The Long Trek Home (Day 4--July 5, 2009)

We left pretty early on Monday morning to head home. I would certainly be lying if I said I didn't dread it! Thankfully the kids did well again and it wasn't too terrible!

To get off Long Island, we had to drive through the city, which was was fine with me! I love looking at the people, buildings, and bridges! (Plus I wasn't the one driving through the infamous traffic!)

Aaron snapped a few pictures on our way out. I can't tell you anything about any of the pictures, other than that we were in the city when they were taken. :)

NY (Day 3--July 4, 2009)

Our third day in New York was Sunday, and after such a busy three days, we were ready for a day of rest! We went to church with Steve's family in the morning. I love how our church is the same no matter where we go!

After church, we went on a little drive out to the Hamptons. Well, we attempted to drive there. Apparently traffic is always bad on the weekends, but it was even worse because it was a three-day weekend and everyone was trying to get back to the city. We almost got there, but traffic was just too much so we turned around. We stopped at another beach on the way back. The beaches on Long Island's north shore are really rocky, so the kids had fun collecting a bunch of rocks to bring home.


We also stopped at "The Big Duck" in Flanders. Apparently Long Island was once known for duck farming, and one farmer build this odd little building as a gimicky to sell ducks and eggs to tourists. Now it's just a little piece of Americana.

NY Trip (Day 2--July 3, 2009)

Our second day in New York was the Fourth of July, and we spent it in Steve's hometown, Port Jefferson. It is a charming, picturesque little village on the north shore of Long Island. It is so adorable; right on the water, full of cute little shops. Even the chain stores are built to fit in with the seaside-resort-town feel.

To celebrate, we set up camp downtown to watch the big parade. And by big, I mean two hours of police bands (complete with kilts and bagpipes), a million fire trucks, a plethora of old cars, and of course, local politicians. (They're drawn to small town parades like a fish to water!) Oh, and there was candy. What's a parade without candy? Honestly, it was an amazing parade! It was extremely patriotic--all of the police officers and fire fighters really made me proud to live in the United States! And since most of them had some sort of tribute to the men who lost their lives on 9/11, I got a little emotional at times.

After the parade, we went for a swim at a friend of Steve's sister's Rebekah's house and had a yummy Fourth of July cookout. That night we watched the fireworks from a house high up on a cliff. It was freezing but beautiful!

Hot Time! Summer in the City! (Day 1--July 2, 2009)

Our good friend, Steve, is from Long Island, NY and he and his wife, Robyn, invited us to join them on a road trip to LI and NYC. We couldn't turn down an offer like that! So on Thursday, July 2, we loaded up their SUV and made the 14-hour trip to NY. We left at 4:00 pm and drove through the night. The kids did incredibly well. They watched DVDs for most of the trip. (THANK GOODNESS for modern technology! I'm not sure how we would've survived that trip without the DVD player.)

The best part of the drive (well, okay, not the best at the time, but now it's definitely the funniest) happened at a rest area in New Jersey at 3:30 in the morning. We stopped to use the bathroom and to take a little nap. The kids had been asleep since 10:00ish, so I stayed in the car while Steve, Aaron and Robyn went inside. After a few minutes, Robyn came out so I opened the door to let her back in the car. Big mistake! It set the alarm off. At 3:30 AM. In a parking lot full of sleeping travelers. In a car with my two sleeping kiddos. And we didn't have the keys to turn the obnoxious noise off.

To make matters worse, Aaron and Steve were inside waiting for Robyn to come out, so they didn't hear the alarm going off. And since they didn't know Robyn was already outside, they waited for a long time. Thankfully they came out after a few hours, I mean, minutes and turned the alarm off. We got out of that rest stop as quickly as possible!

We drove for about an hour and then stopped at another rest stop for Steve, our dedicated driver, to take a nap. Needless to say, Maddie and Wesley were WIDE awake at this point and they didn't show any signs of going back to sleep. I decided to get them out and take them into Burger King. I couldn't find Wesley's shoes in all of the back-seat craziness and I didn't want to turn on the light to find them, so I just carried him inside and let him run around. I definitely deserved White Trash Mother-of-the-Year Award for letting my two-year run around barefoot in a nasty rest stop Burger King at 4:30 in the morning!

After a pitstop in Pennsylvania for showers at Steve's sister's place, we got back in the car and headed into the city. The boys were going to the Yankees game and the girls were going into the city. We were super excited!

Our first stop was Central Park. We just walked around, enjoying the sites and sounds. I love the busyness of the city, and Central Park is a great place to take it all in!

Taking a break
I'm pretty sure this is in front of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Resevoir

Maddie & Robyn in front of The Guggenheimon the steps of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(Someday I'll actually go into the museums!)

Maddie & Mom on the subway

With the FAO Shwarz soldier
(This store was HUGE and overpriced but fun to look at!)

Street performers

Maddie, in front of The Plaza

Times Square!
I know I'm crazy but I love this place. Lights, people, stores--it's all great!An old chocolate-making machine at the Hershey's Store

Maddie, in China Town

Maddie, the junk collector, wanted every cheap, chintzy souvenir she saw. I was able to convince her to save her (my) money and buy a cute charm bracelet in China Town. I couldn't believe what a difficult task that turned into! After almost an hour of searching, we finally found one.

Grand Central Station
Sorry the pictures are so crappy. My camera can't handle anything but normal lighting.

This is really amazing. I wish my camera was able to capture its grandness!

I have no idea who this girl is, but I love this picture.