Trip to New York

 Jake and I were so happy to have visitors! Especially these crazy people.  Jake's parents arrived Saturday night and the fun began right away.  We were excited to be able to tell them in person that we are having a baby Hopkinson. We kept them up late, and woke them up early Sunday morning to begin our grand adventure.

We planned to spend the day driving up to Niagara Falls. We were making good headway, so I suggested that we stop to check out the next interesting place we see so we could get our "wiggles" out and experience a taste of Virginia.  We sure lucked out.  A few minutes later we happened to drive by a fish hatchery in the middle of nowhere with a nice little BBQ shack near by. 

 Jake and Dad were pretty excited about this. 











Mmmm BBQ out here is yummy.











We reached Niagara that evening, ready to eat.  Picky, pregnant, grumpy lady had to eat before anyone could have fun.  Yes, I am being a little subtle here.. For those of you who don't know already, Jake and I are almost 14 weeks preggers! But that's another story.  However, it applies a little because you can guess I really haven't been feeling well, but I was very blessed to at least feel well enough to enjoy the trip!  I don't know how fun it was for the others.....   Anyway, here is Jake and me waiting to eat before we go to the falls.

It was such a beautiful night! The lights on the falls were amazing (although, they would have been more amazing to see from the Canada side... in fact, everything looked so much more exciting over there.  We didn't have passports and didn't feel up to trying to make a swim for it.)

The next day was one packed full of fun. 

We rode the Maid of the Mist to get a close up view of the falls. Horseshoe falls are so so incredible. For some reason I didn't put a picture of them and it takes too much work to put one in now... but just know, they are incredible. Pictures do this place no justice. They don't do me much justice either..

It was kind of a chilly day.  It was supposed to storm most of our trip, but we ended up having nearly perfect weather.  Another answer to our prayers.

We only got a little wet on the fairy ride, but that was just the beginning.

We got to go to the little aquarium to watch the seal show and other such things you might do at an aquarium. This little guy was cute. He wanted to rest, but it was too cold to get out.

Here is where we got really wet. "The Cave of Winds." The cave has been eroded away, but it is still a fun way to get right up in the waterfall! Here is where we got really wet. They even gave us little sandals to wear and plastic bags to put our shoes in. Pretty sweet.

Mom had to take her sandals off because they didn't have her size and they were uncomfortable, but the rest of us were pretty excited about our new kicks.  

You may notice I am in a wheelchair.

The day's events were beginning to really wear on me. I didn't want to keep the rest of them from having fun, but Jake wouldn't leave me by myself (of course). So he decided to wheel me around.  This was a little awkward because I almost felt like I had to pretend I didn't have leg use...  I decided that wouldn't work when I saw a couple from the Cave of Winds that had just seen me jumping and splashing in the waterfall..

Jake had to wheel me down a hill to see horseshoe falls. That was scary.  The best part was when he had to wheel me back up.   ba hahaaaa

 Jake and his Dad spreadin' the love

 What a fun-filled and exhausting day!

Next stop:  Palmyra!

Hill Cumorah 

The Smith's cabin (where Joseph Smith grew up).

View of the Palmyra Temple from the Smith Farm

The best part, of course was walking through the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith saw the First Vision. 

Jake folded his own few pages of the Book of Mormon at its first publication site.   Look at that perfect crease.

The last stop in this area was the Peter Whitmer farm where the church was organized.

Now to NYC!  On our way we drove through Ithaca.  I had to get a picture for my family- years ago we discovered the existence of Ithaca College. Say it out loud and you will understand why it was so funny to us.

We arrived in NYC Wednesday evening and decided to explore a little.  On our way to Times Square we ate some yummy pizza.  It was a lot of walking and a pretty crazy experience driving! Fun to visit, but how do people live in that place? 

Sadly, because I was a weak pregnant person, we weren't able to see everything while we were there, but we definitely had a blast!  At least, they all told me they had a good time..

One of the most memorable experiences was walking down the street and seeing where the David Letterman Late Show is filmed... No that's not the exciting part.  We walked in to sign up to be in the drawing to be in the audience for one of the shows.  Well, they were doubtful we would be able to go in even if we were drawn because Mom and I didn't have our IDs.  We entered, but pretty much gave up on that activity because, yes, maybe they could let Mom in without an ID because they could tell she was over 18 (not that she looks old or anything..) but me...  I am lucky if people think I look 16 (I usually get 14).  Well once again I ruined the trip for everyone.

Well about an hour later we received a phone call that we had somehow been drawn and allowed to get in even though we didn't have IDs.  We were pretty excited. Especially Dad.  

Below is a pic of us waiting in line to get in.  

Pretty sure we will be on TV sometime this week.  Jake and I don't have TV so we probably wont see it. Look for us in the audience in the episode with Gloria from Modern Family...

 

The last activity and the icing on the cake was going to see Wicked.  Luckily I have a bad memory, because Jake and I saw it a couple of years ago, but it was pretty much like going for my first time.  It was fun to share this incredible experience with Mom and Dad Childers.  If you haven't seen it, you should.  My favorite.

As I said previously, I went the whole trip without throwing up or getting too sick to do anything. literally an hour after we got home I started getting sick again... coincidence? I think not. Jake worked so hard to make this trip full of fun and excitement, and I am grateful I (or should I say Baby Hopkinson) didn't completely ruin it :)

 I know this post is long, but I wanted to write down a few more things for my own memory's sake. This trip was all laughs.  From miniature continental breakfasts, to hotel vending machine spitting out soda across the hall, drying our waterfall-soaked socks and shoes with a hair dryer and heaters, waking up early to record proof that Dad snores, walking into Hotel Carter in Times Square where we canceled reservations (because of the reviews) to see what we "missed out" on (pretty sure this hotel was the inspiration for the Tower of Terror at California Adventure),  and many other small moments of our trip kept us laughing all the way.  On the road we kept ourselves busy by doing crossword puzzles, chatting, rocking out to music and trying to see how many different license plates (States/Provinces) we could find (I think we ended up finding 43). 

Thanks Mom and Dad Childers for sharing this grand adventure with us.  We had so much fun and miss you already.


As far as the pregnancy goes, I will fill you in with another post another day. We will see if I can get Jake to post the video of his parents' reaction to the news.