Autumn Leaves Falling Down Like Pieces Into Place

Our first overnight in New York, more visitors, and the saga of the mouse continues

This past week was insanely busy. We started our Monday with a holiday. NYC celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day and Italian-American Heritage Day. I knew that Indigenous Peoples Day has now come to replace Columbus Day, but I had never heard of Italian-American Heritage Day until moving here. Colton worked from home and then we realized BOTH our children had their well checks that day. So each child went (4 hours apart) to see the pediatrician and get a new flu and covid shot. It was a very lazy day after having just said goodbye to Sage and Janie and the busy weekend we had with them. 

Before you know it, we had guests coming in on Tuesday. I was able to wash the sheets and get them ready for Patti and Karmon. Side note, Colton (who is my proof reader) asked if this was a necessary tidbit, but I feel it is when you know we have to go to the building’s basement, hope there is a machine open, and pay to wash sheets. Patti was S’s EIS (early intervention specialist) and had worked with our family back in Atlanta since S was about 5 months old. She was also the one that noticed how visual S was and encouraged us to use sign and to visit the Toddler Program at Atlanta Area School for The Deaf. Karmon was S’s Deaf Mentor and came over for weekly lessons to help Colton and I learn more sign. It was also Karmon’s first time in NYC, so I had to show her all the landmarks and iconic locations. 

Thanks to Patti and Karmon and our church, we had two dates nights. We were able to check out a very well known and highly rated restaurant called ABC Kitchen. It was fantastic. The whole stuffed artichoke was our favorite for sure. Our church also hosted a parent’s date night out on Friday, so we dropped the kids off at the church and walked over to a local bar and check it out. It was pretty good, even though it was very loud. The cocktails there were amazing!

This weekend we also had our first night away from the city in the Hudson Valley, and it was hectic, beautiful, and precious. 

My Five Senses 

Sights- True Fall Colors. I feel you can not live in the “Northeast” and not go see the fall colors. When I booked the trip a few weeks ago, I did not even consult the peak fall foliage map that you can find on CBS News. I just knew that we were going to go to Sleepy Hollow and I wanted to go apple picking/to a pumpkin patch and it was our only free weekend. And wow, the colors were out of this world. I have never seen so many shades of yellow, red, and orange. I get why people plan “once in a lifetime” trips up north to see the fall colors.

Sounds- Back Seat Fighting. To get to our adventures up in Hudson Valley, we rented a car from Turo. And what an ordeal that was. Colton biked down to Two Bridges to pick up the car and even though I paid extra and requested a car seat, they forgot to install one. So the guy dropping off the car drives Colton to a Target in Union Square to buy one. When Colton called to tell me this, I was like “Oh no, Colton is for sure getting murdered.” Thank God we have location sharing so I could see if there were any weird movements. Well, turns out this guy wasn’t a murdered, just forgetful. If you remember my previous posts about Targets in NYC, you know they are TINY. So it did not come as a surprise to me when the Target did not have a car seat. He drove the car to our block and then told Colton that someone will be there to install the forgotten car seat in the next thirty minutes. Long story short, we were getting on the road about two hours later than we wanted. When we were finally on the road we realized, even though we missed having a car here, we had not missed the backseat fighting between the boys. T was annoying S. S was trying to escape his carseat. They were fighting over toys or iPads or whatever else a 5 and 3 year old could fight about. It was a little stressful for sure and also a good reminder that while we might not have a car in the city, it is rare that your kid is the loudest on the bus or subway. 

Smells- Farm Animals. On Sunday we took the boys to a farm to have some fall fun. I picked a farm a bit further from the Metro North stop thinking there would be less city people and crowds. And I was correct. We went to Hurds Family Farm and the boys had a blast. We played, jumped on the big in ground pillow, fed farm animals, slid down huge slides, ate too many apple cider donuts, and picked out tiny pumpkins and a bag of Empire apples. We had the best time on the farm. 

Tastes-Apples. This week I have had the best apple flavored items. It started on Tuesday when I met my former CIT (counselor in training) from my Camp Pinewood days. Alexis was in town to see some shows, so we met up to grab some lunch in the LES (Lower East Side). We ended up at Russ and Daughters and shared some latkes and had matzo ball soup. We had a great time catching up on our former campers and personal lives, and of course any juicy Pinewood gossip. We both are dessert girlies and decided to try the apple cake. My gosh. One of the best desserts I have had. It was an apple cake with honey flavored ice cream in honor of Rosh Hashanah. We both loved it. It was so great to see Alexis after many years. Next time she is here for a show, I want to go with her, since we are both fellow Broadway lovers. We also had great apples when we went to Hurds Family Farm in for the form of apple cider, hot apple cider donuts, and fresh Empire apples right from the tree. 

Feelings/Emotions-Exhaustion. In the six day when Sage and Janie and Patti and Karmon were here, I walked almost 37 miles. I am tired y’all. My body is tired. I am actually in need of sleep after sharing a bed with the boys or sleeping on the couch. I am so thankful our friends came to visit, but I am excited to get two weeks back in my own bed. And to also not have to walk that far if I do not want to. I am so excited when I have guests and so look forward to it, but I also look forward to routine and being a slug on the couch. 

5 Things I learned this week 

1. Sleepy Hollow is overrated. One of my favorite Disney movies when I was little was the VHS of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I loved the story and I loved that before the movie started, there was a “music video” of "Grim Grinning Ghost” shot in front of the Haunted Mansion ride. Even as an adult, I had been to the Sleepy Hollow plays at Serenbe and LOVED them. Well, when I had my chance to go, I was not going to miss it. Sleepy Hollow is about an hour away from the city. It is a cute, historic town…with not a lot to do. We saw the book store, we walked around for a bit, and everything else felt like we could not do it with kids, like the evenings in the cemetery or a reenactment of the story.. I am glad I saw it, but it was kind of overrated. If you have ever been to Sleepy Hollow, tell me what I missed and maybe it can redeem itself. 

2. Beacon, NY is a picture perfect town. Once we realized Sleepy Hollow was kinda lame, we headed to our hotel in Fishkill. I felt like I had planned for us to spend HOURS in Sleepy Hollow and I had to think on my feet about what to do next to entertain the boys and to make the most of our night away from the City. We decided to head over to Beacon, and it was the cutest town ever. It was straight from like Gilmore Girls or a Hallmark movie. They had amazing shops, the cutest restaurants, and there was a waterfall in the downtown area, very Greenville, SC. We enjoyed walking around, I bought a new cardigan, and we had some s’mores via the Hudson Valley Marshmallow Company that had a “build your own s’mores” bar. We ended the evening had some delicious wood fired pizzas and getting back to our hotel room and all falling asleep by 8:20pm. 

3. Firefighters can reroute a metro bus line. On Thursdays, T has a sports class at Chelsea Piers, which is on the opposite side of town. We take the bus and it takes about 15-20 minutes. While on the bus I got a Citizen app notification that there was a fire under one of the four piers that make up Chelsea Piers. I was hoping that class would be canceled, because I was exhausted, but it was not. Also the bus was PACKED. We stood through 10 stops at the front of the bus. The bus driver loved S who kept mimicking his honk. We made it to T’s class a few minutes late because the bus had to stop further back because the pier was full of firefighters and their trucks. The so-called fire never seemed like much. No smoke or anything. But boy did they call in a lot of firetrucks. They were still working on this fire when it was time to head home, but the bus was nowhere to be found. We decided to walk up a couple of blocks and hoped once we got out of that chaos we would grab a bus. But no bus to be found. I even checked the MTA app and it could not find a bus. Turns out the buses were being rerouted to avoid the “fire.” After waiting about twenty minutes the bus arrived and we headed home, cold and frustrated and hangry. 

4. The mouse had a friend. We started our Saturday with Colton coming into our room and saying “we got him.” I knew the “him” he was talking about. Our little mouse friend was caught. I walked with more pep in my step that day. I had more joy. And then we came home Sunday and saw that our first mouse clearly had a friend or a lover. The reminders of our new resident were on the window sill and for the second time, on my pillow, not Colton’s. This is starting to feel personal. We patched a small spot near the old ethernet cable that might be the mouse’s highway to enter our room. We also bought more traps. No signs of the mouse a few days after patching that hole, but I am vigilant. 

5. It is hard to walk and sign at the same time. While Karmon and Patti were in town I got tons of time to practice my ASL, since that is Karmon’s form of communication. But I have never walked and signed at the same time, and it is like an Olympic sport. I had to stop a lot and sign and then walk. I guess I have taken for granted the ability to walk and talk and be ahead or behind someone. It was a great learning experience and great practice. I found myself signing to everyone for the next day after they left. 

Things I am Loving 

Apple Cider Donuts. I don’t remember specifically if I have ever had apple cider donuts, but I bet I have had them in the past. The weekend we got hot fresh ones and they were melt-in-your-mouth delicious. It was our lunch on the drive Sunday. 

American history/honor. On our way back to the city on Sunday we stopped by and went on a tour of West Point. And man, was it a beautiful campus! What an honor to go to that school. It made me feel patriotic only in a way the Olympics make me feel. One of my brightest former students is a new West Point graduated. I told Colton I would completely support if our children wanted to join the Army via West Point. 

This week is our first week without visitors in a bit. We are going to enjoy the weather and do some fun fall activities around the city.