memorial weekend in nj and nyc take two

monday was memorial day. it was also a very very hot day in the land of new jersey. we got up and went to my cousin jaclyn's house (which is only a block away from my grandma's) to meet up with her family and go to the park. the walk to the park was pretty brutal and so was the playground (no shade). after about 15 minutes there, we were all ready to go. we decided to walk to the mall that is only a few blocks from there. sweet sweet air conditioning. we cooled off and then grabbed lunch at whole foods and walked back to jaclyn and albert's to eat and hang out.


my grandma was hosting a potluck bbq at her house in the afternoon, so we headed over there to join the rest of the family. we spent most of the time inside, but did get a little pool time in ;)

keeping cool!

two of my aunts and thatcher and azalea roasting on the porch

tuesday was the "drama" day of the trip (there always has to be one of those, right?). the plan was to go back to nyc on the train. the train station is a little over a mile from my grandma's and we decided to walk despite the fact that it was another steamy day and we had our luggage and azalea in the stroller. thatcher and i were both drenched in sweat by the time we got on the train. i started feeling better once we sat down in the air conditioning, but thatcher did not. he actually appeared to be getting worse. he kept laying his head back and sweat kept pouring down his face and he was telling me he felt like he was going to pass out. not what i wanted to hear when i had luggage and a toddler to take care of. we got to hoboken, nj where we were planning to transfer trains and he says he thinks he can get off the train, but that he wants to go inside the station and rest. a nice guy helped me get our bags off the train and we stepped on to the platform and thatcher immediately laid down on the ground. oooook then. i was getting worried and people are staring and he keeps telling me he's "fine", but he feels like he's going to pass out. 

a train station employee walks over to see what's going on because surely this is a strange sight. he asks if thatcher needs medical attention and thatcher keeps saying no. finally a cop comes over and the cop and i agree that we need to call for help. so the paramedics come (oh yes!) and talk to him a bit. he tried sitting up, but immediately laid back down again, so they tell him they are going to take him into the hospital to get evaluated and receive fluids. (remember this anyone? second ambulance ride in 6 months. poor guy). he felt terrible that he was "ruining" our last day in the city, but i just wanted him to get better. azalea and i rode in the ambulance too. she got to sit in an inflatable child seat. i had never seen such a thing! we ended up being in the er for 3 hours while they gave him fluids and monitored him. three hours of entertaining a toddler in the er is a challenge, let me tell you. but we survived. at least she slept for part of it.

good times

finally thatcher was feeling well enough to leave. (thank goodness!) they sent us on our way with instructions to drink lots of fluids and take it easy. we decided to take a cab for the last leg of our trip to the hotel. we arrived at the hilton around 3:00, which was check in time, so it was perfect. thatcher rested on the bed while azalea and i ventured out to find him some food and me a starbucks frappuccino. we came back and all took a nap for about an hour, which was much needed. by 6:00 he was feeling well enough to venture out (and luckily it was cooling down because rain was on the way). we met up with our friends jill, eric, and their daughter joy, who is 22 months at the high line. it's this awesome new park/walking path in manhattan that was converted from an old rail road track that is above street level. see? so cool!

we walked for a ways and then everyone was hungry, so we grabbed dinner at a chinese/vietnamese restaurant in chelsea. the little girls were so good in the restaurant. we parted ways after dinner and it was after 9pm, but thatcher had his heart set on visiting babycakes (another vegan bakery), so we dashed in the pouring rain to the subway. and then...we ate cupcakes...at 9:45pm...in new york city....with our 14 month old. parents of the year, right? :)


this is by far one of my favorite memories of this trip. it just exemplifies the care-free, go with the flow feel of our whole vacation. azalea didn't go to bed until 11pm that night and maybe it wasn't the most responsible parenting decision, but she was such a happy girl and i was so happy to be having this crazy, non-traditional family vacation with the 2 people i love most in the world. 

wednesday was leaving day. we headed to the airport on the subway and our flight was right on time. the security dude at jfk even let us go to the front of the security line. score! azalea humbled us once again with her crazy diva-ness on the plane, but we all survived. even the lady next to us who kept sighing and groaning. originally i thought she wanted to kill us for flying with a baby, but she ended up being very nice and i think she just disliked flying in general. that makes two of us! 

we don't have any trips planned for the future, but i hope we do soon. although it's going to be tough to top this one! i <3 nyc!

Comments

Unknown said…
Oh gosh, I am so glad your husband was okay! Nothing like a vacation to make something crazy happen (at least, I feel like that is how our trips go.)

How great that you have family in that part of the country! I love visiting NYC. The memories of eating cupcakes late at night--those will last forever!
Meagan said…
Love the cupacke pic! She looks just like you in that picture! I can't believe she slept in the er and that you had to go!

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