Road Trip

Long post, but scroll down for pictures if you don't want to read it all...

Casey thought I was crazy, but I actually wanted to take the boys on a road trip by myself. I wanted to visit my brother in New York, but I also wanted to take the time to visit some friends from college, and trying to arrange for a trip that length with Casey's work schedule wasn't possible, so I decided to go alone. The logistics and details kept changing - I had planned to leave on Monday or Tuesday, but on Friday I worked out a plan with my dad to leave on Saturday, the very next day, very short notice for me. When we went to Florida last October, I meticulously planned for the road trip portion of the trip everyday for over a week prior to the trip. But I must have absorbed all that preparation, because I basically "winged it" for this trip and we did fine. My dad joined us for the first half of the trip.
Along the way, we met up with Anne, one of my college roomies (and the friend who first coaxed me into blogging). She had just visited us a couple days before and the boys were already great fans of her adorable baby, so they were super excited to have dinner with her. Then we travelled on to Harrisburg PA and stayed at a hotel that night.
The next morning, we drove around and I showed Coulson the hospital where he was born and the apartment we lived in. (A few weeks ago I had pointed out the hospital where Charlie was born and Coulson was curious about the hospital where he was born, so I was hoping to sneak in a trip to Hershey on this trip.) He was impressed with the hospital, but visibly disappointed with the apartment building. Then we went to our old church and saw some old friends. Casey and I helped this church get started about 9 years ago, so it will always be special to us. Then I took the boys to my favorite free tourist attraction in Hershey - Chocolate World! We enjoyed the short ride about how chocolate is made, especially the free Hershey Kisses at the end. After that we met up with one of our friends from medical school for lunch. Unfortunately his wife (who was with me at the hospital when Coulson was born) and daughter were out of town that weekend, so I didn't get to see them. Then we were off to my brother's home in NY.
We had a great time with my brother and his 2 kids. We stayed for 4 days (well, we took a one day break to visit NYC). We enjoyed his small town life, walking to the park and the country store for some ice cream, eating yummy healthy foods (well, I don't think the boys ate much of that strange healthy food, but they did load up on Cheerios in between meals, oh, they did chow down on some fresh local black raspberries and blueberries), playing with chickens at a friend's barn (my niece is a bit of a chicken whisperer), swimming in a cold stream and playing soccer with the cousins. It was great to be with my niece and nephew again and give them some auntly hugs and kisses.
My dad and I and the boys took the train into NYC one day because I thought Coulson would like to see the Statue of Liberty. It was a great day. We found a parking spot at the train station and made it on the train, awkwardly but successfully navigated the subway system with a double stroller, got the in short line at the ferry for Liberty Island because I bought tickets online the night before, Charlie took his nap in his stroller while we toured the Ellis Island museum and we made it to my friend's apartment in Greenwich Village exactly at 4pm, which was my uneducated estimate of when we might get there. Charlie even got to chat with Spiderman at Battery Park (where the ferry for Liberty Island docks).
I had a great time with my friend and her 2 kids. I knew her when I was in high school and she was in graduate school. She graduated from my alma mater and was probably the biggest influence on my decision to go there myself. I hadn't heard from her in years, but "found" her on Facebook, so it's been fun to re-connect with her. Coulson and her 4-year-old son had a fabulous time inventing new Super Heroes together.
My dad left our journey to visit his brothers on the other side of NY and I started my journey back down South. On the way, I stopped in the northwestern suburbs of Philly to visit another old college roommate and her family. Actually, her husband was Casey's college roommate (for 3 years! I guess they got along well) and the reason I met Casey in the first place. I was in a class with his roommate and he introduced me to Casey (twice, because I apparently didn't remember him from the first introduction). Anyway, we spent a day with them and their 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter, playing at the park, eating ice cream and swimming. It was a relaxing day and I had a wonderful time staying connected with good friends.
On the way home, we took our time, stopping at Chuck E. Cheese for lunch, playing at the rest stops and taking a short detour to visit Casey at work. Coulson was missing his daddy so much, it was pathetic in a sweet, loving sort of way. So we stopped in to see Casey and even got to watch the helicopter land to transfer a patient to another hospital.
Then we went home. Finally.