So, I stepped outside my little quaint small-town box and flew to New York City with da hubbs and baby. It's always hard to leave my kids, but they were in good hands and excited for a weekend without parents :-)
Violet and I had some "firsts"; she flew for the first time on an airplane and I flew for the first time with an infant! On the way there it actually wasn't too bad. Aaron and I handed her back and forth and she even slept for about 45 minutes in my arms. We were genuinely surprised that she did so well...of which we were so grateful. The way back, on the other hand, was another story...but more on that to come.
We were staying in a town about an hour train ride north of Manhattan. We arrived Friday evening, picked up a rental car and drove to our hotel. The next morning we woke up and got ready to explore the CIT-TAY! We rode a train straight into Grand Central Station. There was no indication that we were in the thick of the city until we walked out onto the street. We were hit with CRAZY busy traffic buzzing past, loads of people, and incredible sky scrapers. It was pretty impressive. We walked several blocks to pick up our tickets and hop on a bus. It was like a double-decker bus, without the lower part. I guess you could call it an upper-decker bus :-)
This is Time Square:
(It's even more impressive at night)
We toured Manhattan until we got to Battary Park, where we waited in line FOREVER, went through intense security, and boarded a ferry for Liberty Island.
Violet fell asleep in my arms :-)
I fell in love with Miss. Liberty right away. Imagine what immigrants would have felt when first seeing her on their way to America, where they hoped to have freedom and a new life!
After seeing the Statue of Liberty we took the ferry back to Manhattan and finished our tour aboard the "upper-decker". Manhattan has some amazing architecture. I love old churches and more than that, I love colorful doors.
On Sunday we attended church in Yonkers, then hopped a train back to Manhattan and went to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). I know a lot of people don't "get" modern art, but I love it. Well, a big portion of it. I was so excited to see so much of the art that I had studied.
We walked Central Park.
My studly hubbs & Vi:
And Aaron treated me to an early birthday dinner of New York Steak :-)
At about this time we started receiving texts and phone calls from concerned friends. There was a fire burning on the hill behind our house. Our kids and sitter were evacuated. As a mother my biggest worry wasn't about the house or my stuff, but about the kids and their emotional state. I wanted so badly to be there with them to comfort them.
We were concerned and anxious parents so we didn't sleep much that night. Monday we were supposed to shop and play around the city a bit more, but instead we tried to catch up on missed sleep from the worrisome night before, then Aaron dropped Violet and I off at the airport (he had to stay for meetings). I had been dreading the flight home the entire trip. Security was a nightmare as they searched everything in my backpack, took samples of the warm water in a thermos that I needed for a bottle and tested it, waved wands and meticulously searched all my stuff. I didn't go through any of that the way to NY. I hoped upon hope that I would sit next to an understanding mother. But instead I sat beside two MEN, who weren't even fathers. And to make matters worse Violet had TWO blowouts!!! She fussed the whole time and to be honest it was the LONGEST FIVE HOURS OF MY LIFE!
On top of having a fussy baby my anxiety about the kids was running high. I wasn't sure exactly where they were since the person who was going to watch them was also evacuated. And I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to go back to our house that night, and I wasn't sure what state I'd find my house.
Luckily, my house still stands. It was a little smokey but not bad. We were able to go back to the house that night. I was so happy to see my kids again. They were a little freaked out and Rylie had been having bad dreams about the fire. But they all seem to be fine now. Although Rylie begs me not to ever leave again :-(
What a CRAZY trip!
But I have to say that we feel so blessed and so grateful for good friends and concerned family. We're also so grateful to have a home to come home to.
