We just returned from a trip to New York City to visit family and friends and the area of Brooklyn where my husband and I got married almost four years ago. This was our first family vacation with both boys and the first time we made such a long drive with kids. In the city that never sleeps with so many places to see and people to meet up with, it took my hot, tired, and terrified-of-pigeons three year old to remind me that there is always time to stop and smell the weeds!
We had an amazing, albeit whirlwind trip. S ate ice cream in an ice cream shop every day (something he does not get to do where we live since there are no kosher restaurants, let alone easy access to kosher ice cream). We took the boys to the Jewish Children's Museum in Crown Heights. We visited my grandmother in Queens and my own mother came in to visit as well, filling that house with memories and four generations all at once! We spent time with great friends, took in the sights, scenery, a bit of shopping and plenty of tasty food. These are all things I love about the city. And yet, the pace and noise of the city is over the top for me. I drive a stroller like a true New Yorker, but I drive a car like I'm from Virginia (don't worry, my husband drove--I just offered free, unsolicited advice from the passenger seat while simultaneously slamming on an invisible brake and white-knuckling the door handle).
When you rarely travel, it can often feel like there is so much to do in so little time. And the gift of traveling with little kids is that you are forced to slow down--even if the world is passing by as fast as a New York minute. Kids know nothing about time except how to make the most of it. And that's the most important skill to have. So we had as much fun actively pursuing vacation adventures as we did sitting in traffic and looking at all the construction trucks, subway trains and junk yards. An eight hour drive turns into a 12 hour ordeal with all of us in the car. I even inadvertently taught S some new vocabulary in Staten Island... S was never quite sure what and where "The York" (as he calls it) was. And while not all of our vacation moments were postcard worthy, I'd like to think they will fill the boys with memories that are!
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| Hour 2 of the drive... |
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| Hour 10 of the drive... |
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| travel light and keep your cool |
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| he needs a vacation from his vacation |
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| you gotta spin it to win it |
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| Smile, you're in Pennsylvania... |
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