New York Visit: Spring 2015

The boys and I just got back from a wonderful week in New York.  This is the first trip in a very very long time that there was more down time than travel time and it felt very relaxed.  It was wonderful to spend quality time with Nana, Tickle Grandpa, Auntie Ray Ray, Gi GI, Aunt Stacey, Cousin Olivia, Auntie Barbara, Tu Sox, and Macaroni.  

The boys were incredibly excited to go on a big adventure with mom.  On the morning of our trip, Brody woke up early, padded down the hallway and with a huge smile plastered on his face said "I ready to go on my trip now".   They carried their own backpacks and "packed" their own toys.  Brady and Brody were great listeners and played with trucks before we boarded,  played on their iPads for good chunks of time, and played games with me when they got antsy.  We had an easy trip to Detroit and by some great luck, were able to spend our long layover with Granny and Papa!  They drove the 90 miles down to the airport to visit with us and it was wonderful. Our time with them flew by (I could not resist!).  On our second flight we took a little airplane to Newburgh and Brody sat by himself like a big boy.  He was the only one on the plane with an empty seat next to him and he was quite happy not to have to sit next to a 'stranger'.  When Nana and Tickle Grandpa greeted us at the gate, we were weary but still in very good spirits.  

Once we got to New York, we fell into the easy rhythm of playing outside, playing inside, napping, trying a few local parks and enjoying evenings snuggled in with everyone all together.  The boys took great pleasure in collecting acorns and leaves in the backyard.  It's so fun to seem my old backyard through the eyes of my kids.  What was once a dreaded hill filled with sticks and leaves for me to clean up is now an incredible playing field filled with possibilities.

   
One evening we had movie night and showed Nana and Auntie Ray Ray the movie Frozen.  That movie was appropriate because IT SNOWED when were were there.  Snow at the end of April was not what anyone was expecting and in typical west coast fashion, I did not pack enough clothes for any of us to be warm.   The boys spent the week wearing every long sleeve shirt I had packed them packed and I kept borrowing socks and wearing sneakers (gasp!) instead of the flats I brought to roam around in.  My mom dug out a basket of hats and gloves and the boys and I shared these warm accessories.  After playing outside in the snow, they got their first taste of "coming in from the cold" hot chocolate.  It was well received!

I was lucky enough to sneak away for a day with my great friend, Amy.  She drove to upstate New York and we ran 4 miles and had a fabulous lunch out.  It was relaxing and sort of unreal to be able to chat without kids bugging us.  As usual, it felt more like we were neighbors and this is something we usually do instead of a rare treat; I love how those 3100 miles dissolve away with our first hug.   On the way to meet Amy, I enjoyed driving through my old stomping ground letting old memories flood back to me.  When I got home, the boys were playing outside with Nana and Tickle grandpa and they talked Grandpa into getting out some binoculars to investigate a woodpecker that they heard in the distance.  The binoculars were the hit of the trip.  

One of the best parts of the trip was being able to spend some quality time with GiGi and Aunt Stacey.  The boys were so at home playing with random things that found at GiGi's house as well as the toys that Aunt Stacey brought over for them.  It was relaxed and wonderful.

And last but not least, the boys got to spend tons of time with Auntie Ray Ray.  It is safe to say that they were in hog heaven being tickled, chased, snuggled and loved by their aunt. When we were all together, it was all laughs, fart and poop jokes, and lots of snuggling and playing. 

I would be remiss if I did not write about the amazing interactions that the boys had with three little dogs on this trip.  We have no shortage of animals in our house so the boys are very used to being around pets but they are not really used to caring for or being sympathetic to our animals.  Our dogs particularly, though protective of the boys, are not very interested in snuggling or laying with them.  In fact, because the boys are very active and pretty wild, our animals have grown quite wary of Brady and Brody and tend to just give them their space.   My parents have had Tu Sox for many many years and he is well loved and very special to me.  Tu Sox is now completely blind and really needs a lot of extra care.  It was incredible to see how compassionate and concerned the boys were for Tu Sox's well being.  Brady and Brody were great at making sure their toys were not in his way, making sure he had a place to lay down, and helping him find his food an water bowl.  They absolutely loved snuggling with him and he was so found of them.  Rachel has a little dog named Macaroni who is in your face with his loving nature.  Brady and Brody loved walking, snuggling, and letting him cover their faces with kisses.  Last, Barbara's dog Cooper was wild and good natured and the boys still talk about how Cooper jumped so high that he fell over when he landed.  They were really enamored with these small dogs and it has changed the way they treat our own animals.  They are more gentle, kind and talk in soothing voices to our dogs and cats.  In turn, Adriane and Oliver in particular, have really let the boys shower them with love.  This is a very nice change in the dynamic of our household. 

The easiest way for me to tell that the trip was amazing is that the boys did not want to leave and every day that we have been home, they have asked to go back to New York.  It certainly made an impression on them!

Vehicles

Several weeks ago the boys and I headed across the Golden Gate bridge for a special event hosted in Sausalito.  I can’t begin to describe how “cool” it is to be able to roll with these guys so easily these days.  The 1 hour drive was no big deal: they had no trouble entertaining themselves (and me) in the car, there weren't any sudden urgent complaints that they had to go to the bathroom, and they were equally as excited to be able to cross the "Golden Bridge" as I was.  They are totally big boys now and they are so much fun.  

The reason  for our adventure was an amazing event that was being put on at the Bay Area Discovery Museum.  The museum recruited tons of rescue vehicles for the kids to climb on and investigate.  This included all kinds of things such as fire trucks, ambulances, jet skies, police cars and the pièce de résistance- a helicopter.  As you can imagine, their toddler minds were blown!  As if that were not enough, we spent the rest of the day exploring the amazing museum and hanging out with great friends.  It was great (so great in fact that we have been back in the time that it has taken me to post this update.  We love it there!).

After sitting in the state parks police car instead of the "real" police car, the boys kept asking me "What that police car job again?" and I would have to tell them what a state park police officer does.

I asked the boys if they had any questions and Brody looked right at the pilot and said "how this thing fly?". A physics lesson ensued and I tuned out.

This was some kind of off road fire truck.  It was incredibly tall; Brady is standing well over my head.

Quite a view from this museum!

A giant gravel pit.  Toddler heaven.

This week when we were at the museum, we decided to talk a walk out onto the pier that you can sort of see in the picture above.  I am so glad we did because in addition to getting an incredible view of this iconic bridge, we were able to see fishermen, crab traps, pelicans and a sea lion!!  I love seeing sea lions in their natural habitat and this cute guy swam over to see what everyone was doing.  They are the labrador retrievers of the sea; it is so hard not to want to jump in and pet one (hence the death grip I have on the boys' hands.).