Mom had mentioned this past summer that the church where she grew up was having a reunion of sorts. It was the 75 year anniversary at their current location (called 75 at 55). 55 is the address of the church. Since I wasn't working I figured it would be fun to load up and head north with her (as long as she was ok with it). Toting a baby and a toddler meant alot of work for her too!
We've made this trip countless times growing up... at least once a year my first 16 years. Sometimes twice. So it really was a blast from the past. And it was some great quality time with my mom.
We started our trip on a Thursday a few weeks ago and we made that the toughest traveling day. We drove for 12 hours mostly in the rain. It wasn't very fun and the kiddos (especially Emberly) got restless. We slept in Pennsylvania and this was the first time Luke remembers being in a hotel (we actually did this trip when he was 6 months old but obviously he doesn't remember). He LOVED it. I remember loving hotels when I was a kid too.
Of course Emberly decided to sleep regress (well regress from the terrible sleeper she already is). We were getting up 2 times a night before this trip and the first night in Pennsylvania I was up every 45 minutes. Come Friday I was exhausted (well more exhausted than normal).
Friday we made the rest of the trip. It was about 4.5 hours to New York. My favorite part about coming into New York is the bridges. Normally I hate bridges, but there is just something so regal about the George Washington Bridge and the Tappan Zee Bridge. I loved them as a child and it still makes me happy to cross them.
We crossed the Tappan Zee and headed to meet my aunt and cousin in mom's hometown (at a park that happens to have a gorgeous view of the NY skyline and railroad tracks with trains running every 5 minutes). Luke was in heaven. We split our time between throwing rocks in the Hudson River and waving at trains. Every train that passed blew their horn after we waved at them. Luke was so excited. My cousins and I used to do the same thing when we were younger. It was quite nostalgic.
We always hit up our favorite restaurants- usually local diners or pizza places. There is nothing like a New York diner or NY pizza.
Saturday was the day of the reunion. It really meant alot to be able to bring my children. There were people there who knew mom back when she was little and met me back in the day and it was fun to introduce my children. Kind of like the circle of life coming around full circle. My other cousin met up with us that evening and it was just so great to catch up with family.
We started our trip home Sunday afternoon and made it to PA again (we stayed at the same hotel coming back as we did going). Like I said Luke loves everything about hotels!
(seriously don't judge... lol. I was greatly sleep deprived and I don't think I realized just how close he was)
Monday morning we left PA and just took our time eating breakfast and lunch with friends. We found a hotel in VA and stayed the night there.
Tuesday morning we headed to Winston-Salem NC to meet up with a very special person. I mentioned in Emberly's birth story about where her middle name came from. Pretty much this lady (Grace) was the first person to invite my mom to church when she was 7. They were neighbors and moved into neighboring houses the same day (it was rare that anyone moved in and out of their small town so for neighbors to move in the same day was unheard of). Grace took on a whole new meaning after my mom was saved- our eternity was literally at stake. Mom gave me the middle name Grace and I knew it would be passed down to our daughter. I'd met Grace before but she had never met Emberly.
It was a great trip!!
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