Keir Simmons reports from the around the world for NBC News, but it’s his most recent trip that may really stand out for him.
Simmons and his wife, Jess, took their 9-year-old twin daughters, Arianna and Ilia, on their first visit to America, with a stop in New York City, where they each got to see the one thing they hoped they would.
Ilia's request was seeing the Statue of Liberty, a sightseeing staple in the Big Apple, but Arianna's ask was a bit more unexpected.
“I want to see hip-hop,” Arianna exclaimed in a video before they left for their U.S. trip.
"Hip-hop? Hip-Hop dancing?" Simmons asked with a big smile, to which Arianna answered with an excited, "Yeah!" She also added she wanted to see the New York City Ballet.
Once the family made it stateside, TODAY cameras followed them around in a memorable visit to New York City as they hit one of the Big Apple's most popular tourist destinations: Times Square.
“This is the heartbeat of New York,” Simmons said as the family strolled through the area.
The girls not only saw hip-hop performers from the PMT House of Dance team doing their thing, they also got the chance to dance with them, showing off some of their own moves.
“In New York’s Times Square, that’s our culture,” one of the dancers told Simmons. “Everyone is always dancing. There’s always so much energy, so we always just want to show what we’re made of.”
The Simmons clan then headed met with Sterling Hyltin, a principal ballerina with the New York City Ballet, who gave the girls a private lesson, as well as their own point shoes.
“Perfect! In unison. Now you have a duet,” she told them.
Next, the girls put down their dancing shoes and went to the Statue of Liberty, where they learned about the millions of immigrants who came to America decades ago. They met with Renell, a park ranger who has his own story of making it to the country.
“I’m an immigrant. I came to this country,” he said. “I was able to serve in the military and now I’m working here at the Statue of Liberty, a site that’s so important to the story of immigration.”
Simmons understood the magnitude of the moment, getting to take his daughters to a country long known for opening its doors to people from across the globe.
“A country founded upon liberty, with its worldwide welcome and flame of freedom, still a beacon for so many of us, old and young,” he said.
The family also got to visit Studio 1A on Thursday where Arianna dished on the highlight of the trip to this point.
"I think my favorite part so far was the New York City Ballet, meeting Sterling and also getting the point shoes," she said.
"We will definitely come back soon," Ilia said.
"We can't wait," Arianna added.