When we first found out that Rich had qualified for the Boston marathon, our original plan was for just he, I and Charlotte to go. Once we started really talking about it, Rich felt strongly that he wanted the entire family there for support and for the experience, so decided to make an entire east coast trip out of the race and spend 9 days visiting friends and family in addition to the marathon. We are SO glad that we made this decision and had an amazing, yet busy trip!! The timing was perfect because Joseph and Ella were both on spring break the week prior to the marathon so we left on Tuesday, April 11th and flew into Newark. We have a pretty good system when we travel and this trip went so smooth. We were thankful to have Nani bring us to the airport so she was able to stay with our car while we unloaded all 11 pieces of our luggage and curbside checked it so we didn't have to lug any of it into the airport. The kids each had one backpack for the plane and were just SO excited. We were delayed about 45 minutes out of San Diego and had moments of nervousness wondering if we'd make our connecting flight out of Phoenix but thankfully made it out just in time so there weren't any issues. With the delay being at the beginning of the trip the kids didn't seem to notice or mind too much and kept busy with the iPad, snacks, games, etc. They were honestly so great on the plane and we didn't have any issues at all. Rich sat with Ella and Julia and I had Joseph and Charlotte, although she did bounce back and forth every now and then. Everyone, except for Joseph, napped for a little bit on the plane from Phoenix to Newark which made the flight go by faster for sure. Once we landed in Newark we collected the luggage and then the kids and I wait in a corner of the airport close to a door while Rich goes and gets the rental car and then he came back to pick us up and we were off. We arrived at Aunt Linda's around 8:30 that night and the kids were all wide awake and full of smiles for Aunt Linda and Aunt Maria.
Made it!!
On Wednesday Aunt Linda hosted a get together for all of Rich's family in the area so we had a great time catching up with everyone!!! It was so nice to see his aunts, uncles, and cousins and our kids loved seeing the younger cousins and meeting some new ones! Here is Charlotte meeting Jenna, who is Rich's cousin, Joe's daughter.
Cousin Liz with Charlotte
Joseph had a blast playing with Zach and Ryan and we basically didn't see him all day since he was running around with them!
On Thursday we made our way to upstate New York to spend time with my family. The trip took about five hours and although we had a good amount of stops for numerous bathroom trips, there were no major issues and all travelled well. We were lucky enough to make a quick stop at Jen Bennice's brand new gorgeous home and unfortunately I didn't take any pictures!! It was such a treat to see her though! From there we made our way to my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Derrick's where we would spend the next two nights. Uncle Bruce and Bruce David came over for pizza that night and we all had such a nice time catching up. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Derrick have a puppy, Bo, and two cats so the kids enjoyed spending time with the animals...well except for Julia who had a love/hate relationship with them. She'd either be wanting to pet them or be in tears saying "He's going to eat me!"
On Friday morning we went over to Allison's house and spent the day with my girlfriends and their families from Geneseo! We had such a great day catching up with everyone! There were six of us together with 15 kids and the kids just all had a blast together and Rich and I loved spending time with all of the adults!
Some of the 6 Park Girls 15 years later!! I'm so thankful for these dear friends and their continued friendship over the years!
This is Allison's son Griffin who is just about 6 weeks younger than Ella. Al and Vince are expecting their fourth child this fall (their 4th boy!!) so all four of our kids are relatively close in age.
Charlotte loved having toys to play with and a safe space to move around in!
Allison and Vince have a bounce house so that was set up and the kids rotated from that to the basketball court to the swingset to the toys inside and out so had such a fun day!
After Allison's we met Kathy, Bruce, Bruce David and Ryan at Shogun for dinner. My Uncle Bruce suggested it the night before thinking that the kids would enjoy it since it is an interactive dinner instead of just a regular restaurant. We thought this was a great idea! Well, it was, until the chef created a volcano out of the vegetables with a huge flame which instantaneously caused Charlotte and Julia to burst into tears, Ella to climb into Rich's lap and Joseph to run behind his chair!! Ha! We couldn't stop laughing! After calming everyone down (Julia spent the remainder of the dinner on Rich's lap) we had a great time and a delicious meal. Joseph even participated in the chef shooting "baby saki" (aka water) into his mouth which he still talks about today.
Menchies, our favorite frozen yogurt place, was right around the corner so we had to walk over for a sweet treat after! We are so thankful that we were able to spend some quality time with everyone in the Albany area!
We headed to Boston on the following morning, Saturday, and stayed there though Tuesday morning I'll do a separate entry on Boston but we were lucky enough to spend Tuesday night with my dad's brother, Uncle Mike and his wife, Aunt Mary in New Jersey. WE arrived around 4:00 Tuesday afternoon after a full day in the car so we were all excited to stretch our legs and walk around the lake that they live on and find a playground. The kids loved playing with Uncle Mike and it was the perfect end of the day. He even took them fishing while we waited for the pizza to arrive and although they didn't catch anything Joseph will tell you that fishing with Uncle Mike was his favorite part of the trip! It was the perfect last night on the east coast and we are grateful for Mike and Mary's hospitality and Uncle Mike's help at the airport the following morning.
He was getting Julia all pumped up for the flight!
After checking our bags and going through security we were all set and ready for our flight back home. The flights home went just as smooth as the flights there; however, felt a lot longer (the flights home always seem to do so!!) Landing in San Diego felt so good and we were definitely glad to be home! It was an incredible 9 days on the east coast and we are so happy that we made the decision to travel as a family and that we were fortunate enough to have spent time with so many special people!
