We are back from our short trip to New York City, even though the trip was solely dedicated to attending wedding festivities and a tiny family reunion we were able to get some other touristy things done. Since this was my son’s second time in New York and Neve’s first trip we wanted to fit everything in for them to experience. However, that was not the case so we will be planning another trip to NYC; one that is dedicated to exploring the city a little more. Here’s an inside look at our trip, what we did and what I took away from our travels.
Traveling with more than just the four of us this time around we had a few more heads to be concerned about which can be a little intimidating especially when everyone has certain expectations from the trip. For one my husband was not going to be traveling with us but ended up surprising the kids in New York when we arrived. My parents and sister were going to be helping out with the kids on this trip. Our surprise guest turned out to be a win for me because now I had my best friend in the same city and daddy was their to help with any melt downs. Prior to arriving we agree to utilize Uber family for traveling around with the kids which provides a car seat but that turned out to be a FAIL! It’s better to rent a car especially when you know that both kids will require a car seat and you’re traveling with a large amount of people. Once the car seats were installed and the kids were in the rest of the group would have had to taken a second Uber. So we tried fitting everyone in the UberXL which required us to take our own car seat and it was not fun having to remove, re-install, and carry the car seat around then having to find a place to store it (Thank You, Daddy!). Lesson learned for the next large family trip rent a car with a car seat, even though I had researched some options prior to leaving I did not follow through on using those services. Lucky for us that we were in New York where public transportation is not hard to come by. The kids didn’t to mind too much and enjoyed every bus, train, and car ride that we went on. All the annoyances that we adults felt were lost on them because they only saw this big adventure in front of them.
Most of our mornings we spent grabbing coffee and some of the breakfast offered from downstairs then bringing it back up to our very cramped room to get ready for our day. On this first morning we actually sat downstairs to eat although I love eggs, waffles, and toast I mentioned to my husband that I would have loved some dim sum for breakfast. We stayed at the Wyndham Garden Fresh Meadows, which was well-kept and the staff is friendly. There were lots of restaurants, shopping and entertainment in walking distance of the hotel. However the rooms are not very spacious nor was it a very kid friendly hotel. Ended up in two separate rooms with Neve was in one room with my parents and Rian with us in the other room but I could tell that they wanted more space to be more comfortable. The rooms are suitable for adults if your only going to sleep at night and be gone during the day. We found that there was not enough room for our suitcase, strollers, or car seats we had to maneuver around items to open and close the room door. Even though it was a great recommendation as parents next time we talked about renting a home so the kids have some more room to play, make as much noise as their hearts desire and we can be an all be little more comfortable; no more dirty looks from other hotel guest. Once breakfast was done and we were ready we headed to the nearby park so the kids didn’t have to be cooped up in the hotel room for the rest of the day. It was a hot and muggy day that required a cool shady spot to relax in, regardless of the heat it was a rare moment because most days it’s mom who takes the kids to the park. Today we had daddy with us and it was such a pleasure to watch him play and laugh with the kids. I know they were over joyed to get daddy all to themselves. After a few go’s at the slide and swing we were hungry and ready for a nap. Which was perfect because we needed to rest up for the wedding ceremony later on that evening.
An afternoon nap was exactly what I needed since I spent a lot of the time chasing the little ones around the room as they introduced themselves to lots of family we hadn’t seen in years. As I mentioned this trip was for my cousin’s wedding which I was excited about because the last time I saw some of my cousin’s I didn’t have kids and I couldn’t wait for them to meet. I do wish I had taken more pictures with everyone however I am happy that I was able to spend time with each of them chatting, laughing, eating, and reminiscing.
The next day we spent visiting with my grandmother in the Bronx so she could also meet my daughter for the first time. It was a pleasure to see her coloring with Rian and how she played with Neve. It might have only been for a few hours but it meant so much to me to watch them interact with her because I talk about her all the time with my son It’s one of the ways I use to encourage him to do things when he refuses. All I have to say is “Mimi” use to do it that way for me when I was little, instantly his ears perk up and he’s listening to what I telling him. As mom it in these moments that I have had a little WIN because I get to share a little of myself with him and he takes more away from the lesson being taught.
Over the next few days we saw some of the city and spent some more time with family from out-of-town in the park. Now that we’re back home I am more tired than before we left but it’s time to get back to our regular routine. If you want to see more pics of our time in the city or day in the park follow my I’ll be posting some of those pictures on IG or you check out my insta stories to see our short time in New York. In a few days I’ll have a post up on what I wore to the reception so follow me to see my amazing yellow dress.
Thanks for reading!
Cindy
