Fair warning – we had a ton of adventures in NY this week which means a ton of photos.

Monday morning was quiet at Nana and Papa’s house before the kids headed over to Aunt Sara & Uncle Dave’s for lunch while I went out to eat with my friend Rachel. The kids have loved watching Chase and Charlie play their iPad games this week.

It was a wet, rainy day so we headed to Chuck E Cheese after everyone ate. It’s a fairly expensive outing so I implied to the kids that the Chuck E Cheese in MI is only open for birthday parties. They’ve been three times in a month, though, and I think they’ve had their fill for a bit.

Rachel was a champ and helped support and corral SSA while we were there.

Steven, watching some big kids play.

Steven’s turn.

There was this cool “photo” machine that turned your picture into an illustration. The difficult part was that you had to move left to center right and vice versa. It was very frustrating for Steven. Sammy let me manhandle him into the center.

I asked Amaya to smile for a picture for Jason and this is what I got. Funny, snarky child.

I did get a real smile when I won this ball for her in the claw game.

We went to Sara & Dave’s after Chuck E Cheese and Savta joined us. We had one happy Sam Man.

This child and her dolls…

On Tuesday we headed into Manhattan for a trip to the Central Park Zoo. I’ve been to the Bronx Zoo but I don’t think I’ve ever been to the CPZ before! It was perfect weather.

It’s a small little zoo but there are some good highlights including a great sea lion feeding, a brown bear and a snow leopard. The kids also so a penguin feedging.

Checking out a brown bear.

I think the highlight of Steven’s visit was watching an employee do some tar work on the path. He’s nothing if not consistent in his interests.

Sea lions!

Posing with the “skyscrapers” behind them.

Steven, as usual, wanted a copy of the map and wanted to be sure he knew exactly where we were at all times. In fact, before we left the zoo he asked me to take him to a spot on the map that caught his eye. (It was the location of the event tent. The tent wasn’t up but Steven stood in the spot on the map to be sure he knew where it would be if there was a special event.)

A big spider web trampoline. Steven was nervous at first but sort of got the hang of it when he saw Charlie, Amaya and Sammy jumping.

Aaaaaaaaand…

jump!

While the other kids finished jumping, Steven made friends with the goats. He named the black and white one “Cow Cow” and the largest was “Big Big”.

Feeding time! Sammy was comfortable letting the goats eat from his hand. Steven preferred to put the food on the ground in front of the goat.

Nana, Papa and the kids. <3

Papa, Aunt Sara and Chase left when we finished with the zoo and Nana and I took SSA and Charlie on a promised subway ride.

Amaya and Sammy love to try to balance. Steven prefers to sit on an end seat with me by his side. He also prefers that we carry him on to the subway.

We went two stops, walked a few blocks around Times Square, and then head back for the return trip.

Watching the oncoming train with Nana (who had a tight, tight grip on that little hand.)

On the way back, Sammy got into a conversation with the woman sitting next to him. It was so sweet. He told her all about their trip to the zoo. Steven made a friend, too, but that’s just a normal Tuesday for Steven. 🙂 )

We ended our trip with ice cream and ice pops in central park.

Sammy, asleep with his friend from the zoo – Squeeze the snake.

Wednesday was another beautiful day. SSA spent more than 5 hours outside at Aunt Sara’s house and the playground. There were tea parties, swings, a picnic lunch and more ice cream.

Amaya totally got the hang of pumping her legs on the swing on this trip!

Steven watching Sara & Dave’s gardeners moving the lawn.

We don’t really have a neighborhood for ice cream trucks so this was a must when we saw it pull up behind the playground. Steven is so happy that he realized he likes ice pops since he still isn’t interested in ice cream.

We wrapped up Wednesday with an afternoon visit from Savta.

On Thursday morning SSA helped Nana with some baking before we headed to the Hall’s Pond playground around the corner from her house.

You can always count on Sammy to help until the baking or cooking is done.

Another lovely morning!

The swings at this park are all accessible swings which is great but it also means they’re too heavy for the kids to swing themselves. I convinced Sammy and Amaya to take turns pushing each other to give me a break.

Savta!

We finished the morning at Savta’s house taking care of some yard work. Everyone was (eventually) willing to pitch in and help though there was much whining for control of the lawn mower. It was the only thing Steven wanted to use.

It was a quiet afternoon at Nana and Papa’s in advance of a sleepover with Chase and Charlie.

Charlie and Sammy played War while Amaya looked at scrapbooks with Nana and picked out fancy paper for her crafts.

Sleepover time!

Nana and Papa held down the fort while I went to a late showing of Avengers Endgame (!!!) and crashed at Sara & Dave’s house.

Good morning!!

On Friday we went to see Lion King Jr. SSA didn’t follow the entire plot but definitely got the gist and had a great time.

Amaya wanted photos with all of the actors.

Steven wanted a picture so badly but couldn’t pull the trigger. “I can’t decide! Oh, I wish I could decide. I just can’t decide!”

Finally, he made the decision to take a picture as long as I was in it with him.

Can’t come to NY without a trip to the Nunley’s Carousel. This time all three Cline kids rode on horses, not just the bench. Amaya and Steven even went for the moving horses.

It was no surprise that Steven needed to talk to the attendant to find out how everything works.

SSA were very excited to stop by Uncle Dave’s parent’s house to meet their dog, Millie. Even Amaya, who’s pretty scared of dogs, pet Millie very briefly (while I held her in my arms). Sammy was in heaven.

On Saturday, our final day, we spent the day at Aunt Sara’s bookended by lots of Lego time at Nana and Papa’s house. There was one complete set with instructions that Steven and Amaya tag teamed on throughout the day. At Sara’s house, the kids were not deterred by cold weather and spent a couple of hours playing superheroes outside.

Sammy made his own fun while Steven and Amaya built.

And off we went today, back to MI. Steven said he was blue (sad) because we were leaving but yellow (happy) to see Daddy. That sounds about right!

Engrossed in The Lion King.

Steven asked to sit next to the friendly stranger on this flight.

Amaya spent a good portion of the flight working on fashions.

And we’re home to Daddy!

While I unpacked and caught up on work, Jason spent a good portion of the afternoon outside with the kids using stomp rockets at our house and, later on, riding bikes at the elementary school. It was a happy return. <3

And that’s it for our wonderful vacation week in New York! Tomorrow it’s back to routine for the Clines. Have a great week!