We decided to take our first airplane vacation since Ben was born. After a lot of research, from coast to coast and even across the ocean, we decided on NYC. My cousin and her husband and kids live there, so we thought it would be fun to visit them. (We were right!)
Grandpa (aka my dad) picked us up at the ripe hour of 4:00AM. It usually takes Ben awhile to wake up in the morning, but he popped out of bed and said, "Grandpa!!!!" as soon as he saw my dad and he was ready to go! We wanted to make sure that we were there in plenty of time, and we definitely were. Ben loved watching the planes so thankfully our wait wasn't too bad.
He got a little antsy after awhile and was climbing everything in sight, much to my germaphobe chagrin.
"Ben, stop climbing on that."
"Hanging, Momma!"
Thankfully, I brought a lot of hand sanitizer and wipes.
We were just about to board when we learn that our seats were not approved for an "infant on lap." Huh? We still don't know why, because it wasn't an exit row, but we ultimately got split up. Boo! Ben and I ended up in the first row behind first class, so we had a little more leg room, while Andy sat (with an empty seat next to him) 10 rows behind us. Luckily I made a Target run and stocked up on fun Ben surprises, so we kept busy on the plane. He was an absolute angel during the entire flight.
When we were taking off, he looked out the window for a long time before he decided he wanted it shut. I was afraid he was going to be nervous, but he just pointed out each and every thing he saw. "Cars. Trees. Water. Clouds. People. Driving. Flying. Fast." And so on… We did go visit Daddy for a bit, because he had to tell Daddy about everything he saw, too.
To reiterate, Ben was perfect on the flight. He made friends with everyone and I even had random people come up to me after the flight and tell me how well behaved he was. A proud momma moment. :) It isn't really a dream flying with a stroller, carseat, and luggage, but amazingly our stuff was the first stuff off of the plane. It wasn't long before we were off to try and figure out how to put a car seat in a taxi.
We arrived to my cousin's house in about 30 minutes-- not bad! My cousin's husband came to meet us and then we met the rest of the gang at a park, where they were at a birthday party. We were so excited to finally meet baby Simone! She is the most calm, happy, and content, not to mention, BEAUTIFUL little girl.
Ben definitely feels at home at a park. It was hard to keep track of him he was so busy exploring.
After a fun day at the park, we decided to head back to attempt a nap. My super sweet cousin, Maria, got us the sweetest welcome gift! She is so, so, so thoughtful! And this was only the beginning of her amazing hostess skills. I still don't know how she does it! We had our whole level in their apartment, complete with a fridge and bathroom and a giant TV. :)
As if the park wasn't fun enough, Ben made sure to make himself at home with all of his cousin, Theo's, toys. I see a scooter in Ben's future.
Thankfully, he finally crashed for a few hours, though of course it was after we snuggled for awhile. I was pretty tired too, so I couldn't complain there. (Not that I ever complain about his snuggles…) This is what an angel boy looks like when he sleeps:
The moms stayed home and ordered some delicious New York style pizza while the boys headed out to a beer festival at Coney Island. Andy was in heaven. Actually, I was in heaven too. I got to have girl time with my cousin Maria AND I didn't have to go to a beer fest. ;)
Ben had taken a pretty hefty nap, so it took quite awhile to get him to sleep at night. Look at him all sprawled out on our bed… I transferred him into his pack and play, and I wish I could say he slept there all night, but no such luck!
All in all, it was a great first day in the Big Apple! The weather was beautiful so we took advantage of it, especially since the forecast looked like this for the rest of the week:
There is much more to come, so hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pace with these postings!
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