I’m going to jump around a bit this week and start with Thursday when I woke up to birthday surprises from my family. Jason surprised me with a new Lego set that I was coveting. Madison took the kids to pick out flowers for me and they decorated vases to hold them. <3

The day before… 🙂

When I got to work my office was all decked out with a very thoughtful theme.

Three years running, my favorite little people came to join me for a birthday lunch. <3 <3 <3

This face.

Some of my colleagues were commenting about how SSA used to be so shy and tentative in our office but now walk (run) around like they own the place.

Wrapping up a lovely day, Jason and I enjoyed a crab dinner together.

Friday morning we said our “see you laters” to Jason because it was NEW YORK day! Yay!

When Madison picked the kids up from school, Amaya said, “Let’s hit the road! Or, as they say, let’s hit the Passover road!” Sammy said, “I’m so ready to be off from school. I’m sick of getting in trouble.” lol. Though, for the record, he did earn a star on Friday and earn his next prize.

Off we go!! This trip I decided it’s time to start walking more so we transitioned from the double stroller to a single. My goal was for the kids to walk as much as possible and use the stroller to haul the four backpacks, if needed. We were semi-successful with that but, to be fair, we were all the way down at the end of the airport.

The “I’m going to make you pay for not letting me do what I want to do” sulk. When I called Amaya on her attitude later on and suggested she might not earn m&ms she told me, “Every time I was whining I was I was just pranking you!” Nice try, kiddo.

We made it to the gate with about 15 minutes to spare before boarding. Perfect timing.

Secrets! “I love you, Sammy.”

The gate agent let the kids scan their boarding passes. You can see how much they loved it on Sammy’s face.

Our original flight was scheduled to leave at 5:45pm. Shortly after 3, on the way to the airport, I got a text that our flight was delayed until 8:10pm. Luckily, I was able to very quickly move to another flight that had been delayed since 3:45pm and was scheduled to leave at 5:50pm. Perfect!

Bubbalish, sitting next to a friendly stranger (who really was very friendly).

Steven read the safety booklet for a good 20 minutes lol. He and Amaya also watched the Beauty and the Beast cartoon for the first time. Sammy started it but got a little nervous and stopped halfway through.

I take a million pictures of random things. I know. But I remember when the boys, especially Steven, were terrified of hand dryers. No big deal now!

Saturday morning, Nana dove right in to Passover prep. She had some helpers along the way.

Cousins!!

Sammy asked about Savta every 30 minutes or so until she finally arrived. Earlier in the week, Amaya said she was going to live with Elsa when she grows up. Steven is going to live with Captain America. Sammy is going to live with Savta. <3

Watching Chasey build minecraft buildings. Steven and Amaya had lots of suggestions.

Savta, holding court.

Auntie, Dod Shuki, Joe, Nicole, Eli, and Dalia came for dessert along with The Honigs (Laney and Steve) and the Lewises (Shelley, Michael, Nate, and Theo).

Seder time!

Uncle Austin and Krissie

Tasting “kid wine” aka grape juice.

We started today with a quiet morning at Nana and Papa’s house followed by a delicious brunch.

Family photo time! <3

Auntie joined us and Steven made sure she felt loved.

Papa took Charlie, Steven, Sammy and Amaya on a short nature walk.

Sharing their finds with us…

Steven didn’t want to let Auntie go and Auntie doesn’t end cuddles so, for a while, there was a good question as to whether or not Auntie was going to get to leave. (Auntie is Nana’s sister???)

Amaya spent a long time talking to Savta about Savta’s family and childhood.

By afternoon we needed to get out of the house and the weather was gorgeous so we hit up the playground at Chase & Charlie’s school.

Dinner at Aunt Sara & Uncle Dave’s! It’s getting so much easier. I remember when the kids were younger and getting them home and to bed after dinner at the Goldbergs felt like so much work. It’s not easy now, but it’s easier by a very meaningful measure. (I can say that about this entire trip. A lot of it is the kids’ age but I also think a big part is the routine of visiting. This is the 11th trip all three have made to NY and there’s a lot of familiarity in our visits.)

Swinging! Jason and I are working on getting a play set in our backyard so it was nice to see how much time the kids spent playing out back. (Though they’re all still scared to climb up to the top of the slide and come back down. Hopefully our own play set will help with that.) Amaya has even gotten the hang of pumping her leg and can truly swing on her own. Hooray!! More freedom at the playground for me! I’m guessing having our own swings will help the boys get it, too.

A little more from earlier in the week….

This month’s STEM gift from Grandma Sunshine arrived and SSA are obsessed. It’s a kit where they build variations of a marble run and, here, Amaya was crying because it just arrived and I told them it was too late to open it that night. I relented, though. It’s kind of rough on a 5 year old to show them a new gift and tell them they need to wait until the next day to play with hit.

By just a day or two later, the connections got even more elaborate.

Steven, making sure our living room measurements are correct.

Amaya’s artwork. A building on the beach is on fire. There are also 3 color monsters visiting the area.

I love how she sets up her bed with her dolls.

A few months ago, Amaya told me she wanted a necklace with pictures of her family. I told her I could get one for her but it would have to go in her prize bag to earn as a prize. This week, she picked it. Jason and I are on one side and she and her brothers are on the other.

Madison has done a great job teaching the kids to clear their plates after they eat. Now it’s time to work on washing their dishes. I’m not going to be household dish doer for the next 13 years so I want to start this early. As long as they’re using the smaller plates and bowls they can get the job done. I also ordered a step stool that’s a touch higher so they can reach the water facet more easily. It takes supervision and they need practice but we’re on our way.

Steven had a rough evening on Wednesday which resulted in him staying up later than usual and getting to watch a “late” night show with me. He even got to pet Sally! She’s coming around. Slowly. 🙂

The sweet boy didn’t even have to sleep in his own bed.

My colleagues got me a New York coloring book for my birthday and Amaya quickly appropriated the page with dresses so she could color in some “styles”. She worked on it before bed and then again before school and even had a name for each of her designs.

Finally, a super cute picture of Jason and Amaya from Wednesday night.

That’s all for this week. We’re ready for 6 more days in NY!