A Wedding and a Trip to NYC

Yesterday, we got back from New York.  We went to Long Island for my cousin Bridget’s wedding and then took a short trip into the city with the kids for some sightseeing.  As always, Ryan is a great traveler.  I hope that I gave him enough praise because he truly went with the flow and really handled everything well.

We arrived Friday in the early evening.  We met up with most of my family at the hotel where we ordered dinner in and hung out in Room 404, dubbed The Party Room.  It was a standard hotel room, but it had probably 15-20 people in it at one given time.  Ryan primarily hung out by the door with his iPad and ribbons, but plenty of people came up to talk to him throughout the night.

The next day was the wedding.  A few weeks ago, Ryan and I went out shopping for a suit because he told me he needed a new one (and truth be told, he has grown so much that his last one did not fit.)  Ryan picked the entire thing out, including the Converse.  He wanted to try and do dress shoes but the second he got one foot in one, he took it right off and spelled:  NEED TO DO CONVERSE.

 

The wedding was wonderful.  The Catholic Mass was great (Grandma Chris even was one of the readers!) and Ryan sat through the whole thing, barely making a noise.  Ryan has been joining us at church more frequently and seems to enjoy it.  He was complimented by several people about his behavior during the ceremony.

The venue of the reception was gorgeous.  It was right on the water and it was very large, providing plenty of room to walk around inside (it was a bit chilly outside, but very pleasant for this time of year in NY).  You could tell that Ryan was having a great time.  It is still hard for him to control his body to dance purposefully, but we all helped him along. It was a great night.

This was from the wedding photo booth.  Ryan always enjoys photo booths (although outwardly it would be hard to tell!)

THE WEDDING WAS AMAZING.  WE DANCED SO MUCH AND IT WENT BY TOO QUICKLY.  MY FAVORITE PART WAS DANCING WITH MY RELATIVES.  REALLY LOVE WEDDINGS TOO MUCH.

The next day, we got up and hung out a bit with family and drove our rental car back to LaGuardia airport and took an Uber into the city and to our hotel.  Our room wasn’t ready when we got there, so we decided to explore on foot and check out the city (it was about 60 degrees on Sunday!)

We walked through Wall Street and saw the Bull and the NYSE.  While we were there he spelled:  CARING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT STOCKS.  Of course I am now working on a lesson about stocks for tomorrow!

We then went to Battery Park and we were able to see the Statue of Liberty from a distance.

BATTERY PARK WAS NOT MUCH TO LOOK AT BUT IT WAS COOL TO SEE THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.

We met my childhood friend Kristie in Battery Park.  We have known each other for at least 35 years and my sisters Susan and Sarah and I have stayed in touch with her through the years.  She lives and works in the city, so we planned to meet up.  Ryan was thrilled to interview her.  Kristie came to dinner with us that night too and we met up at Ben’s Deli with most of my siblings and my mom who spent the evening in the city.  I think that we had too much fun and too much to talk about because I didn’t get any pictures with her!

TOO LOVING KRISTIE.  SHE IS AMAZING.  I WAS IMPRESSED THAT YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN FRIENDS FOR SO LONG.

The next morning, we had an appointment at the Top of the Rock at 10am.  My Aunt Suzi was able to make the arrangements for us as VIPs and it did not disappoint!

TOP OF THE ROCK WAS REALLY COOL.  MOSTLY LIKED ALL OF THE VIEWS.

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From Top of the Rock, we walked over to St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  We sat in one of the pews and said a prayer and lit a candle for Grandpa Bob.

REALLY BECOMING A RELIGIOUS PERSON LATELY.  GIVING TOO MUCH CREDIT TO GOD FOR MY LIFE.  CARING TO TRY TO MAKE MY COMMUNION.  Grace is making her First Communion this year and I had previously asked Ryan if he wanted to try and do it and he said that he was NOT SURE at that time.

 

We grabbed lunch at Bill’s Burgers and then headed over to Central Park.

CENTRAL PARK IS HUGE.  THE SETTING IS TOO AMAZING AND NOW I CAN PICTURE GREGOR THERE. Ryan is referring to the Gregor the Overlander book series that is one of his favorite series ever.  Gregor used grates in Central Park to go to the Underland and return from it after initially “falling into the Underland” via a hole behind a washing machine in his family’s apartment building after his baby sister had fallen in.

 

Our next stop was to walk to Trump Tower.

TRUMP TOWER WAS LIKE TOO COOL.  THE ESCALATORS ARE WORLD FAMOUS ACCORDING TO DAD.  IT WAS DEARLY MEANINGFUL TO RIDE THEM.  PLEASING TO GET A SHIRT.  KIND OF TOO WANTING TO MEET PRESIDENT TRUMP.  TOO CARING TO SAY, POLITICS ASIDE, HAPPY TO VISIT HISTORY.  DESPITE PETTY DIFFERENCES, SHOULD NOT JUDGE ME.

 

My youngest sister Samantha is a Manager of the Observation Deck for One World Trade Center.  She was working on Monday, but she was able to slip away to give us a private tour.  Let me tell you, I was extremely proud of her.  She has so much responsibility and she handles it with extreme professionalism and grace.  As her sister, it was very cool to see her do what she does best.

UNDERSTAND, WORLD TRADE CENTER WAS MY FAVORITE STOP BECAUSE I GOT TO SEE AUNT SAM IN ACTION AND I GOT TO INTERVIEW ROB.

We checked out the Oculus and the 9/11 World Trade Center Fountains and then walked back to our hotel.  By this point, I knew that Grace was sick.  She was a trooper, but by the time we got back she was done for the day and was running a pretty high fever.  I didn’t think that it would be a good idea for Ryan to stay in the hotel room for 5 hours, so we ventured out.  Grace stayed back with Dad while Ryan and I brought her back a book and some Chipotle.

TOO LOVING DATES WITH MOM.  BARNES AND NOBLE WAS HARD TO FIND BUT WE MADE IT.  (We found the location but I could not figure out where the entrance was to get to the second level at first.)  A WAY FOR ME TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE IS WALKING.

I asked Ryan if he had any more thoughts about the trip and his reply was:  I LOVED MY TRIP TO NY.  BECAUSE I LOVE MY FAMILY SO MUCH IT IS HARD AFTER AN AWESOME WEEKEND TO COME HOME.  TAKING MORE TRIPS WOULD BE A WONDERFUL THING.