I Love NY!

Last weekend, while Robert held down the fort, I flew out to NY,
staying with my sister-in-law and her family, who live in Connecticut (we're so excited they moved closer).
Fall is my favorite time of year and this is why -

everything GLOWS yellow and orange and red!

It was chilly and really windy. I loved it. It smelled like fall.
Perfect days to play outside - here is my nephew on the swing in their front yard.I got to watch my nephews play in their sports game - one flag football and one soccer.

Then they were nice enough to all pile in the car and drive me around my old stomping grounds.
I lived in 5 different houses in the same town. Everyone in my family refers to them by street name and all stories told are referenced by which house we were living in at the time.
This in the one on Elm Rd - our first house there.

This is the one on Cushman - and my favorite. Who wouldn't love a house like this?! (ok, we did have a ton of chores) There was sardines in the attic, exploring, a big yard to play in, a full basement to play games in and watch movies (we had a film projector and screen and would borrow movies - yes the ones on reels - from the library and make popcorn and watch them in the basement).
There was no central air, but there was a wine room that was cooled, in the basement - we kept our buckets of wheat there - and we'd go in there during the summer to cool off when it got really hot. We drove by two other houses (one behind the other) but didn't get to the other side of town where the fifth one was.
We had lunch at the deli in the village. I got a bagel! I was in heaven. It's been a long time.
Yes, little things like a real bagel make me happy.
I took the train into the city in the afternoon and had time to go to the temple before heading to my High School reunion (there was a reason for taking a trip out to NY by myself).
I loved being in the temple.

In the middle of the noise and bustle is a place of peace and quiet.

I got to catch up with one of my best friends from high school. It was so great seeing him again, it had been over 10 years.

My reunion was a blast. I hadn't seen them for 20 years! I hadn't been back to NY for 18 years!
I love seeing how people are doing now and what they're up to.
My cheeks were sore from smiling and laughing so much.
The whole weekend was fabulous. I love that my sister-in-law and her family lives close to where I grew up and we can go visit - as often as we can.

While I was gone, Robert shuffled the kids around to soccer and all state chorus auditions (soccer for Natalie, auditions for Alyssa - and the boys got to tag along). The boys took over while they had a majority and got to out vote the girls the whole weekend. That doesn't happen very often.

We are all looking forward to going to NY/Conn for Christmas. Have I mentioned how excited we are to have family close?! and near NY!