where the heart is

What a perfect week in NY! Fair warning… I took a million pictures and put about 100 of them in this week’s blog. The blog is as much for Future Steven, Sammy and Amaya as it is for anyone today (maybe more so), so it means a lot for me to capture pictures of these special trips to NY.

On Monday morning we all walked over to the playground and Cornwell Ave elementary school, where Sara and I attended! It was a great place to play because it was spring break and totally deserted. SSA get nervous when there are a lot of other kids on play equipment and they’re still getting comfortable with slides so this was perfect. It was also really cool for me to get to visit my old school with my kids.

Steven brought his “hammer stick” with him and spent a good amount of time cleaning the playground, lol.

The baseball field meant batting practice for Chase and Sammy and lots of space for everyone to run around.

#sistercousins

Steven was “writing letters” with his hammer stick.

In the afternoon, Nana hosted the first Seder with our family, Uncle Dave’s parents Allen and Syvia and our friends the Honigs. Even though the kids have had Seders before, this was their first in NY and that made it extra special.

Steven, reading the Haggadah

Amaya, eating her parsley.

She was perfectly fine. Just resistant to selfies with Mommy.

Steven was holding one of the plush plagues. This is his “don’t take my plague!” face.

The cousins got in some cuddle time after dinner before Chase and Charlie had to head home for the night.

Tuesday morning was gorgeous. The kids had some new bubbles to play with and it was a perfect morning for bubble blowing. Sammy and Amaya really have it down. Steven still struggles a bit. He puts his top lip out over his bottom lip so the air all blows down instead of out. We’re working on it.

Uncle Austin was able to spend a nice amount of time with Steven, Sammy and Amaya before everyone else arrived at the house.

Savta showed everyone the berries on one of the bushes and poking them with sticks became a favorite activity.

Off on a walk, Steven was collecting things in his basket (leaves, sticks, flowers). Here, he’s showing Amaya his collection. I love seeing the kids interact with each other like this. They’re actually having conversations with each other now.

Cutest. <3

While we were playing, Sammy told me he wanted to go for a walk to the “playground with the yellow swing”. There were a ton of adults back at the house so I decided it was a nice chance for some Mommy/Sammy time and we walked to the park together. He is such a sweet little boy.

When I got back I was happy to see that no one missed us a bit! Steven and Amaya were busy blowing bubbles with Chase. “Chasey!”

We went for many, many walks this week. I don’t know what it is about my mom & Gene’s neighborhood that makes it feel so conducive to walking but it really is. In the photo below, Steven was playing a “Stop!” game where he’d put his hand up and yell “stop!” and we all had to freeze. The cutest part was that he did a great job freezing in place however he was walking at the time he yelled “Stop!” On this trip it became very obvious to me how big my kids are getting.

All of the cousins were over for the 2nd night of Passover. Here, the gang has stopped to look at a colony of thousands and thousands of ants. It was really something. Savta was totally in her element.

Amaya was smitten with Dod Shuki.

Chase got out his catcher’s gear and he and Sammy got back to playing baseball together.

We wrapped up the evening with a photo of Savta, her daughters and her nine great grandchildren. <3

Tuesday night was sleepover night for Chase & Charlie. Before bed, the boys needed to wrestle out some of their energy.

Chase read the bedtime story and Charlie sang their bedtime song.

Wednesday was a cuddle fest in bed with Nana and Papa, with the exception of Steven who was too busy doing so many other very busy things.

One of the promises I made to the kids was that we’d go to carousel while we were in NY. Wednesday was the day! Steven and Sammy were excited to ride and Amaya was excited to “watch and wave”.

The afternoon was gorgeous so Auntie met up with us and we all went to Aunt Sara & Uncle Dave’s house.

Steven looooooooves the tire swing!

Out for dinner, Chase was a big helper. As always.

Sammy got some great one on one time with Aunt Sara. She even let him try a bit e of cotton candy.

On Thursday we all went to Savta’s house for lunch. Look around at the stuff on display. It’s a miracle that nothing broke! Steven walked into this room and said, “Oh, my goodness!” In fact, he came home from NY and told Daddy that when he got to Savta’s house he looked around and said, “Oh, my goodness!!” lol

I remember playing with this Noah’s Ark when I was a kid right in that same room.

In the afternoon we took another trip back to Aunt Sara & Uncle Dave’s house for bubble time and dinner.

Can you tell how excited Amaya was to push Sammy down the coaster?

Friday morning the plan was to go back to Aunt Sara’s house but we were delayed a bit when I got locked in the bathroom. See Amaya’s little face peeking through?

Steven saw Nana working with tools to get me out. When she went to call a locksmith, he got a hanger to help. “Ooooh! I will get a tool to help you. This hanger will help you get out, Mommy”. <3

Free!! Everyone was fascinated with the doorknob replacement.

Made it to Aunt Sara’s in time for play doh!

On Friday afternoon, I was lucky to have a visit from college roomie Rachel. Always the best! We had some alone time for lunch out and also got to spend a nice amount of time with Steven, Sammy and Amaya.

After lunch Savta’s sister, Aunt Edith, came to visit us which was a wonderful treat! She brought some outside toys that the kids loved. Sammy is really taken with baseball and makes contact with the ball with surprising frequency.

It was such a nice afternoon that we decided to talk a group walk to Carvel for some ice cream. This trip had particular significance because I distinctly remember walking to this Carvel with my dad. It’s crazy to me that I can do the exact same thing with my own kids so many years later.

Amaya ordered chocolate ice cream with “brown” sprinkles.

Sammy ordered chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles.

Steven didn’t want ice cream but was excited to have a pear when we got back home.

My Amaya. Happy, happy, happy with her ice cream. And then I told her she ate enough and couldn’t also have a pear before dinner.

Lololololol My girl.

After Nana let me sleep in a bit, I woke on Saturday to news that April, the giraffe, was in active labor. SSA had a great time watching April and then her new baby calf.

On our final day, we took one last walk to Halls Pond Park. Steven traded in his hammer stick for a walking stick.

There was a birthday celebration. (Mine!)

And some last family photos before everyone disbanded for the night at the end of an amazing week in NY!

Today we were up bright and early for our 9am flight back to Detroit. Amaya was the volunteer willing to ride in the taxi with me, while the boys rode with Nana and Papa. She got car sick earlier in the trip and is still nervous about that but promising to keep the windows open did the trick. And off we went!

It’s definitely nice to have an extra set of hands. Once again, Amaya was nervous about the security process and flopped down on the floor. Holding her while we walked through the metal detector ultimately did the trick.

I was getting the grown-ups some omelettes for the flight and suddenly pre-boarding was announced at the gate. We weren’t ready! It was definitely my most harried boarding process to date. We had so much stuff everywhere! We got down the jet bridge and tried to board but Sammy and Steven lost their minds. Sammy started crying as soon as he got on the plane and walked off. Steven flopped down and refused to get on the airplane unless I carried him. Eventually I ended up walking on the plane with both boys in my arms. We calmed down until we got to our seats when everyone decided they wanted to sit next to me and next to a window. Uhhhhhhhhh. After a lot of crying and crying and crying, we got ourselves settled in the same seating arrangement we had on the way to NY, this time with the benefit of three tablets so everyone could watch Wonder Pets and Daniel Tiger. Thank goodness!