Lil' Miss and I flew up north to visit with family the week of the 4th of July. It was a whirlwind trip as always, but so good for the soul.
We chose a morning flight (not super early!) on JetBlue so we could fly out of the beautiful Terminal C at MCO, and arrived in White Plains, NY just before noon where we picked up our rental car to drive into Connecticut to meet family for lunch.
I went as cheap as possible when I reserved the rental car, and we had the "manager's special" which meant that the car would be chosen for us when we arrived. I was told by the agent at the check-in counter that we could have anything from a truck to a 15 passenger van which made me SO nervous as we walked out to find our car. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when we saw this cute little car. I didn't need a gas guzzler, and only needed something reliable with air conditioning to get us around for the week. This little car was perfect.
We had lunch with family before heading back to my brother's house for the cousins to play, and have a cookout that evening. Sitting out on the deck catching up with family over home cooked food was just what we all needed. And the girls even got their bedtime story read to them by Nana.
The next morning we headed over to Lake Compounce for the day to ride rollercoasters and enjoy the water park. My brother is a passholder and had guest passes for us and free refills on fountain drinks all day which made it a free day for us. Woot woot!
On Wednesday, we met up with my high school best friend and her daughter for lunch. Lil' Miss had never had New Haven pizza before, so we went to Frank Pepe Pizzeria and of course also had Foxon Park soda paired with it. She gave everything an immediate two thumbs up and now gets the hype!
After lunch, we treated ourselves to something sweet at Libby's Italian Pastry Shop which is also in New Haven's Little Italy section. Afterwards, we surprised my dad at work with a quick visit before meeting up with my college best friend at Gouveia Vineyards for some wine (juice for Lil' Miss) and snacks with beautiful views of the summer sunset.
Lil' Miss and I enjoyed breakfast at a local coffee shop before heading over to my sis-in-law's for the day. Swimming, cookout, ice cream, and sparklers were on deck!
We headed back over on the morning of the 4th of July for more cousin time, and stopped for more coffee which is always a must when in town.
That evening, we had some more fire pit time before heading to the fireworks with the family. Since we have a firefighter in the family, we had a cool experience of being able to pull up and set up in our very own "VIP" section. The girls felt important, and were ready with their light up necklaces and of course snacks.
One last family photo after brunch before Lil' Miss and I headed back to the airport to fly home. She was sobbing as she said goodbye, and had to be incentivized with candy in-between photos. She started sobbing again on the plane, but was fine once she got back into routine at home with camp and gymnastics practice. And of course being reunited with Da-Da and her puppy was the perfect medicine.
It had been almost 2 years since we visited family in Connecticut (quick backstory - we both grew up in CT, but moved to Florida in 2010). With all the recent health scares for both of my parents (catch up here), we felt it was important to visit and squeeze in quality time with both sides of our family which meant lots of cousin time for Lil' Miss.
We were supposed to land in White Plains, NY around 8:00 on Wednesday evening but ended up landing in Hartford after multiple delays then circling the NYC area for a while and diverting due to weather. Landing at either airport is ok due to the proximity to family in CT. However, we had a rental car booked in White Plains, and it was 2:30 am so the rental car places in Hartford were closed. Thankfully, my in-laws were still awake waiting to hear that we had landed and my father in-law was able to pick us up. In the middle of the night. In a storm. By the time we got settled in at their house and showered it was after 5:00 am and the sun was rising.
We took what I call a nap before H had to log on to his computer for work, and I let Lil' Miss sleep in. Once she was up, and had breakfast my parents picked us up to go to lunch and go to the orchard for raspberry picking. Remember - no rental car? H had to have his father drive him to White Plains (this is after picking us up in the middle of the night), and they got stuck in a ton of traffic. I always complain about Florida traffic, but I always forget how awful traffic in Connecticut and New York is. Yikes. Thankfully, it was all up hill from there.
Lil' Miss was SO excited to be reunited with her cousin and they were adorable and giggly at the orchard looking for the "pretty" berries.
Then it was time to meet up with H's sister and our brother in-law and nephew for dinner. Our best man and maid of honor from our wedding 14 years ago joined us, and it was a mini-wedding party reunion over our favorite wings and wraps at Archie Moore's.
I spent Friday over at my parents house with my brother helping them clean and organize their stuff so they can finally join us and move to Florida. They've been talking about it for years, but between lots of health set backs and other various reasons it just hasn't happened yet. I mostly worked on the kitchen while my brother worked on their various files, items to shred, and fixed things around the house. There's still so much more to do, but that will be for another trip when they're feeling better and won't be as overwhelmed.
I headed over to my sister in-law's which is right up the hill from where I grew up. Lil' Miss had been there most of the day playing in the pool and running around the yard with her cousin. We grilled dinner and had s'mores by the fire. The perfect summer evening.
On Saturday morning, we got ready to head to Lake Compounce for the day with my brother and our niece. I may live down the road from Universal, Disney World, and Sea World - but I grew up going to Lake Compounce in the summer. Lots of fun memories over the years. It's the oldest amusement park in the country, and Boulder Dash was the fastest wooden roller coaster on the planet until recently, but still ranks high. Lil' Miss declared it her favorite ride!
I scored the front row on Boulder Dash, and my niece requested to sit with me, and Lil' Miss sat with my brother while H rocked it in the 3rd row. I forgot how intense this coaster was since I'm so used to the coasters at Universal. It takes you up the mountain through the woods before the first drop, and the rest of the ride is really fast and it shakes you in a way that the steel coasters don't.
As we continued our tour of Connecticut, we met up with my high school bestie and her fam for dinner at a new to us Mexican restaurant which was of course YUM. I always look forward to catching up, and it's always as if no time has passed.
On Sunday, we went to brunch at 66 Church before heading back to my sister in-law's for more swimming and cousin time. Have I mentioned lately how much I love the summer time?
On Monday, we checked out a local coffee shop while H worked remotely before heading to lunch with my family. Lil' Miss had slept over at her cousin's house, and we were excited to see her.
That evening, we went to dinner with one of H's best friends from high school. He has also moved south, but happened to be in town visiting family as well so we took advantage of all being back in CT to catch up over dinner.
On Tuesday morning, I brought my mom to the hospital for her monthly infusion while H worked from his parent's house. Unfortunately, my mom needed to be admitted after the infusion due to another infection that isn't clearing on it's own. Thankfully, it's not related to her heart but it's still hard to watch her suffer and have so many setbacks. I'm glad I was able to spend that time with her, but hope she can recover from home in the coming days.
I raced back to finish packing, and get some work done for a client before we headed to lunch with beautiful views of the golf course with H's family.
Lil's Miss and my nephew with their grandparents at lunch. This trip reminded me how much I loved CT in the summer time. The winters (and the high cost of living) is what caused us to move to Florida, but I do still have a big soft spot for the summers. Definitely making this an annual trip!
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