Happy Monday, loves! I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving break. We sure did. Our holiday started with a 2 a.m. wake-up call last Saturday to catch our 5 a.m. flight to New York.
We love New York.
To be honest, landing at 10 a.m. NY time was delightful. Sure getting up early was annoying. But there was zero traffic to the airport. The airpot was *slightly* less crowded than normal (lots of people, it turns out, like traveling early), and the whole experience just felt less stressful. Landing early meant we were less stressed out about quickly grabbing our car and racing upstate to get the girls to bed. Instead, we had the whole day ahead of us.
Delight.
We packed it in on this trip! Some highlights were:
- Sleepovers at Aunt Stephie’s house, Grandpa Robert’s house and Fiona and Jake’s house in the city
- The Polar Express train ride in the Catskills
- Seeing Wicked, the movie
- Checking out the holiday lights at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens
- SEEING THE MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE IN PERSON!
- Spending a relaxing Thanksgiving afternoon with family upstate
- Brunch with more family on Friday
Our flight home on Saturday was at 6 a.m., so it was another early day for us. But landing at 8 a.m. MT meant we had all day Saturday and all day Sunday to rest and rejuvenate. Honestly, everything went as smoothly as we could have possibly asked for (including a broken down Christmas train and pouring rain Thanksgiving Day parade), particularly for the busiest travel week of the year.
Here’s a bit of what we got up to 😉
We surprised Ro with our visit on Saturday, and let the girls know they’d be heading to the Polar Express on Sunday with a cute hot chocolate bar my sister set up. Because she’s super cute.
The Catskill Mountain Polar Express train ride is so cute! The staff sings and dances, you get chocolate cookies and hot chocolate, and the decorations are top-notch. Yes, our train broke down. Hah! But even so, the staff did a great job keeping the kiddos entertained, and although we never made it to the “North Pole,” Santa did make it onto the train, which was really all the kids cared about.
My sister worked a half -day on Monday, and then we grabbed Ro early from school and headed to see Wicked, the movie, with Lotte and Grace. I wasn’t sure how they would do with the 2 hour and 45-minute run time, but they loved it! We’ve been listening to the soundtrack ever since.
Wednesday was so much fun! Chris and I headed into the city early to hang with our loves Fiona & Jake (and their parents ;), and then my sister and Rosalie and Robert met up with us later to check out the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Lightscape. We had the perfect weather, and the kiddos loved running through all the beautiful lights.
Thursday was Thanksgiving! We had another early wake-up call — 5 a.m. — to leave Carla’s by 5:30 and be into the city by 6. It was absolutely pouring, but we got so lucky to find scaffolding that kept us warm and dry, and there was even a little ledge that the girls could stand on — away from the crowds — and get a good view of. A couple of tips from the day, if you’re ever thinking of doing this yourself:
- Book your parking ahead of time. We found a garage at 60 W. 30th for $20 that was perfect.
- Head to Columbus Circle/Central Park West, if you can. It was, we read, a less crowded spot, and had great views.
- Get there by 6:30 if you want to be up-close. If you don’t care about that, getting there when it starts is fine if you’re willing to stand back behind the crowd and catch the floats from afar.
- We read that strollers and umbrellas were not recommended, but having my sister’s double umbrella stroller was an absolute life saver for us. People also definitely did have umbrellas. Just something to think about.
- Potties. Plan for them. They can be few and far between!
We spent Thanksgiving afternoon with my brother-in-law’s family. It was super low-key and relaxing, with a tasty Thanksgiving dinner thrown in the mix.
Friday was our last full day, and we spent it with a family brunch at my aunt and uncle’s place, followed by dinner at Grandpa’s.
And that was it, friends. Our trip in a nutshell. We all headed back to Grandpa’s for one final dinner and to say our goodbyes.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends! That was our final trip/flight of the year, which is unbelievable. Now we settle in for the birthday/Christmas season, and all the craziness that brings. We’ve got our eyes (and wallets) set on the year ahead, and some hopefully super-fun things.
Until then, though … bis bald, friends, and happy holidays!