What a week! It feels like we were in New York forever but also, at the same time, just the blink of an eye. We miss everyone already but it’s also nice to get back to routine after 8 night away. And we missed Daddy!

Monday was July 4th and we celebrated America’s birthday with a gorgeous beach day! You can see that Amaya and Steven were ready to go!

At the beach we had Nana & Papa, the Goldbergs, Savta, Auntie, Dod Shuki and my oldest college friend, Rachel.

Once again, the kids just dove into the sand without a second thought.

Dod Shuki (Uncle Josh) made a sand pile that provided more fun than I could have imagined. When you’re 2, a pile of sand is apparently a huge adventure!

When it was time to eat, of course Sammy wanted to sit with “Fa Faf”.

Steven loves vehicles but not always up close and personal. There was a guy driving an atv on the beach picking up trash and Steven was very concerned. “Man won’t come back,” he said with a nod of his head. He tells me like it’s a statement of fact but he’s really asking for reassurance.

We wanted an extended day at the beach so we decided to try naps in strollers. Rachel, Gene and I started walking the kids and, in true Sammy fashion, Sammy was asleep within 5 minutes. Amaya took a little longer but she and Sammy both got in a nice hour long nap. Steven, on the other hand, wasn’t having it. There was just too much to see. “Man! Man in pool. Boy going to jump in pool. See stroller. Helicopter! Big airplane in sky!”

Steven, not napping.

Eventually Rachel and I gave up on Steven and took him to the skate park where he saw people on scooters and bicycles doing tricks. The kid was in heaven.

We wrapped up the day with a walk to another cabana to see if a triplet mom friend was there with her family. (She wasn’t.) Walking back, Amaya was excited to walk “by herself” with her big cousins.

As a special treat, Rachel brought her camera and go these awesome shots of us at the beach. Thank you, Rach!

We told Steven that the sail on the boat was so the wind could help the boat move. He was holding the boat up to see if it moved in the wind. <3

Feeding my little birds.

We had a great 4th of July evening at the Goldberg’s house. Dinner and baths with cousins. What could be better!?!? Plus, we got some extra time with Uncle Dave.

Tuesday we had a much needed lazy morning at home. Fortunately, Nana and Papa are stocked up on toys!

Traffic jam!

Amaya is putting on her “makeup” with Aunt Sara. And also wearing an old tank top of Charlie’s in a very interesting fashion statement.

For an easy late morning adventure we hit up the play space at the mall and then the food court for lunch.

The kids at grilled cheese and tater tots which wouldn’t be exciting in and of itself except that Amaya and Sammy dipped their sandwiches in hot sauce and Amaya actually drank some hot sauce straight from the serving cup. Kids after my own heart!

The afternoon was just more low key play time with cousins.

On Wednesday morning we went back to the beach! The kids just seem so BIG! Since it was a quiet day, we also took the opportunity to hit up the kiddie pool. SSA did really well. Steven fell and got nervous after that but we worked with him on it on Friday and he got over the hump.

My Sammy. Worn out and fast asleep in less than 5 minutes.

In the afternoon we had a get together with the Goldstein clan. It was great to see them but Amaya was a hot mess almost the entire time. She seemed happy enough when we arrived but, as soon as family started showing up, she freaked out and cried almost the whole time unless she was in my lap. It was totally out of character but maybe the change in routine was just starting to wear on her. Regardless, it’s always great to see my dad’s side of the family and I’m so glad we were able to work it out because it’s important for Steven, Sammy and Amaya to know their whole family. (And fun for me, too!)

Steven and Uncle Arnie

Funny faces with Steven & Uncle Bob

Alex was a hit with everyone!

A rare Amaya smile.

Of course, the minute everyone left she was back to her usual self. Here she is making quite the fashion statement.

Amaya also figured out how to work the scooter! Go Amaya!

Thursday started off with some Auntie time! I love Amaya and Sammy’s smiles while they play with Auntie.

Sammy had to mug for the camera.

I tried to get him to sing on camera but he was distracted by the fact that he could see his face.

Lunch was a special trip to Venus. It’s a local restaurant that I went to all the time growing up. Gena and Savta still go often which was evident when I walked in and everyone there said, “Oh! Are these the triplets???”

I had a dinner planned in Manhattan with some triplet moms so Auntie came over to help hold down the fort at bedtime because Gene also had plans. Easy peasy!

Friday was our final beach day! Just Nana, Savta and I this time around. It was a hot day so we got the water table set up in the shade and made good use of the pool.

Friday night was a sleepover with Charlie and Chase. Here’s a snapshot of the mess these kids make!

Amaya spent a lot of time bonding with both Charlie and Chase. She loves her cousins. They’re so good with her, too. Amaya keeps talking about singing Old MacDonald with Charlie and Chase played all sorts of unprompted games with Amaya.

Chase brushing Amaya’s teeth.

Saturday morning, Amaya got a special braid from Aunt Sara before we had a visit from our cousin Spencer, Jamie and 14 month old Cooper. They couldn’t make it on Wednesday and it was awesome to get a chance to spend time with them during our visit.

For once, Steven, Sammy and Amaya are BIG cousins!

Saturday afternoon we rounded out our family visits with Team Zargari – Auntie, Dod Shuki, Michael with Naomi and Jake and Joey & Nicole with Eli and Dalia. We met up at a park in Lynbrook and had so much fun! Steven was on the swing with Nana foreeeeever. Amaya loved the slide and even tried the big kid twisty slide twice. Sammy ran all over.

After the park we went out for dinner and that was all she wrote on our amazing trip to NY! It was a perfect, perfect week.

Our trip home started early, early, early. The adults were up at 4am and we got SSA up at 4:15am. Ack!! The bonus of a 7am flight is that we get home and have a whole day together as a family. The downside is how painfully early we had to wake up.

Amaya was tired but ready to roll when the car picked us up at 4:30am.

My helper on this trip was Super Papa! He was all the help I could ask for and it was fun for me to see him get a glimpse into my travel life with 3 toddlers.

The evolution of Papa’s flight with Sammy.

Everyone is awake!

Sammy is asleep!

Everyone is asleep!

I was thrilled that Sammy was so comfortable sitting with Papa because Amaya and Steven both insisted in sitting with me. He even kept his cool during Papa’s potty break.

Amaya and Steven didn’t nap but they did stay entertained through the flight with only a few reminders about inside voices.

The only drama was at the end of the flight when we realized Steven had a huge blowout. 🙁 🙁 🙁 I can tell you with certainty that every single person who saw me walking to the bathroom in the back of the plane was glad they weren’t me. He had to stand, hunched, on the changing table while I tried to clean him up. But we did it! And Steven was a total trooper. A+++ to Steven, Sammy and Amaya for the job they did on their flights.

And, by 10:30am, we were home! We sure did miss Daddy!

Kudos to anyone who made it through all of that. Lots of love to all of the family and friends we saw on our trip to NY!

(Subject quote attributed to Michael J. Fox.)