first day of school + a wedding weekend in nj and nyc
last monday was labor day. aside from azalea going to the renaissance festival with her friend sylvia, we didn't really have any plans. i went to the gym, the kids got their backpacks ready for school, i ran some errands and walked winnie. thatcher did some projects around the house. we got thai take-out for dinner for the last night of summer break.
tuesday was the first day of school. azalea didn't need to be to her school until 12:30, so she got to sleep in. ashford had to get up at 7am like normal and leave the house a little before 8am. i got his picture as he headed out the door. 7th grade, here we go!
new hairdo :)
azalea left a few hours later and i got her picture too
10th grade = ever evolving creative fashion
thatcher went into the office, so the house was strangely quiet. i did my bookkeeping work and walked winnie. when we got home, i was going to watch the first episode of the new season of 'call the midwife'. i puppy-proofed the living room (or so i thought). winnie had only been in there for 10 seconds when she found a tiny nerf ball. she had it in her mouth and during the process of me trying to trade her for a treat....she swallowed it! eep! i called the vet right away and they said i should bring her in to induce vomiting. i was so frustrated because i had gotten down on my hands and knees to make sure all those balls were picked up. the visit to the vet was quick - and successful! but this is not the first time we've had to do that and probably not the last either. siiiigh. the kids got home in the late afternoon, and we heard about their days (thatcher was home by then too). sounds like the usual adjustments of being back in a school environment, but i'm sure things will smooth out with time.
wednesday was day 2. they both had their first regular day with their full schedules. i spent a lot of the day packing, cleaning, and running errands for our trip. as soon as the kids got home from school, we headed to durant and cheryl's to say goodbye to anders, nith, moss, and kaia. i had been dreading this day for a while, but of course it still came. we held kaia one last time and wished them safe travels to bulgaria. who knows, maybe we will be able to visit them there in the next 3 years. ashford had zoom piano in the evening. we tried to get to bed early in anticipation of our early flight thursday morning.
thursday we left the house at 4am to pick up my mom to go to the airport. our travel to newark went smoothly and we arrived there at 9:30am.
we just needed to stay awake all day. ha! we had a few hours before the festivities began, so the five of us drove (in our rental car) to montclair and had lunch and walked around. it was a really cute town.
our next stop was my cousin ryan and his wife maria's house. my brother had already been staying with them for two nights. we got to meet their cute little boys ellis and tiago and see their beautiful house renovation.
then we all headed to my aunt lea and uncle raymond's house for the 'welcome party' for the wedding weekend. there we got to meet my cousin pam's fiancée kyle for the first time and see family we hadn't seen in many years. lea had tons of food and drinks per usual, and it was all so good!
we went back to the hotel and crashed for the night.
friday morning we were up bright and early to head to new york city for the day (along with brandon). we took the ferry from weehawken, which gives such a beautiful view coming into the city. we ended up being there for 10 hours and walking 20k steps. we covered a lot of areas on foot and also took the subway a couple of times. getting to show the kids such a monumental place was so much fun. there was some whining about sore legs, but we told them it was well worth it.
we started off walking through hudson yards then walked a couple blocks of the high line. we meant to do more of it later but ran out of time.
we stopped to get coffee from 'black fox' and it was so good!
the extended sidewalks were nice for making areas less crowded.
thatcher stopped for a gf/df treat at posh.
we made our way to times square, which was (not surprisingly) packed.
we walked through a little section of central park and saw the plaza hotel (home alone 2 is a favorite at our house).
we split up for lunch. thatcher took azalea to get pasta, and brandon, ashford, and i opted for new york style pizza. yum!
then we took the subway to brooklyn to go to the new york transit museum.
the museum was so cool. it was full of old subway cars dating back to the early 1900s. and pictures and stories dating back to when the subway was built.
next we went over to the lower east side so azalea could check out a 'vintage' secondhand store. did you know 'vintage' means 2000s now? haha! the only employee working was going on her break when we arrived, so we went to get some ice cream nearby. it was expensive, but delicious.
the walls of the store looked like my high school bedroom walls :)
thatcher and ashford waiting outside.
after this we had all pretty much reached our limit for the day. we made our way to the train that would take us to hoboken, then got on another train back to our car. whew! by the time we dropped off brandon, it was 9pm and we were hungry again, so we stopped at a chick fil a on the way back to the hotel.
saturday was the wedding day! we got to sleep in, thankfully. thatcher and i got coffee near the hotel and we ate the continental breakfast (we did that every morning). then it was time to get ready! this was the first time we all had something to dress up for in a long time. and the kids have gotten older and are more into primping now, so it was a little tricky with one bathroom. but we made it out the door on time. the ceremony was held at a catholic church in parsippany, which was about a half hour away. i snagged a picture with my family before we went in.
2026 holiday card picture? ;)
it was a full-hour catholic mass wedding ceremony. definitely a new experience for my kids. they did well. pam and kyle looked so lovely and you could just feel their excitement about the big day.
everyone greeted the newlyweds outside the church after.
and i got more family pictures. they all came out so nice and i'm so happy to have them.
there was a little bit of time before the reception started, so we went and found food for thatcher in case there wasn't much he could eat there due to his dietary restrictions.
the reception started at 4pm at an event hall just 10 minutes away. from 4:00-5:30 was the cocktail hour with the hugest appetizer spread i had ever seen. then we moved into the main room for dinner, dessert, and dancing. this wedding had the most dancing before dinner i had ever encountered. ha!
my cousins kelly, jaclyn, and me. it was so fun to celebrate with them.
i loved the memorial table, but somehow managed to cut off my dad's picture - oops.
after hours of dancing, they opened up a dessert ROOM with various stations where everyone stuffed themselves with cake and every other kind of sweet you can imagine. my kids thought they were in a dream.
last pic of the night - azalea and grandma jan. lighting was bad, but it's cute!
sunday morning was kind of a letdown after all the buildup and excitement of the wedding, but alas back to regular life we went. my mom and brother flew back with the kids and me and thatcher took a separate flight to toronto for a work conference. we were excited to see winnie when we got home. thatcher's parents graciously watched her again and we are so thankful. they kept us updated with lots of cute pictures like this one:
we woke up to 54 degrees and rain this morning. what a difference a few days makes. it really feels like fall now. though i'm sure we'll still have some warm days sprinkled in. the kids went back to school for the "real start". that's how it feels at least. all of our spring/summer travel has finished now and i can't hardly believe it. what an epic last few months we've had.
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