We start our journey today to head over to New York to visit our family. It has been 4 years since we have seen any of them and we have been counting down the days to leave. Hopefully this adventure goes well but as always we seem to have some kind of adventure or some would say a disaster along the way.
We headed out at 9:30 in the morning to drive down to Salt Lake. We took two cars to help with when we get home at different times. More on that to come in a few weeks. Kaitlyn drove her car and Staci rode with her. The boys came with me while we hauled Grandpa's trailer back home to him. It wasn't long before we had to stop because the rope in the back of the trailer was falling through the cracks. The girls called laughing saying it looked like a snake and it was getting longer and longer. So we pulled over and tied it up better in hopes that it would stay off the rode.
So we headed on our way. Our first stop was to see Grandma & Grandpa Fletcher and to pick up the remote Grandpa has waiting for us. They unfortunately weren't home so we dropped off Kaitlyn's car. They are so kind to let us have it stay here while we are away since my parents house is a parking lot right now. Then we dropped off the trailer at my parents house and ran to get lunch at our favorite place. We haven't been here since last year. They have the best corndogs and french fries!!
We had just enough time to eat quickly and be on our way to the airport. Grandma was going to drop us off and then take our other car over to Grandma & Grandpa's house. We made it through security pretty fast! Xander only heard to take out laptops or tablets and left his phone in his pocket so it beeped. It gave us a pretty good laugh. Once we found our terminal we sat down and start the wait until boarding. Not long before that we got a call from Grandpa saying they couldn't get my car to shut off and go into park. Grandpa got the key out in one try with Kaitlyn's contraption to use a screw driver to get her key out. After explaining how to work it out Grandpa said our cars are possessed and we need new ones. You can tell your from Idaho when your kids go the long way to the bathroom just to use the moving walkways. It was hilarious to watch!! The kids each picked out some sandwiches and fruit for the plane ride for dinner. Our choices were limited but we didn't want anything greasy. Airport food is not the cheapest but you have a few options to choose from.
It was time to board and to make things easier everyone had their own boarding pass in their phones. Brayden went first and the lady must have thought he was a lot younger than he looked because he scanned his phone and she said, "Oh good job Brayden!" This kid was so excited to be on the plane. He doesn't remember the plan from our last trip to New York when he was 8. He kept looking out the window with excitement and had the biggest smile on his face. We left just before 6:00 and weren't expected to land until 12:30 in the morning.
On the flight we played games, watched movies and ate our dinner & snacks. The kids were awesome! Flying on delta we all got to have a personal screen although mine froze about an hour into the flight. Luckily I had chosen something that was okay [HGTV] but I couldn't play games with Brayden so I used the empty seat next to me and had two screens. The girls and I also watched Five Feet Apart. I didn't get to finish the last 15 minutes but so far it is a really good show. Brayden did get a little uncomfortable and kept moving positions every 5 minutes for the last hour but overall he did great!
When we arrived we found an empty gate and got situated for the night. We watched The Bachelorette before I fell asleep. I did fall asleep a few times during the show. We just laid on the ground and the kids each kept themselves busy. Stacy and I had decided to take turns sleeping. She let me sleep for a few hours and then she fell asleep herself. As people started arriving for morning flights around 4:30, the kids were all fast asleep. I cleaned up all the excess in their bags [phones, chargers, and moved their shoes by our stuff] before waking them all up. at 5:30 there was more people at our gate so I woke up the kids and we moved locations at the airport. I'm sure it was a funny sight to see our family asleep on the floor. We had a hotel booked but after realizing we would only be there for a few short hours we decided to save ourselves some money and cancelled the reservation a few days ago.
We got breakfast at McDonalds and as some took a little longer nap. This time we found what looked way more comfortable in some yellow chairs. Then found even better ones that were all flat. At one point we had kids walking past saying, "how come they get to lay down in a bed". They were much better than the floor and I even slept a little longer.
We were headed on our way to the rental car after another few hours. They didn't have the smaller car available that we reserved so they gave us a Nissan Passport {which was fun to drive}. The kids were happy as they were anticipating the smaller car. We took a few wrong turns in the city and got stuck in traffic more than a few times. We found that the lines on the road are really just their for decoration on the road and cars drive super close to each other. Also some people walk into the traffic when it is backed up on the freeway to ask for a handout. We only saw one car breakdown and luckily no accidents. We did end up in a neighborhood that we thought we weren't going to make it down as it was so tight with all the cars parked. We drove over a few bridges and when we made it to the George Washington Bridge, Kaitlyn was the only one awake. We waited again in traffic but once we were to the stretch up to Saugerties they were all asleep.
We finally arrived to their house and they weren't home yet. It was nice to get out of the car and just relax. Brayden was so excited to get in the pool and had his goggles on before he even came into the house. I made them wait since Sue was almost home. We were excited to see Aunt Sue and the kids all gave her hugs. Then she gave us a tour of the new upgrades they have done in remodeling their home. They did an amazing job and made it more open downstairs. Their upstairs now has a master suite with a huge closet and bathroom. The boys then got in the pool and we stayed in until dinner. Uncle Tom arrived and even swam with us for a little while. They had some friends over (Darla & Claire) who come to swim a few times a week so we are hoping to see them again. We listened to music, had diving contests and the boys even learned how to do backflips from their Uncle Tom. My Mom eyes were a little nervous but they surprised me a did great! Xander had great form. Brayden was first to try and even though he didn't land as smooth but came back after hurting himself a few times. We were proud of him for being brave to keep trying. One time smacked his manhood and had to just sit in the cool water to feel better. The girls did a little mini photo shoot in their new swimsuits and then we got out and ready to go.
Uncle Tom had told us of a food truck festival so we headed on a walk to the park to get some yummy food and listen to some live music. We started walking and it was a good mile down the road when we found out that it was not this Thursday but in a few weeks. Tom felt so bad and Brayden was not happy to be walking more. Brayden had brought a squishy ball so they played pass as we continued walking. We decided to walk a little further and get ice cream. To make the it more fun Kaitlyn turned on some music and we sang songs as we walked the streets.
Stewarts ice cream is the best and then for dinner we got Dallas Hot Wieners. Kaitlyn said, "hey we came here before." As we see more around town things are starting to come back to them. While we were eating Brayden leans over to Xander and says [with air quotes], "hey Xander, remember when we went to the food truck festival. We all started laughing. It made all the walking seem ok after that.
This year they have bees around town. Every year they paint things and Tom shared with how it works. They decide on an item and place them all around town. Then local artists paint them and they are then auctioned off and the proceeds go towards local charities. It is a fun tradition we always do to see all the artwork when we visit.
The kids got right back in the pool afterwards and we just relaxed for the rest of the night!! It feels so good to be back in New York again....we have missed everyone here!!
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