Happy US of A! A Very Long and Very (very) Action Packed Weekend

We have had a whirlwind first week and change in the U.S., already crammed to the brim with activities and family gatherings. Quite simply, I am exhausted!  But in a good way.

The first couple days for the kids were mostly spent quietly at home getting used to the time zone change (waking up at 5 am every day until now we have slowly inched into the 6:30-7am wake up zone).  

I commuted into the office the first three days of July.  It was good to be back and not for the first time did I reflect on how truly grateful I am for this challenging, interesting and prestigious job that gives me so much autonomy, satisfaction, and flexibility.

Then it was time for a nice long weekend celebrating the fourth of July.  We made an epic and highly successful trip to the city to see the Empire State Building, getting in via Long Island Rail Road and an easy walk east.  We followed that up with a walk north through Bryant Park, with an impromptu al fresco lunch at Bryant Park Grill, followed by a frolic on the lawn and ice cream from an ice cream truck. Thereafter, we continued our walk east, saw the Chrysler Building, toured Grand Central Station, and the kids and grandparents and Rachel headed home. 

I then continued my day with some work in the office, followed by a quick dinner with my sister in the theater district before we caught one of the last shows of the latest critically acclaimed reproduction of the Stephen Sondheim musical,  "Merrily We Roll Along."  July 4 was an absolutely fantastic pool party and barbecue with all the cousins and their kids at my uncle's house in Syosset. 

Then on Friday it was a very productive and fun trip to the library where we borrowed 12 books, then had lunch and swam at a friend's house.  

Lola has also been taking some private ballet lessons in Great Neck while here.  This is her dancing to the Waltz of the Flowers.

Believe it or not, that was only what we did prior to our first weekend!

On Saturday, we got on the bus from Great Neck to Flushing, then took the 7 subway train from Flushing to Hudson Yards. It took an hour and 40 minutes but we did the whole thing, and rode both lines from start to finish, all for $2.90 per adult and $1.75 per senior citizen (kids were free). Along the bus route, the kids got to see where Nassau County crossed over into Queens, the post office, the police station, the library where I frequented as a child, my first home in Bayside, my first elementary school at P.S. 31, where my uncle used to live, as well as all kinds of city traffic and life.  Along the 7 train, the kids made some friends, got to see the train aboveground and underground, and got to see the crossing from Queens into Manhattan.  We got out at Hudson Yards and looked at the Vessel from the outside, checked out the Tour de France on the big screen, and saw Hudson Yards itself with all its trains. We then did the reverse route one stop to Carmine's, where we enjoed a large Italian family style feast of an insalata mista, seafood pasta with lobster and mussels and shrimp, and chicken parmesan.

After lunch, Lola and I had a super special mother daughter bonding experience where we caught the matinee show for Wicked.

Tears sprang to my eyes during Defying Gravity - gosh, I was worried I would be jaded after having seen it twice before but nope.  My sister, mom and dad and Rachel took the boys to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Lola and I caught a super touristy bicycle ride from Times Square to Penn Station, which was very fun with upbeat music. I loved getting to experience the streets of Manhattan open air like that.  At one point the cyclist did a few turns in the empty street.  When we got home, a fresh plate of cool sweet watermelon never looked so good. 

Then finally, on Sunday, it was another full day of action packed activities with the cousins.  First we went to my cousin David's apartment in Flushing for the kids to play, followed by a hot pot feast at Hai di Lao, which was surprisingly kid friendly and unsurprisingly DEE-lish-ous.  

Then we went across the street to play with claw machines, where auntie Eugenia with her laser focus and expertise got every kid multiple toys. I even got two, which means that the machinese were stacked to be pretty toy/kid friendly.

Finally, we ended the long weekend over a raucous dinner in Great Neck with a visit from my sister and cousin Victor and his two boys. 

Last summer and this summer, upon landing in New York and settling into my parents' house on Long Island, I immediately found myself super wistful about not living close to my nuclear and extended family and was just head over heels in love with the U.S. - politics, guns, violence, humidity and mosquitoes notwithstanding.  I chalked it up to my first trip back to the U.S. post-Covid, my first time back as a mom of 3, my first return home after the most recent years had given me a rude awakening, stressed me out a lot, and worn me down a bit.  I even went with an agent to look at some houses in Great Neck and Manhasset (!) which  - what would my 16 or 20 or 28 year old self say to that!  

I returned to Hong Kong and the feeling passed.  But I feel it again this summer. I have so much family here!  I had kind of forgotten what that felt like. To see people who know you, who have known you, your whole life; who have a flip book of all the leaves of your history and see you as a composite of all your yesteryears.  This feeling is especially acute as my cousins are all starting to have their own children and they are all similarly aged.  And then we all stand by and chuckle and observe how similarly our kids carry threads of our own personalities through their precious little bodies and heads.  What a trip.