I hope y’all enjoyed the pumpkin pie post that Paul wrote while I was gone. :-) He worked very hard on it, so if you find it helpful then you should definitely leave a comment telling him so!

We got back yesterday from our trip! Here’s an overview.

We left last Thursday morning for Pittsburgh. Savannah did great on the flight, though it’s definitely more challenging traveling alone. We landed and picked up the rental car – a Dodge Charger, my sister was excited – and the carseat. Easiest installation ever. After I put it in, I pushed it back and forth and side to side and it hardly wiggled at all! I can’t say the same for my Britax installed rear-facing in my car. :-p

We met up with Kacie and Johnny! I would show you a picture but alas, I don’t have one – I took most pictures with my cell phone camera, and as of yesterday my cell phone is somewhere between my house and the train station, and no amount of retracing my steps has been successful at locating it. :-( I’m super bummed to lose all those pictures. I did take a few pictures with my real camera of Savannah and Johnny playing:

Kacie and I hung out in a mall for a few hours, and we didn’t stop talking! It was so great! This was my first time meeting her, and I felt like I could have spent the whole weekend with her. I hope you had as much fun as I did, Kacie! :-)

Afterward, I took quite the tour of Pittsburgh as I tried to figure out how to get to my great-aunt and uncle’s house. I feel like every road I was on had construction, and the GPS was telling me to turn on roads that didn’t even exist, or were blockaded for construction. But I eventually made it, taking back roads most of the way, but I hit no traffic even though it was 5:30pm. Almost my whole family was there for this wedding – my parents, my sister, and my grandparents. We were staying with my grandmother’s brother – it was his granddaughter who was getting married. I think that makes her my second cousin – family relationships get foggy after you pass aunt/uncle/cousin. ;-)

Friday we didn’t do much except some shopping and then dinner with relatives. Savannah reacted to this traveling by being very fussy and not letting anyone else hold her. I am not sure if it was traveling or if it was Paul not being there or what. She also wouldn’t go to sleep unless I laid down next to her. I know so many people wanted to hold her, and it made me sad. :-( I kept saying they should have seen her before we went down to the D.R.! That’s about when this separation anxiety hit and she decided she didn’t want anyone else to hold her. I hope it passes soon. (It’s definitely getting better!)

Saturday was the wedding! It was a beautiful ceremony, and fun reception. I also enjoyed spending time with my family, both immediate and extended. I wish Paul could have been there!

Sunday morning came way too early. I got up around 3:30am and left for the airport at 4am. Returned the car, went through security, and made it back to the gate by my 6:15am flight to JFK in New York City. It was a short flight – only 50 minutes flying time. Savannah slept the entire time. We landed in NYC and I picked up my bag and found a taxi all before 8am. I handed him the name and address of the hotel in Brooklyn where we were staying and we were off.

I got to see a lot of NYC on my way to the hotel. I later found out the taxi drive took the long way around the city in order to overcharge me, but in retrospect I was glad I got to see some of the sites. I spotted the Statue of Liberty, several of the bridges, and the traditional brownstone neighborhoods.

The hotel was very nice and let me check in 5 hours early. I was so glad because they didn’t have any place to wait – I would have had to sit on the sidewalk until it was time. Since I didn’t have anywhere to be until around 4, Savannah and I took a very long nap all morning and the first part of the afternoon. We woke up around 2pm and I realized I was hungry. After giving Savannah lunch, I ventured out into the neighborhood and found a taco truck that my brother-in-law recommended. Yummy! One of the best tacos I’ve ever had.

Jeremiah (my BIL) got back from work around 4, and we took the subway into the city. I was glad he was there to show me the ropes. The hotel was literally on top of a subway station, so we just had to walk across the street and down some steps. I studied the map and by the time I left I felt like I had a pretty good understanding of how it worked. We got off in Harlem and walked to Central Park, and I got to see some of the typical NYC scenery before we decided we were hungry and went back to the hotel. We had Chinese take-out for dinner, then Jeremiah went back to his apartment and Savannah and I got ready for bed. The hotel only had a few channels, but I managed to find some Law & Order, so I watched a few episodes before I went to sleep.

We slept late the next day, and didn’t get up and moving until after noon. We took the subway to the Museum of Natural History, where we met Jeremiah (he only had to work until noon that day). We walked through the Central and South America exhibits, but by this point I had a horrible headache. We had to leave the museum to find a drugstore and get some Excedrin. I also got some peanuts and Gatorade, hoping that would help the headache. Jeremiah had to go to class soon, so we opted not to go back to the museum but instead had an impromptu photo shoot in Central Park. I’ll post those later, as they are taking forever to upload on my slow internet.

I was getting pretty chilly by this point, and Savannah’s hands were like ice. Being the Southerner I am, it never occurred to me to grab a jacket when I left in the morning. We left Jeremiah and returned to our hotel, where Savannah took a short nap. I called a friend of mine from high school, and we arranged details to meet for dinner that evening at a Peruvian restaurant nearby. We had a lovely time together – I can’t believe it’s been almost 10 years since I’d seen her! I am so glad we got a chance to catch up. Savannah did pretty well and I think enjoyed the Lomo Saltado. Yum!

That night, I put Savannah to bed and enjoyed watching Castle, especially exciting because of being in New York City. :-) Okay I was probably a little TOO excited about that.

Tuesday was our last day. We got up earlier this time and made it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art around lunchtime. I walked through the galleries but couldn’t spend much time at each painting because Savannah would get fussy every time I stopped. I should have brought the Ergo instead of the stroller that day. I found the Met extremely confusing to navigate – I kept getting lost while looking for an elevator, and then once I finally found one I realized it either didn’t go to the floor I wanted or it was full of people who have no reason to need an elevator except laziness. I can’t exactly use the stroller as a cattle prod to force people out of my way…

A friendly reminder: Please reserve elevators and handicapped stalls for people who actually need them. Thank you.

After we had our fill of the Met, we left and walked through Central Park. We stopped at a playground and Savannah enjoyed a break from the stroller for a bit. It’s hard when your babies are moving but not walking yet – there aren’t many places you can put them down for a bit of exercise! After playing, we continued walking until we got to the end of Central Park and found FAO Schwarz (toy store) and the Apple Store. The Apple store is really cool – I would show you pictures, but they are on my cell phone. Go here to see other peoples’ pictures. The store was really crowded and with a stroller it was just too difficult to navigate, so I left and went next door to FAO Schwarz. I really enjoyed walking around the three-story toy store. I wanted to buy something for Savannah, but she doesn’t really need anything so I resisted. :-)

We went back to the hotel because at this point I was exhausted and my feet were starting to get blisters! I managed to leave again to get some dinner at a Chinese place across the street, and then I packed while watching more Law & Order. Jeremiah stopped by after his class that night to pick up the subway card (there was still money on it) and we said goodbye. Wednesday we took a taxi to the airport and got back to our home in Atlanta by 4pm.

Overall, a good trip! I really enjoyed NYC. I can’t wait to go back with Paul! There is so much more I want to see… the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island (my ancestors came through there), Empire State Building, etc. I just love being in the city atmosphere, riding the subway (that was a lot of fun!!). In the meantime, it’s back to the grindstone…