Or rather, Papa and Grandmere’s house. The “other nine” had adventures galore while we were in New York.
They even managed a visit with the cousins!
These two girls are so close and I love it! They are so much fun to watch together!
Liam has said that this was his absolutely favorite sightseeing experience. It was pretty impressive. I wish we had had more time at Ellis Island exploring the history was so interesting. We’re pretty certain both of our families came over before the Civil War and probably even before the Revolutionary War. So, we didn’t know a lot about Ellis Island.
We visited the 9/11 Memorial and the 9/11 Tribute Museum. We weren’t sure what the Tribute Museum held because it was a walk away from the 9/11 Memorial Museum and Memorial. It turns out it is the museum put together by first responders, survivors and families of the victims of 9/11. I have no words to describe that experience nor the guts to even take pictures at the museum. It was really an opportunity for us to see the larger and personal impact of the 9/11 attacks. Not only that but it gave Liam an opportunity to really grasp the brevity of the attacks. He couldn’t even speak after we walked through the exhibit. It was a tough but necessary visit for us to honor the families who have suffered and remember the victims who lost their lives.
The Oculus is a mall/Subway stop across from the 9/11 Memorial and next to One World Trade Center.
Out of the ashes…One World Trade Center. Please, never forget!
Our first stop was the Empire State Building. Liam decided he wanted to see this because Ace went to the St. Louis Arch and he wanted to try and get higher than him. Brothers and their competitiveness!
Pretty amazing view but a little costly.
After church on Sunday, we headed out to the USS Intrepid. It’s an aircraft carrier turned museum. It also housed the Enterprise shuttle that was used for test flights. We only had a short time here and Liam told me later he wished we had a longer time, but we all still enjoyed it.
All of us were quite impressed with the to scale lego model of the Intrepid. The ice on the river was quite impressive too! No. Us Southerners have never seen that before.
Up next, the Statue of Liberty and our visit to the 9/11 Memorial.
Liam turned 13 in December last year and ya’ll know what that means in our family…time for a 13th birthday trip. Liam chose New York to begin with then flipped to San Francisco when we thought Mark had a work trip out there but when that was canceled he swapped back to New York. I was excited to get to go with him since I had to miss out on Ace’s trip (we had two swimmers that had district competition that planned weekend). So, ya’ll get ready for a few posts about this special trip with Liam.
First stop was Lombardi’s. We didn’t go to the very first Lombardi’s restaurant but it was a chain of it. Obviously it was yummy and didn’t disappoint. However, later, we tried out the cheap pizza ($2 for two slices and a soda) and it was just as good.
While we’re talking about food, these onion rings were almost as big as my head! Juniors Cheesecake was so yummy. Let me give ya’ll some advice though, order an entree to share with one or two other people so you have plenty of room for cheesecake!
So, I have zero guilt that we totally devoured these milkshake creations. That day we had eaten light and climbed the stairs of the Statue of Liberty from the base to the crown. TO THE CROWN. 708 steep small stairs total! We walked everywhere too. There was not a day we were there that we didn’t walk over 12, 000 steps. So, these Black Tap milkshakes were our big reward. If you go to New York, Black Tap is a MUST!
We passed Radio City Music Hall.
Rockefeller Center. We watched the ice skaters and stopped in at the Lego Store and Nintendo Stores.
This reminds me, please make sure that when you Uber or Lyft that you verify your driver…especially after the tragedy in South Carolina recently.
Mark, of course, can’t go anywhere without doing a Geek Tour (for instance, we had to go by where the first HP was built when we were at Stanford…and the Android statues). Our New York stop included a walk by the B & H store which is consisted of a full block in New York City!
We decided to start out the new year by going camping. Yeah, it was fun BUUUUUTTTT…it was not an ideal camp.
Point one: We drove our Crimson Cruiser pulling the camper through monsoon rain. Once we got to the site, in Florida, we were setting up. I stepped in the camper and noticed the ceiling was coming down.
Touched it. Wet.
Walked to one of the beds. Looked up. Wall paper was bubbling.
My heart sunk.
Tobin had croup (but thankfully didn’t need steroids). Emmie began running a fever on Saturday.
By Sunday, with three kids actively running a fever and my dread at the wet spots on our camper, we made the call to head home early. We used our extra day to extensively clean the camper and start tearing it apart inside as well as sealing it.
Needless to say, our camper is about to get a giant remodel instead of just the paint and fabric upgrade I intended.
Now, on to the fun pictures.
Aunt Yaya and Uncle Jay gave us a projector and projector sheet. Ya’ll, a new tradition was started and it was a blast!
Sick baby Tobin got nestled up all warm and hammed it up.
Mark took Georgia’s hands-free law literally and shed a few months off of Zoe’s life.
We didn’t get to have a big family Thanksgiving dinner this year and life in December is always crazy. So, the kids all decided we should do it for New Year’s Day. We broke out our “thankful” tablecloth and wrote down what we were thankful for. It wasn’t such a bad way to start the new year.
That evening, the much anticipated Nerf War went down.
We found these great inflatable barriers for this year’s war.
They couldn’t hide everyone though!
The week after we returned to California, we eased back in to our normal routine. That afforded us the opportunity to head to the zoo. It was just what we needed too! The weather was perfect and Mark was able to meet us there late in the afternoon.
Zoe had to make a Voltron V and then a silly face. Teenagers!
This MRI was really uneventful it was basically just to check and make sure she was peachy keen to head back home. We praise God that she got a good report and afterwards, we headed towards the airport and we were back home by Thanksgiving evening!
Emmie in her goofy state after anesthesia.
Next up for Moyamoya, we wait about six more months and return back to California for an MRI and angiogram adn to meet with her doctor. That MRI will tell us whether the surgery was a success.
She sees her neurologist at the beginning of January and will see her ophthalmologist and orthopedic doctor in the near future as well. And on and on it goes with our super hero.
Emmie had a joyful heart until we got to the back and distraction got hard. She was the bravest four year old I have ever met. They did a great job of getting her through quickly.
Once she went back for surgery, Mark and I had to wait. Her last surgery took over eight hours and we had several people to distract us. This time, it was just us…which, I supposed, meant we got into a lot of mischief.
Reading comments on silly posts had Mark and I both in tears. That picture is Mark crying in laughter. At that point, Emmie was done with surgery and we were waiting to see her in the PICU waiting room. I suppose it was a lot of nervous laughter being released. The other picture is Mark’s impersonation of the kids at a touch screen.
Nothing at all beats holding this sweet girls hand and seeing her snuggle with her daddy.
After we got in good snuggles, I headed back to RMH and met our friends to get Tobin. The next day, Mark and I swapped up. Emmie had such a hard time the day after surgery. But soon after I got there, they started taking IVs out (she had four total) and she started to perk up. I got to see more of my Emmie when we looked at pictures of her friends and our family on Instagram and then “shopped” for clothes on Zulily. And, I got to hold her.
Holding my babies in my arms is the best thing ever.
Mark got some Tobin snuggles in too.
Child Life came in with a bunch of fun things which brought our Emmie girl into some big smiles!
Out of Emmie’s window was a little garden. I peeked out one time and saw a hummingbird. If you look closely, it’s hanging out to the left of the plant.
By the second morning, I was able to braid her matted hair and play princesses. And then she got to leave the hospital! She was so glad to be out!
The resilience and joy in Emmie’s heart is overwhelming. She is so strong and has such a sweet smile despite all she has been through. God has taught me a lot through her but more than anything, when I look at her, I can always see God’s hand of protection and guidance.
On our free day, we headed down to Monterey. We were blessed to have friends who had just happened to move there this past summer. Not only that but when they knew Tobin was coming, they were willing to watch him on surgery day. Then when we realized we had to be at the hospital at the crack of dawn, they offered to watch him overnight! I think they enjoyed their time with a baby in the house again. But boy, i sure did miss him.
We spent our day sightseeing and playing and visiting. It was a great birthday indeed.
We drove out to Big Sur. It was a very harrowing drive for me (big bridges and driving on the edge of a cliff were quite terrifying for me). The view was astounding though!
On the way down from Big Sur, we stopped at a beach and stuck our feet in the Pacific Ocean. It was ice cold but Emmie couldn’t get enough of the water! Tobin enjoyed it too.
We drove over to Dennis the Menace Playground. It was huge and the kids played and played! After that, we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf. I was thrilled that we saw several sea lions and even a couple of otters out in the bay! Such a fun treat. I could have watched them all day.
We left Tobin that evening after he nursed and then headed back to Stanford. It was time for us to focus on surgery day.
