Travel Adventures Part 1: New York State of Mind (with a little bit of New Jersey and Conneticut)

We have returned from our cross-country adventure!  We took off for 10 days to see friends and family New York and Michigan.  It was a wonderful trip and I am so glad it came together as well as it did.  That being said, I can't say that any of us are anxious to fly across country any time soon.  I hope this feeling is like the memory of childbirth and it slowly fades over time, so much so, that surprisingly after a year or two, you actually want to do it again.  That has to be what happens, right,  because clearly people have more than one kid and people take more than one trip?!

Our trip started with a red eye from San Fransisco to Newark.  We planned our first flight this way hoping it would work to our advantage.  We figured that the boys would be tired on the plane and maybe they would sleep through the bulk of the flight.  Our plan was foiled a bit by they fact that our flight was delayed for 5 hours.  We spent most of those 5 hours looking out the window at airplanes (we really got a lot of miles out of the coolness factor of being so close to the airplanes).  We also spent a fare amount of time pacing with the boys in their stroller.  For this trip, we let the boys watch videos on our phones (a novel activity for them).  For a long time, the boys sat with their heads touching, crouched over a single cell phone, watching Sesame Street while passersby smiled at their cuteness.  It was so nice to see that their normal antics could bring smiles to strangers faces.

Even though we boarded the plan 5 hours past their bed time, the boys had trouble falling asleep on the plane for a variety of reasons.  First, they were still very excited by the newness of everything.  Second, our airplane had TVs in the seat backs which caused the boys to be be drawn to the blinking lights and constant animation.  The constant streaming kept roping the boys into watching, pointing, and oohing and ahhing at every flicker.  It was not until about an hour into the flight when it was announced how to turn the TVs off that boys were able to zone out.  Third, another passenger could not help herself from playing peekaboo with Brody.  This game went on for about 20 minutes, during which time he giggled and laughed.  It was a tad difficult to settle him down after that.  And last, about 45 minutes into the 5 hour flight, I spilled a pint of milk all over myself.  Being that I was sitting in a middle seat with a sleeping person to my right and no one to hand my toddler to, I was forced to just grin an bear it for the duration of the flight.  Let's just say I smelled less than fresh by the time we landed!  All in all, the flight actually went by pretty quickly and we were happy when we landed on the east coast!

After the overnight flight, we headed for a much needed bit of fun with my long-time friend.  One of my best girlfriends moved to New Jersey , about 40 minutes away from the airport and  en-route to my parents house (so convenient of her!).  It had been 4 years since I have seen this friend and during the passing 4 years, we each had two kids that the other has not met.  We still talk all the time so it does not feel like it had really been 4 years since we have seen each other.  She insisted that no matter how tired or smelly we were, we had to stop by and she was right.  It was heaven visiting with her and her family in their adorable home, eating a delicious brunch (with quiche so good Chris may never be able to eat quiche again knowing it will likely never match up) and getting some much needed hugs (at least enough hugs to last another couple of years).  It was such a great visit!

(I love that Brady has one and Brody has two of Phoebe's shoes on in this picture.  The boys love shoes, what can I say.)

Next we spent a few days at my parents house in NY.  My parents still live where I grew up, at the top of a mountain  on a great piece of land in the woods.  It was so fun to see the boys running in the yard and down the great big hill that we used to sled on.  The yard is surrounded by woods and the boys kept trying to creep into the brush to test how far we would let them venture.  These woods taught Chris an important lesson.  At one point he asked the boys if they thought monkeys lived in the woods.  Well, that was a huge mistake because each time they were outside and near the woods, Brady and Bordy made monkey noises and motions with their hands and tried to run into the woods to find the monkeys.  They were so sad when we would not let them chase the monkeys down.  Lesson learned (I hope).

 (You may be able to tell by Brady's face that he is making monkey noises to try and summon the fake monkeys.  This went on for awhile....)

We got to send lots of time with my grandma on this trip.  It was so great for her to see the boys and to share in their fun loving nature.  She loved watching them run and play at my parents house as well as her back yard. The boys know that they are lucky enough to have two Great Grandmas and it was really special for them to be able to play with one on this trip.  (Special thanks to my cousin Olivia for taking these pictures).

 We also got to visit a farm while we were home.  According my friend, Brooke, farm vacations are now very trendy for us city folk.  We had no idea we were being trendy, but when my Aunt Barbara graciously invited us to visit a farm with her, we accepted right away knowing the boys would love it.  And love it they did!  They got to pet horses,  feed them apples, and they got to sit on a pony.  They also got to pet and chase chickens which resulted in both boy clucking and adopting a chicken strut.  They sat on a tractor and we rode in the bed of a pickup truck to see more horses.  It was so much fun and they were in complete awe of all the surroundings.  I forget how pretty it is where I grew up.  As we drove home from the farm, I was struck with how beautiful the woods, farms, and mountains are.  It was nice to be able to share that with my nuclear family.

On Monday we squeezed in a visit to another close friend who I have not seen for 5 years.  Even as I write this, I can't actually believe that 5 years has gone by since I have seen my friend.  I moved to AZ shortly after her first daughter was born.  While living away, she had two more kids and I had the boys.  She lives in Massachusetts and I was in NY, but when I got a text saying "Where exactly do your parents live?" I knew precisely what she was thinking.  I tested my mind reading capabilities (and tried to sweeten the pot) by saying "I will meet you in CT" and a beautiful plan came together.  Amy found us a great park with a splash pad and our 5 kids got to romp and play and test out their new friendships.  It was a few hours of heaven to be chancing our kids together acting as if I had just seen her last weekend.  That is the thing about good friends, they stay good friends forever.

 And last, but not least, we got to celebrate my Mom's 60th birthday.  We cooked a Mexican feast and I made a delicious ice cream cake.  The boys loved celebrating with Grandma and we felt very lucky to be there on her birthday.

We ended our New York leg with a drive back to Newark in the pouring rain with a rental car that felt like it was going to die within miles of the airport.  Nothing is ever boring with us!  On to Michigan!

A couple of memories I wish to record:
1.  My sister has a small (5 lb) dog named Macaroni.  He is adorable and great with kids.  When Brady saw Macaroni for the first time, he started to meow like a cat clearly expressing to us that he thought the dog was actually a cat.  Poor Macaroni. 
2.  The boys commandeered the stereo in my parents living room.  They loved that it played music on command and that (using the own unique sign for music) that they could get one of us to turn it one just by asking.
3.  We trained the boys to call my sister "T, T".  The whole way to the airport on our last day, they said "T,T" and were sad when we told them she was not coming with us.  Brody also learned to say "Amy" after meeting her.  Now he says "Amy" when I ask if he wants to go to the park.
4.  My Dad taunted the boys with "tickle fingers" both when my parents were in CA in July and again when we were in NY in August.  The boys now say "Pa" and simultaneously do tickle fingers when they see pictures of my Dad. 
5.  On the last morning we were in NY, there was a construction crew with tons of big yellow trucks doing road work in front of my parents house.  The boys were mesmerized by all the trucks and could get enough of all the action happening right outside the big living room window.    Chris thought for sure that between the yard with woods, Macaroni, the visit to the farm, the visit to the park with the splash pad and the plethora of construction trucks, there was no way the boys were going think MI was as fun as NY.  Luckily fun tends to follow up no matter where we go!