Hunter and I were lucky enough to go to Rochester at the beginning of May to visit Brad, MaryAnne and the kids and of course Michael. I decided I needed to see what Rochester was all about since both of my older brothers went to medical school there. I wanted to go before Brad graduated and moved to San Francisco and before Michael left to Poland to teach a course. I thought it would be fun for Hunter to visit his only cousins as well. (and.... let's be honest, I also wanted to meet Mike's new girlfriend too ;)) Lots of reasons to go and I just couldn't pass it up! I love traveling and I was ready for a change of scenery. Logan in the winter is super lame and Hunter and I were getting some serious cabin fever. We NEEDED a vacation. My mom's friend, Cristy Goldsberry, works for Jet Blue and is an absolute saint! She always saves our family buddy passes. We got to go for only $80! How awesome is that? I was a little nervous about taking Hunter by myself on a plane, but he was a champ! He did so well. Praise that little boy. We missed the plane on the first night. Kind of a bummer it only flies out at 12:00 at night, but I'll take it. The next day Hunter and I were exhausted. Luckily we got on the second night despite horrible odds. We arrived at JFK the next day at 6:00 a.m., had a 3 hour lay over and then caught an hour flight to Rochester. Mike picked us up at the airpot around 11:00 that afternoon. It was a long day and I still can't believe how well Hunter did!
One of the days we went to a children's museum called the National Museum of Play. It was a really cool place, and we didn't even see most of it! It is a great place for the kids to play and explore. They have tons of interactive, engaging toys, games, and activities.
Annie, Hunter, and James playing in the dump truck pit. Annie was great to help Hunter to keep the rock chips out of his mouth.
Hunter enjoyed crawling around the baby play station
MaryAnne and I got served lunch by Annie and James at the famous Wegmans grocery store
They even had a play gluten free section. I was quite impressed.
James and Annie got to pick five items in the store to buy. They even got a real receipt. It was pretty neat. Basically, I wish I had a place like this as a child.
Mike was an excellent host and took me around Rochester. We (of course) had to go to Wegman's first! Wegman's is a grocery store that was started in Rochester and it it pretty much a celiac's version of disneyland. They had sooooooo many healthy options. The produce section was unreal. They have all different types of cheeses from all over. They seriously have around 300 different types. No exaggeration. I even found dairy free cheese that was reasonable and not made from soy or some other weird concoction. I fell in love.
You're probably thinking why I took this picture... I just could not get over the multiple gluten free isles! It was crazy! I was in heaven.
After Wegmans Mike and I toured the George Eastman home. George Eastman started Kodak. It was really fun to learn more about him and his house. Mike gave me the "exclusives" about Eastman and
his house that were not provided by the tour. Here is Mike posing with our friend George.
The next day we did a church history tour. It had been about 10 years since I had been to the sites so it was good to go back. We did the quick and dirty tour. I'm pretty sure it could go down as the fastest Palmyra site trip ever. We went to the sacred grove and I definitely have a different idea of what the spring of 1820 really looked like. . . .
Grandkids in the Sacred Grove.
Joseph Smith's cabin and first house.
Cute little Annie
After the sacred grove we drove to Hill Cumorah. I've never realized how far away that really was. That was quite the walk for Joesph.
On the last day, we went to Niagara Falls. This time I wanted to go to the Canadian side since I'd heard it had a better view.
It was interesting to walk across the boarder to Canada with no questions asked to come back through the dreaded customs of the U.S. Canada will take about anyone.
The crew: one adult per kid made it quite nice.
It was FREEZING! I did not dress for the weather. I scored big worst mom points by not brining a coat for Hunter. Luckily Annie was a sweetheart and letter Hunter wear her coat.
Siblings
It was so cold that we couldn't do the maid of the mist. A lot of the falls was still frozen!
We sure enjoyed our nice little trip to NY. Hunter adores his cousin Kate (exactly three weeks apart). His face literally lit up every time she was in the room. It was the cutest ever. He loved having a little friend.
Hunter's new partner in crime.
Baby Kate
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