A post New York City reflection day 1

Leading up to our NYC trip, I'm not sure exactly I was thinking. Maybe I was preoccupied with packing, but then the day before I came down with a sinus migraine which left me in a position to mope or to lower my expectations. I did a little of both. Nothing was really planned for our trip except we had a way in and out of the city and a place to stay while there. We knew we were going to use public transit while there and we had borrowed an awesome compact double stroller system for the kids, so we did. We had spent the better part of the year learning about cities, and so it just felt like we needed to go and be in the city of cities, at least as my kids know it.

Here we go, go, go on an adventure!

Was I nervous about bringing my little family to a an almost unfamiliar city? Of course. My number one fear was losing one of the little people. Which honestly made no sense because in Manhattan where the sidewalks are overcrowded, the kids automatically such close by in a stroller or a carrier. And probably part of that was Keith and I wanting them to do so. Our main rule of the city was to hold a hand or be in the stroller, the kids totally complied. But goodness does Manhattan have a lot of people! It made me think how much space we really have in Cleveland.

So we got to the city thru Penn station on Amtrak. It was a pretty fun trip, and probably the only time on land that I've gone 120mph. Coming out of Penn station, we were a bit lost. Arriving underground, we had no bearings and since it's Penn station, there were people everywhere, it made us a bit frazzled and so as soon as we did make it out and got our directions straight, I beelined the kids and Keith the luggage to the hotel. I think the initial lost feeling really screwed with my head for a bit, but at the hotel we regrouped and we actually had a very nice, very spacious hotel room for midtown Manhattan. If you ever stay in the city, I recommend The Herald Square Hotel. The staff was very accommodating and friendly.

That evening we went out and walked around our surrounding area, around the Empire State building, into a three story H&M to buy the kids socks. Because somehow in the packing, the children's socks were left behind. I had some great paella at a small street vendor in Herald Square, and then we walked up to Bryant park where they were setting up to have a movie on the lawn in front of the library. The boys rode a carousel and then we finished the night with ice cream in Koreatown. A good first day in the city.

The guy that does Humans of New York, does a pretty great job giving a portrait of the individuals there. There is so much humanity packed in the city, so many stories and we all matter. We are all made in the image of God, and I felt like in this city, the flare, the beauty of the individual came out. While I'm sure they have their own battles with trying try fit in, it seemed like there was less of that and more of people trying to stand out. And I wonder if that comes from there being so many people there, that one feels like you have to make your mark to be noticed or cared about. This may be true, but to me it emphasized how amazingly awesome God is to create humanity in such a way that we can all be so different in our expressions of self and yet we are all children of Him too. One big crazy, diverse family of humanity.

Part 2 tomorrow.

Home!

We made it home! All in one piece. It took much longer than anticipated on the way back, but there were some detours. We stopped at our one friend's home again to pick up left behind things and well its always hard to leave them because everyone just gets along so well.

We did a trip lay over across the river from Cincinnati. Somehow, Keith scored us a discounted rate on a swanky hotel that was on the edge of the river. The boys and I enjoyed watching the river boats from our 11th floor view.

We checked out the Latin rite mass at Old St. Mary's in downtown Cincinnati. I had been to one of these before but Keith had never been. I'm honestly not in the right place for it I think because I'm just confused instead of understanding. Maybe another time in life I'll like it more. For now I'll stick to a reverent English mass.

We stopped at Skyline Chili for lunch. Benjamin apparently wanted to take his noodles with him unbeknownst to us. He had a full handful in each hand, which warranted him a to go box from the waitress. It reminded me that sometimes 4 almost 5 year olds still are little and do silly things.

We played a lot of find the alphabet letter games in the car and a few rounds of guess what animal am I. I think by the 5th round the boys figured out that the game works better if you aren't the same animal every time. We detoxed from screens on the way home, which might have been why it seemed so long, but I think we needed it.

And so now we are home! The snow can come and it will be okay. I'm excited to be back in my own bed again and get some routine back in our lives.

Trip highlights day 1

We are finally taking a vacation for the year. These are some of the highlights of day 1.

1. We went through two major cities. In.Cincinnati we all waved to downtown to tell it hello and goodbye. We then waved to the Ohio river and Kentucky as well. This may not be much, but the silly things like this make my day.

2. Ben declared this the best trip ever after we stopped at a newly remodeled McDonald's with a pretty great play place.

3. The baby didn't cry much and actually was quite the trooper.

4. We enjoyed window drawing the last hour of the trip. We have these window markers that crystallize after you draw with them, I'm always intrigued by them each time I use them. This was one of our windows. Apparently the person looked like Ben's godfather to him because he has spikey hair.

5. The hotel we are at has an indoor pool.Had a dinner within waking distance and an outdoor shopping mall. I call that a win.

Just some snippets

1. Baby girl has figured out crawling enough that baby gates are now needed to protect stair falls. She has also figured out how to get back up to a sitting position after being on her belly and is pulling herself up on things too. She's now sporting six teeth. The boys maybe had two at this point. So extra clingy baby we have had, and I'm wishing for some good sleep again soon!

2. We got a new mattress! I went in a few weeks ago complaining about back pain, the doctor said physical therapy and a new mattress were in order. Also she said to make sure to carry 21lb Miss H on my back instead of my front as much as possible. Today I didn't even have to do that, (score!)she happily rode in the wagon on our walk to the corner produce market.

3. We have an upcoming trip to TN.  This means 9-10 hours one way in the car with 3 kids. If you know me, you know I hate the car and kids in the car stress me out a lot. I would fly any day over driving, but it's just not in our budget to pay for 4 tickets now, 5 if we were being extra safe. So yeah, pray the drive goes better than I expect.

And that's all for today. Hope ya'll are having a great Monday!