Highlights from today: (click here for pictures)
We were up fairly quickly this morning and made it downstairs to eat breakfast before 8:30. The breakfast area this morning had a smaller selection but we were able to find plenty to eat. The kids seem to eat a lot at one meal and nothing at the next. This must have been Anderson’s eating meal because he had 2 waffles. The conversation at breakfast always revolves around how many more nights we have on our trip and how many more hotels we have. They are very much aware that this is a long trip-I think they are really just counting how many more times they get to eat breakfast at a hotel.
We made it to Carlo’s Bakery in pretty good time-around 10:30. We had driven within miles of it last year but didn’t even think to stop. This time though we were going to stop and have something yummy. I couldn’t wait-I barely ate any breakfast thinking about what we were going to eat there. It was starting to sprinkle as we drove to Hoboken and found a decent parking spot. We unloaded the buggies and kids, paid the meter and headed down the street…only to find that the bakery was closed today! Look at the picture, my Anderson was heart broken. Oh, well since we are coming back this way, we will swing by again.
Robby was so disappointed that he needed pizza to console himself and since we know of a good pizza place in NYC and we were right near the Lincoln Tunnel, why not? By now it was raining again but since it took as a while to fight the traffic and end up near Times Square the rain had stopped by the time we found a parking garage. On our way, Robby rolled down the window and Graham just stared outside listening to the sounds and taking in the sights of the city (and the smells!). We drove near the Empire State Building, Macy’s, the New York Times, Madison Square Garden and even caught a glimpse of Ben Stiller (he was chatting on the street corner).
We headed out and Robby walked us right to Ray’s Pizza-there are a lot in NYC but we have been to this one a few times now (last time was a little over a year ago) The pizza was delicious and the kids ate it up. After Graham had finished his piece, I handed him what was left of mine and it must have looked like a gun because he grabbed it, pointed it at the table near us and started shouting “shoot, shoot, shoot.”
After lunch, we walked towards Times Square. The kids eyes were as wide as saucers. Taxis, lights, horns, tvs, trucks, people, cranes, police cars, you name it and it was there for them to see. Campbell was so interested in what was going on, that she sat straight up in her stroller. Even though she was buckled in, I still had Anderson hold on to her as we darted across streets and dodged cars with a zillion other pedestrians. Robby was the leader with his buggy and I followed him. We pushed people out of the way and weaved through the crowds like we lived there.
After a few pictures in Times Square and even taking a picture for a Yahoo promotion we let the kids walk in the M&M store and even ride the escalator. Next we walked across the street to the Hershey store and then made our way back to the car. As we left the parking garage it was again raining. We thought we were leaving across the George Washington Bridge but Helga (gps) changed her mind at the last minute and we went out of NYC another way. We don’t know how but we do know that 14 police cars passed us with sirens and lights on-so we just kind of pulled behind them and carried on.
Last year we brought only 3 kids to NYC for the day but this year we had 4 kids with us and just decided to pop over for lunch! What fun!
The kids had listened so well and since they had long car ride ahead of them (we were running about an hour or 2 later than planned because of our spur of the moment trip to NYC) we passed out a few presents. Saved Happy Meal toys can make them so excited. Campbell didn’t get a present and Graham noticed. He kept saying “where’s bubbles present? it’s ok bubble.”
We ran into traffic in Connecticut which further slowed us down but we kept the movies on and the snacks flowing in the back seat so the kids did well. We stopped at a McDonald’s rest stop to break up the 3 and a half hours. After pottying, the kids ran and played chase in the grass until it was time to hit the road again. Graham talked nonstop the second leg of the trip. Here is just some of his conversation:
G: Wanna go my house.
Dad: You want to go to your house?
G: Yeah, no, I go hotel.
Dad: Okay
G: I go hotel.
Dad: Okay
G: Wanna go my house.
And on and on this went. Finally we had to stop talking to him. He does look at the books but that is all that he will play with in the car. Now he will stay busy putting all of Reagan and Anderson’s toys on the floor. After a few hundred dollars in tolls today, we finally made it to Newport. We drove right to the Breakers Mansion and started along the Cliff Walk. The weather was perfect and just a little breezy. We walked along the walk until it was no longer stoller accessible but it gave us enough a walk to see some houses and enjoy the ocean. After Campbell had taken her picture on a rock, I went to put her back in the buggy and she was so very mad at me. She has quite a little temper!-cute now, not later!
On the walk back to the car, Reagan told me that she missed all of the people that she loved and then she went on to name everyone that she missed. It was quite a list for only being gone 4 days so far. Soon after that, Anderson said with a sad little voice “I miss all of my friends like Nonna, Pops, Grannymom, Grandpa, Jason.” It was pretty pitiful and then I mentioned ice cream and he was over it! Even though we can go days without seeing people, it is funny how when we are on a trip they get a little homesick.
After getting back in the car, the bottom fell out. It was pouring-we have been so blessed that the weather has been so good for us. We haven’t had to deal with the rain much at all. Seems like each time we go to get out of the car, the rain stops and then it starts back once we get back on the road (hope that holds true for the rest of the trip)
Just a bit down the road was the Newport Creamery. I had read about this local chain somewhere and it was a great stop. Robby and I were starving and we had been bribing the kids with ice cream all day long so we were all ready to stop. Reagan ate half of a grilled cheese, Graham had the other half and Anderson had a hot dog. Robby and I both had soup and then quesadillas. It was all good but not nearly as good as dessert. The kids had sundaes with gummy worms in them and we split a huge sundae with strips of cookies and brownies in it. Delicious!
Robby and Graham ran next door while we were finishing our ice cream to pick up another gallon of milk. We then headed to our hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island. It was about 20 miles away and already pretty late. We had told them kids that they could go swimming tonight and they were going to hold us to it.
After unloading and putting on our bathing suits, we walked down the hall to start laundry. We let the kids swim until the 2 loads of clothes were ready to be put in the dryer. It was so late that Campbell didn’t swim but she just squealed and hollered watching everyone. She busied herself by playing with the drawstring from my shorts. I didn’t have Graham’s good floatie bathing suit but I did have 10 cent innertube from Walmart which worked just perfect. When it was time to get out, they showered off at the pool shower. We even had their pajamas there so we could put their suits in the dryer too. We just had to make everyone’s bed before they made it to bed around 11. This is the latest they have been up in awhile. We will probably take it a little easier tomorrow (even though we have a little further to drive).
Graham went right to sleep and Reagan was still pretty quickly. Anderson wanted to play 20 questions about where we were going tomorrow and how we would get home. Campbell learned how to sit up in her bouncy seat and was so proud of herself. She would sit up and then not be able to drink her bottle which would cause her to fuss. We would go to check on her and she would just grin as if to say, look at me, I can do something new. Finally she tired of this and settled down to drink her milk.
We stayed up to repack, blog and fold and sort 2 loads of clothes-around 1. Now it is off to bed for us!
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