We are at it again, road trip round 3! This time only 16.5 hours. And while that’s shorter than the 19 hour trip to Kansas, this time Daddy is coming… which ultimately means add some {a lot} of extra time. I love that man but timely anything is not him. 

I was so proud that we were actually on the road by 5am! Major victory in my book as far as my husband goes. Traveling is hard for us because I’m a very organized on time list crazy kind of gal. Tim is more of a lets stop at every rest area and get a cold drink even though the car is packed with water and soda. Anyway that’s not the point. The point is we get half way here and a car goes by with shirts hanging in the window and Tim gasps. He proceeds to tell me he forgot ALL his shirts. Really!? He only had to pack for himself. I’m thinking there was a method to his madness because we spent a good amount of time updating his wardrobe when we got to the city.

The trip really isn’t about family vacation. It’s a business trip turned mini vacay. I have lots of family on the island and Tim has a client in Newark so while he’s working I’m going to visit family. 

We did come up a few days early to go to the city. And it was amazing!

We bought tickets for One World Trade. The memorial museum is right there but we opted to skip it since we lived it and thought it would make more sense to do that when the kids are old enough to learn about it. Plus I really didn’t want to be sad. 

One World Trade is beautiful, something you have to see for yourself. The elevator takes you to the 102nd floor in less than 60 seconds traveling 27 miles per hour. It’s crazy. The inside walls of the elevator tell the story of how NYC was built from the very beginning to now in like a virtual tour. So cool. Then you get to see all the breathtaking views. 

  
Timmy really enjoyed this part. Grace was not interested at all and slept the whole time.

Timmy on top of the world! 

    
 
He was quick to break out his binoculars. 

 
My husband loves it here. He is in his element. He used to work in the towers in his earlier career days so this place is close to his heart. 

This picture sums up the beauty to me. The building looks like it goes straight to heaven.  

 
There are no words to describe the memorial pools.  

 
I don’t know if it’s on purpose but probably it is. The material they used to inscribe the names of the people lost reflects the sky so that it looks like the names are written in heaven when you take a photo. 

 
I looked up the names of the people in this picture because I felt the need to.

Kathy N. Mazza was a port authority police officer, the first female pa officer for both NJ & NY. Survivors said she used her 9mm to shoot out glass walls so that they could escape. She was in the stairwell when the building collapsed.

Walwyn Stuart Jr. was also port authority police because he thought it was a safer job than his previous undercover narcotics division. He changed jobs when his baby girl was born. When his wife called his office that day the secretary said he was safe and that he was helping with the evacuation. He was never seen again. His daughter turned one on September 28th.

Antonio Jose Rodrigues was port authority police for Time Square but was sent to World Trade to help. He went down to the basement level to get oxygen tanks when the towers fell. He had a 7 and 4 year old. His wife said this in her story.. they had big dreams for the future and now she doesn’t dream big anymore. She is grateful for simpler things like her kids walking through the front door safe after school. 

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Then we visited Saint Peters and Saint Patrick’s Cathedrals. So incredibly beautiful. Something I’ve always wanted to see.  

    
    
    
 
After we had lunch and then headed to the American Girl Store!! The final piece to Gracie’s birthday. Her gift from us was a Bitty Baby. She was instantly in love! I could have bought the whole store. 

    
    
 
We really had an awesome day. Only mistake was wearing new shoes and not knowing where handicap subway entrances were. Carrying a double stroller up stairs at 5pm against the rush of angry people = not fun.

We were also excited to take Timmy on a real train. He’s always wanted to go on one. He was so happy. 

   
Anytime my whole family can spend time together is so great. Tim works so much I miss him. 

My little girl is almost two. Two. It’s unbelievable. I miss babies but this age is so fun! Gracie’s birthday has turned into a birthday month really. We are going to be in NY on her actual birthday so I wanted to do something small at home to celebrate. 

My best friend and I have little girls 3 months apart so I thought how fun to celebrate them turning two with just the two of them. 

We gathered all the supplies for the perfect tea party. We had crowns, tutus, jewelry and the sweetest girliest tea set from my grandma.

I have to give credit to my friend for a picture perfect black board. It was absolutely precious watching them sip tea and clink their little cups. We were dying and snapping away.  

    
    
    
    
    
 
Then they went for a little swim and we all shared some virgin margaritas. 

    
    
 
We’ve been friends since the fifth grade. Almost 20 years! Crazy that we are living these extremely blessed lives, full of all the little girl dreams we had. We were just talking today about how we really have to be thankful that what we have is what we always prayed for.

I call her Aunt but we are not actually related. My grandma had us calling all her friends Aunt & Uncle growing up. This one was special tho. I just loved her. She was so kind and gentle; Always helping out my mom with us kids. 

One memory that really stuck with me was her helping me write Santa letters around Christmas time sitting in my moms kitchen. She’s the kind of woman that when you come over she’s putting out a spread for Kings and Queens. 

I named my little Grace after her and since we would be passing by her house when we went to Kansas we stopped in so that she could meet Grace. It was so special.

First thing Timmy noticed was a huge canister of lollypops that she put together for him. And for Grace she had a little box. Inside was her confirmation cross. She had passed it to her daughter for her confirmation but since she didn’t have any children, as a family, they decided to pass it down to Grace. Instant tears. 

Update* I am heartbroken to share that Aunt Grace passed away 4 weeks after we visited her. What a blessing that we were able to see her when she was feeling well and that I have these precious photos now to one day show my children. 

I got this text from her daughter and I want to keep it with this post so that when Grace gets older she can understand how much Aunt Grace adored her. 

May God rest her soul and bring her right home to Uncle Bill. Something tells me she had quite the welcoming. 

“Mommy why are we still in Arkansauce?” And no that’s not a typo 😂 Timmy talk on the road. 

When I was kid we spent Thanksgiving with my Dads family in Kansas and when I got older I would go for a couple weeks in the summers. Now that my cousins and me all have kids I really want them to be close like we were. So I packed up the car and made the loooooong trip. Tim couldn’t take that much time off work so I took my Dad with me. We had an amazing time.

We stayed at my Grandmas. She’s 85 but you wouldn’t know it. Her house looks and smells exactly the same way it did when I was a kid. Definitely has that possible haunted feeling. It’s a little bit too much one with the bugs, as in a spider crawled out of my bed! But none the less being able to bring my kids back to the exact same place where I made my own memories as a kid was all worth it.

Going to Kansas is like stepping back in time. The kids have free range. They run wild. It’s a very nice change. This was my view from my grandmas bedroom. 

 Thats my kind of beautiful. I could sit and stare for hours. 

The kids were AMAZING in the car. They trashed it but they didn’t cry at all. They were even surprisingly behaved at the hotel. I’ll admit I was terrified driving those 19 hours without Tim but I must have the best kids because it was a piece of cake. We listened to Frozen on tape 3467895 times so I’m fluent in all things Elsa. They read books and ate a good amount of Shark gummies.  
   
 This is a classic Kansas pucture. Grandma has had this windmill forrrrrver.  
This is my Dad in his old bedroom. Did I mention she’s lived her forever, forever.

 
Grace fell in love with this doll that belonged to My great grandma.  
    
  

We went on our first four wheeler ride and got a little muddy. I love these tiny muddy toes.  
    

Wind in their faces 😍
    

Timmy was definitely in his element here.
  

SOO many memories at this piano.  

Me and my sisters loved this merry go round when we were kids. It’s still there lol
    

This is grandma “rocking” Grace but really patting her but and telling her to hush lol it worked.
  

These girls were my little mommies for the week.  
  

These two are definitely related.
Timmy always with the dogs just like his father.  
  

First lightening bugs.
They love Aunt Corrie.  
  

Boat Trip!  
    
    
  
Grace really loved Aunt Kylie.  
  

Visiting Great Grandpa Leslie’s memorial.  

Our old stomping ground 😂
 

First tropical sno
Fourth of July  
    
  
    

Kiddie Land!
    
    
    

Early birthday present from Aunt Corrie!
    

Serious Fishing! These catfish were insane. 

    
  
So peaceful  
 
Timmy thought for sure they were sharks.

   
 
Gracie’s very first fish!

   

Timmy caught 4! 

Big Brutus. A very big coal steam engine. My Dad was set on seeing this and it was actually pretty cool. Timmy of course loved it.

    
    

Corn as far as the can see. 
I am so happy I got to meet all these little ones. My kids were so happy. Still talking about there cousins and I hope we get to make this a yearly tradition.  
    
    
Love this photo.    

These three kids looooooove each other so much. 

This is what we’ve been doing all summer: 

P-pa is 75! We threw him a pool party and Daddy and Uncle Tim are taking him to a Dolphins game as his present. 

Kim hosted and I did all the cooking. That is the way to do parties. One person has to clean their house and one person has to cook. Makes it so easy and stress free.

I say it all the time but I really do love watching all the cousins play. That’s my new fun. 

  
I think Halle & Grace are twins.  
    
    
    
 

Mothers Day was awesome that I had to do something great for a Fathers Day. On Mothers Day I got a shopping spree with a friend. It was so relaxing. 

So we have Daddy a shopping spree too but it wasn’t kid free luckily they slept the whole time. 

Timmy took Daddy go carting for the first time and we got them matching shirts. 

    
   
Then we threw a party for all our Daddy friends. Bbq, smores & water balloons. 

My mom has started coming up to our house about once a week and planning something special with the kids. The kids are loving it and so am I! My kids are so lucky.

Timmy says, “Join us mom, relax and feel the breeze.” He cracks me up.

We got an invitation in the mail for a Teddy Bear Clinic to celebrate the grand opening of a new hospital. I thought it was a great chance to help Timmy get over his fear of hospitals so we went.

Seriously best thing ever. All hospitals do it so definitely check it out. First the whole thing is free so right off the bat awesome in my book. But they went over and beyond. Each kid got a new teddy bear and a teddy bear back pack. Then they toured the hospital and in each room they would doctor on the teddy bear showing them things like how to use a breathing mask, give shots, take an X-ray and put on a cast. It was so neat.

Outside they had fire truck and ambulance tours, a bounce house and dancing. Free water, face painting an snacks! 

One of the nurses got a little surprised because Timmy went to kiss him and said kiss was on the nurse butt 🙈 Everyone laughed. 

My good friend Dawn invited us to visit her parents Georgia house and I of course said yes! Who doesn’t love a semi free vacation. Tim couldn’t come so I brought Sam to help with the kids. And that she did! She was so much help probably more help then Tim would have been 🙊

The drive was great except for when I turned around and Timmy was out of his car seat!! Apparently he can unbuckle himself now. He won’t be doing that again tho. I pulled that car right over and had a little chat with him. Other than that it was a very smooth 6 hour drive.

The kids were in heaven there. They had complete free range of the house and the outdoors. Dawns parents are the best. Treated me like their daughter and totally loved on my kids.

We spent most days just exploring nature, fishing, and swimming. Timmy and Cade are for sure best friends.