My mom mentioned that she was going to New York to visit her brother in early June and I thought that might be fun for us to go too so I invited myself (and the kids)! Flights were amazingly cheap, around $129 each way and the kids were out of school so early this year, so how could we not go? Arthur and Lee-Ann purchased the house next door for her mother, but it wasn't quite complete and her mom was still waiting for her house to sell, so we had a nice place to stay.
We left the house at 3:30 am for a 6 o'clock flight out of SFO, OUCH! Things were great until after our 4 hour layover in Milwaukee. We went to our gate and the flight was delayed. Just a few minutes later, they told us the flight was cancelled! Everyone rushed to the counter to get the 24 seats on the 6 am flight the next day, but they were gone by the time I made it to the counter, so our options were to go to Denver at 2:30 and then fly to Laguardia and arrive at 11:10 or drive to Chicago Midway and fly out at 2 and arrive around 4. That sounded like a better option, so we rented a car and found a hotel near Midway. All this is of course not paid for by Southwest because it was all "weather" related. I did my first Uber and about had a heart attack when it was $135 to go 32 miles, but it was during rush hour. About 2 hours in the Uber driver got a text from Uber saying the ride was over and he should find a safe place and drop us off! That was just what we needed after the disastrous travel experience we had already had. Thankfully, he was nice and didn't follow instructions! We finally arrived almost 24 hours later than expected and everyone was so happy to be there. The vacation got much better after that fiasco!
Airport fun
He is no expert at that game, but we had an agreement that there was no screen time at the airport, only on the plane.
This is a rarity! That's how bored she was!
We settled in and did a lot of eating and visiting with family. Our attempts to go to the beach and pool were thwarted by the weather, but we made the best of it! Khalif had his usual travel challenges, but seemed to settle down around the 3rd day. Ainsley had a toe infection that needed medicine, so we had to make a trip to the walk-in clinic and then she got bit by a bug and her leg swelled quite a lot. Reggie had a hard time getting his face out of his phone or computer but finally came around a bit. Khalif and Arthur had a good time making him a house, riding in his convertible and playing in the pool. Ainsley and Jackie did a lot of gymnastics, swimming and crafting. And us adults did a lot of talking and eating!
Enjoying delicious pizza
Everyone's favorite dog!
Khalif's house
Protecting his pizza from getting sand blasted!
Our trip to the city was awesome....our tour guides, Lisa and Heather, mapped it all out and everyone was happy! We went to the Vessel, walked the elevated path through the city, saw the 911 memorial, went to FAO Shwartz, the Nintendo and M&M store and finally ended in Times Square. We got a great feel for the city, subway and train!!!
On Father's Day, we had a nice BBQ at Lisa's house and had more time to visit and get to know both of the Eddie's. Who knew Eddie worked for TSA and hooked me up at the security gate! Mom had a little too much to drink at the BBQ and ended up throwing up which really made Reggie nervous. He told me he knew exactly what was happening....alcohol poisoning...had learned it in health and his teacher told him that if that ever happened to them, they should call 911. Hmmm. Grandma survived without intervention, but the next day was a long one!
The vessel:
911 Memorial
Subway
Nintendo store....look at those smiles!
You should've seen his smile! He almost got escorted out of the area because he was in a no walk zone
Outside view of the vessel
Picture at the top of the vessel...nice views!
And then, we went our separate ways...mom and dad took the kids to Seattle and I went back to SFO.
