I'm in a NY state of mind...our trip

Yeah, yeah, this is long overdue.  I predicted that when we got back, teaching the last week of class and co-instructing a camp, all while trying to prep for starting histology next week would be bad.  And it has been.  But today is the last day of class, there's no camp, and I actually just posted a week's worth of ppts, so I feel pretty good.  Or I'm deluded into thinking I might have this under control.  Either way.  The point is, by the time I've gotten home and gotten everything done that needs to be done, I am absolutely, 100% brain dead.  So I'm blogging now while watching people take finals - no pics in this post, but they will come later.

So, our trip to NY was good.  And a lot of work.  But good.  The new nephew is beyond adorable, and very sweet.  I think in a year, he and Ian will be buds.  Ian was really good with him - he kind of petted him like we do with the dogs.  But that's ok.  I was only allowed to hold Michael while Ian was not around.  The first time I held him, Ian was pretty good - he just kept inching closer and closer on the couch and just about crawled onto my lap.  So I put Michael down.  The second time, I was trying to give Katie a break and let her eat dinner and I took Michael and we walked into the kitchen, out of Ian's sight.  Yeah, right.  He gave me 2 seconds, then started yelling "MAMA" from his high chair.  Apparently I was cheating on him and that was NOT ok.  For the most part, Dave and I have determined that there is no part of traveling with a 15-month-old that is easy.  It is not vacation.  The sun rises about an hour there before it does in Kansas, so guess who was up at 5:30am every morning?  Guess who didn't take a nap for 2 straight days because the pack'n'play wasn't his crib, it was too light in the room, atmospheric conditions were off, there were solar flares - you get the picture.  Guess who is one cranky little boy when he doesn't nap?  Katie and Sean also have these cool things called "stairs" in their house - wood stairs, steep stairs.  Going up was fine, going down required assistance.  Also, they have 2 dogs that are way curious about Ian.  Ian is used to being ignored by our dogs, so this was a new opportunity for him to quasi-torture play.  Which usually evolved into Ian getting excited and screeching like a banshee, the dogs barking, and chaos in general.

So, what did we do?  A lot of nice visiting, and a lot of great eating.  We discovered some cool places.  We took Ian to his first (and our first) indoor playground.  Best $14 we've EVER spent.  We didn't have to worry about the fact that he doesn't walk everywhere yet.  No dirt.  Very few kids there.  And it wore him out - awesome.  We got some great videos and pics that I'll post later.  We also discovered, conveniently around the corner, Rockland Bakery, a denison of evil.  It's like Disney for the carb-addicted.  There's a deli room.  Then you walk back and there's the dessert room.  And then you walk into the bread room.  Did I mention these are ROOMS?  Not shelves?  We went twice.  Amazing.  If I lived up there, I would weigh 400lbs and eat nothing but bread.  Lilly would have to ramp up its insulin production to keep up with me.

A definite highlight was a lunch Monday put on by one of my grad school friends, Anna.  Paul, a former roommate and his wife Bridget, another grad school friend, and all our kids were there.  So. Much. Fun.  I can't thank everyone enough for coming.  I hadn't seen these guys in 11 years, but it was like no time had passed.  We had a great time catching up.

Another highlight was our trip to Kycuit, the Rockefeller's country estate, in Tarrytown, NY.  The house is amazing.  The grounds are amazing.  I mean, come on, it's the Rockefellers - we didn't exactly tour a trailer in the woods.  I kinda wish I was a Rockefeller.  The house was built in the early 1900's and was given to the National Trust in the 1970's by Nelson Rockefeller, a 4-time governor of NY.  Apparently, giving your share of a legacy to the US government is not cool, at least if you're the other shareholders.  He willed it to the NT a year before he died and the family spent that year trying to talk him out of it.  It took them 15 years after his death to allow visitors.  To get there, you actually park somewhere else and take a shuttle.  The house is at the top of a hill that looks out over the Hudson River.  The grounds include 4000 acres and a country club that is only for the family and their guests.  And when I say country club, I mean something they called the "playhouse" that was built for the kids.  Very similar to what many of you probably have in your 4000 acre back yard - 2 indoor pools, 2 outdoor pools, tennis courts, a bowling alley.  You know, just the basics.  We plan to build Ian one next year.  Anyway, now the house and gardens (that cost about $1 million to keep up) are part of the NT and the family can't use them for private functions any more.  The clubhouse and golf course (what? you don't have one in your back yard either?) are leased back to the current Rockefellers, a lot of who have their own mansions on the property.  Hence the shuttle - there is still family living on the property, so you're not allowed to just wander and drive wherever you want.

Now, this tour is not recommended for children under 5.  It is 2 and a half hours long.  Recommendations, schmecommendations.  We took Ian.  Who promptly wanted to get down and play in the big house. Our tour guide politely suggested (we totally got the evil eye when we got on the bus) that perhaps Ian would enjoy the gardens.  So Dave took the first shift and was escorted and watched in the Rockefeller garden (one of them, there were a few).  I looked at half the house, found out that Rock Sr was a devout Baptist, and there was no drinking, dancing, or entertaining there.  No ballroom, which was unusual at the time.  I went out to relieve Dave and watched Ian play in one of the fountains.  It amused him.  I wasn't entirely certain though that we were supposed to touch anything, so every time someone came close I scooped up Ian and totally pretended that I wasn't letting my child play in a historic fountain that was a precise replica of something you'd see in France.  No, not us.  The ladies assigned to guard us were actually extremely nice, though, and gave me a lot of info about the place.  I think they felt bad that I missed most of the house tour.  We walked through the art gallery in the basement (and I do mean gallery) and joined Dave in some of the lower gardens.  We got to see the coach barn, which was AMAZING.  I'm a little bit of a historical romance novel reader and a car junkie, so seeing their carriages that were what I'd always read about and some pretty amazing cars was very cool.  Since this part was a little more self-guided and we could keep walking, Ian was a little more interested.  And tired.  At one point, the tour guide asked if we'd slipped him a tranquilizer.  Lady, we would've done that before the tour started if it was an option.  Anyway, very cool tour, I have great pics of the gardens (can't take pics of the house) and I'd love to go back - when Ian's 20.

Well, this has been a long post.  I will sign off for now, but stay tuned for pics and video, and a recap of the trip home.