Whew. It has been a busy few weeks and I’m amazed that August is flying by – it feels like the summer went by so quickly! I’m so excited for the months ahead since they’re my favorite, but for now, a little bit of what we’ve been up to – our New York trip.
Chris’ family is from upstate New York, and his mom’s side has an annual family reunion up there in the town my mother-in-law grew up in. We typically go every other year, and this was our year to go! We ended up making a bit of a longer trip of it and getting in some time in other parts of the state too!
We headed up on Wednesday of last week, leaving super early in the morning – about 3am. As much as it stinks to get up that early, it always works out in our favor to drive when the girls would normally be sleeping. I planned out breakfast and found a playground on the route, and we stopped just once before breakfast so I could change and nurse Ella. The playground ended up being absolutely perfect and Abbie and Ella got to get some energy out after being in the car for a few hours.
We then got back in the car for the rest of our ride to Rochester to see Chris’ Aunt Claudia. Ella had a meltdown toward the end, but a quick lunch stop got us through, and thankfully Aunt Claudia had gotten off work early so we were able to spend all afternoon with her. She had gotten her daughter Abby’s old dollhouse out for our Abbie (coincidence – they share a birthday!) and she had a blast playing. Ella had another meltdown (so tired, poor stinker) before napping with Chris.
We then headed to Buffalo for the night and the next few days to spend time with our friends Tom and Angie and their kids – their daughter was our flower girl and it was so nice to see them again! We spent Wednesday night through Friday morning with them, and Abbie had a blast playing with their kids – she kept telling us it was her favorite part of the trip!
Finally, Friday we headed over to Syracuse. We stayed in a Residence Inn, so we had a small kitchen, a separate bedroom for the girls, and so much space. It was perfect for us and I know for sure we’ll be staying in them in the future. We hung out at the hotel before heading to dinner with Chris’ parents and my mother-in-law’s friend Pat and her family. We went to a Polish restaurant, Eva’s, and in typical form, Ella ate everything… and I had to force feed Abbie a peanut butter sandwich. That kid.
Finally, Saturday was the reunion and we headed over after lunch. It’s always cool to see my girls with all their extended family. We even had four generations in one photo since my mother-in-law’s Aunt Stella is 92 and still comes to the reunion!
Of course, Ella cared more about destroying stacks of magazines and eating – both her toys and whatever food she could get her hands on.
We stayed for a few hours before heading back to the hotel and packing up. We left for home the following morning at – you guessed it – 3am. We had to make a few more stops on the way home, but were home by 11:30am, so it was worth it.
Now, we’re back to the grind, but I’m already planning on next year’s trip – to the beach this time.
