It is always crazy when a vacation that you have been planning for a long time is finally here! We got to go to New York on a church history tour with Brad's family. We left a few days early so that we could visit one of my very best friends, Rachel, who lives there. We love Rachel, Bryant, and their kids! So it was a must needed addition to this vacation.
We left Sunday after church. While we were waiting to board our plane Aleah and Cade made a friend. They had fun watching all the airplanes take off and land.
It had been a while since we had flown last, but Aleah and Cade still knew what to expect. They were very excited to be on the airplane!
It was a late flight! Cade slept under a blanket that another passenger kindly gave to us. I accidentally packed their blankets in the luggage that we checked. Aleah also slept on my lap. It was cozy! I did not sleep, but I'm glad that Aleah and Cade were able to sleep. That night we crashed at a hotel near the airport.
Monday morning we were up and ready to explore New York! We went over to Rachel and Bryant's home to drop off all of our luggage. Then we all headed over to Central Park, except for Bryant who was at work and was greatly missed.
Aleah and Cade enjoyed all the rides on the subway.
Central Park was amazing, beautiful, and fun! We were able to see about a third of the park. Aleah and Cade loved climbing around on everything.
They were running around on the top of a hill when Aleah tripped and fell. Thankfully she just scrapped up her knee. She fell head first, but was able to catch herself so that she didn't hit her head. With family pictures only two days away I was especially thankful that she didn't hit her head.
I can never spend enough time with Rachel! I had so much fun visiting with her. I loved watching how she does things, getting new recipes, and learning new activities and things to do with my kids. We now do morning yoga, cosmic kids on youtube. Aleah and Cade even make up their own poses now! There is the snowman pose, the witch, the mushroom, the race car… They love it!
We planned to do the carousel if the line was not to long. Well, lucky day for us, there was not a line at all! There were some really cute pictures that we could buy for $22. We didn't buy them because we like the free blurry ones better, hehe.
The bubbles were a highlight of the day. Simple pleasures!
We have all decided that next time we go we will rent a miniature sail boat to sail on the pond. It looked like so much fun.
My favorite part of any vacation is spending every minute of every day with Brad, I love him so much!
More climbing!
And more fun in the water!
We got to enjoy a New York hot dog. After all that walking around we were all so hungry. Aleah and Cade did really well with all the walking. I'm thankful that Rachel brought a stroller so that they could take a break when they needed one.
When we got back to Rachel and Bryant's home we were all ready to relax. The kids watched a movie and ate some dinner. Rachel made a delicious dinner for us that night! When Bryant got home from work we ate dinner while the kids finished their movie. It was great to spend some time visiting with Rachel and Bryant!
After a very yummy breakfast the next morning we headed to Penn Station. We were excited for our train ride to Buffalo, New York to meet up with Brad's family. Leading up to this trip whenever Cade would see a train he would ask, "Is that the train we are going to ride on in New York?" I think he has a love for trains just like his Daddy does!
Rachel is so sweet! She even packed a snack bag for us to take on our train ride. It was such a blessing! And the gigantic lollipops she put in there sure put a smile on Aleah and Cade's faces.
I only agreed to the train ride because it was something that Brad had been wanting to do for a long time. But honestly, it was really nice! The seats were comfy. They reclined and had a little leg support thing that you could pop out and a foot rest! There was a lot of leg room. There were cup holders and a tray table. It was a fun way to travel. The view was beautiful.
The drinks were complimentary which was really nice. Anytime we were thirsty we could go to the food car, which was the car right in front of us, and get any kind of drink that we wanted. We played games.
Took some silly pictures.
Played on the iPads.
Had some lunch.
Visited and relaxed.
We got stuck behind a freight train which slowed us down. So our 7 hour train ride turned into a 9 hour train ride. After 7 hours we were all done. I think it was hard because we were mentally prepared for 7 hours, not 9 hours! Plus, we were hungry. We were ready for some dinner. So we went for a walk and thankfully we arrived in Buffalo, NY. Once we were off the train, we went straight to the restaurant and met up with Brad's family.
It was a fun way to travel and given the opportunity in the future, I would totally travel by train again.
