blocks. 30,000 lights on the tree in Rockefeller Center. 32 pairs of eyes in awe. 14 candid photos. 1, 002,370 raindrops. 4 photos.
1 happy SBS family.
6 city blocks. 1,327, 198 raindrops. 25 storefronts. 16 umbrellas.40 minutes in H&M. 2 floors. 1 emergency trip to McDonald’s to use the bathroom. 9.5 city blocks. 634,586 more raindrops. 30 pairs of wet shoes. 1 brother departs. 35 minutes in Old Navy. 1 pair of flip-flops.
5 new pairs of sweats for the ride home. 10 hours in. 4:30pm back on the bus. 25 packages of crackers. 2 bagels. 1 bag of mini bagels. 5 oranges. 
6 bananas. 8 apples. 3 requests to start the movie. 1 round of “The Wheels on the Bus”. 3 hours in traffic. 1 round of “This is the Song that Never Ends” (the chaperones were singing). 29 new friends. 10 photos of the chaperones. Exit 25 Dinner at McDonald’s. $227.98 spent on french fries, soda and sandwiches.
14 hours. 9:00pm movie, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
3 phone calls to the AOD. 5 day students plan to stay overnight. 3 punchy chaperones. 5 sleeping students. 10:52pm return. 11:00pm lights out.
Add it all together and what do you get? 1 unforgettable trip to New York City.
*some numbers were estimated for the purposes of this post.
