New York, New York!

Lily and Ennio had never before been to New York, but this city had always been high on their bucket list. It was Lily's wish to visit her pen pal Dillon, who lives in Manhattan, and Ennio wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. I contacted Dillon's family back in February and their summer schedule was pretty much booked already, but they let us know they'd be in town July 16-18. I looked for flights and hotels and found an amazing deal on Expedia. So, on Saturday, July 14, we Uber-ed our way to LAX and took a JetBlue direct flight to New York for 4 days! We took off at 10:05 AM and arrived at JFK at 6:45 PM. It was easy to grab a yellow cab to our hotel, The Parker in New York, on 119 W 56th Street, right by Central Park! Perfect location, awesome swimming pool on the top 22nd floor, and a spacious suite, but I did miss a mini-bar and a coffee maker in the room! For the price, I think that is something you'd expect in such a high-end hotel. Anyway, there are enough places in New York to grab breakfast, but I missed my sweet Lily making and serving me coffee while I was still waking up in bed (like she did in NZ 😊).

We had a great time exploring New York! Since time was so limited, we only did a few of the sights. Also, on Tuesday, we were surprised by a severe rain and thunder storm while we were out in Central Park, so we had to immediately give up our plans and head back to the hotel. We got soaked to the bone in a matter of minutes and the kids were scared of the lightning. Not a very pleasant experience but we got to our hotel safely, which is all that matters!

So, what did we do?

Saturday, July 14: The kids always LOVE to discover everything there is to find in the hotel, so that's what we did at night. We enjoyed the view from the swimming pool and had a burger at burger joint, then were ready for bed!

Sunday, July 15: Having breakfast and watching the World Cup Final France-Croatia. Taking the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island!

Monday, July 16: Meeting Dillon in TriBeCa (Westville), walking along the Hudson River, visiting Chelsea Market, strolling along The High Line. In the afternoon, Lily and I went back to the hotel to take a nap (it was hot!) and Marcus and Ennio went to see the Empire State Building. At night, we had dinner at Belgian restaurant BXL Zoute.

Tuesday, July 17: Sleeping in! Visiting MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art. Breakfast at Joe & the Juice. Marcus and Ennio went to Victorian Gardens in Central Park. Lily didn't feel well (probably the heat) so we rested in the room. We met up with Marcus and Ennio around 2 PM and were planning on visiting the American Museum of Natural History and the Rose Center for Earth and Space, but the weather didn't let us! We will have to come back another time! At night, we had drinks and dinner with the Rapp family at Benihana's. Fun times!

Wednesday, July 18: It was a gorgeous day on our last day! Since our plane only left at 3:40 PM in the afternoon, we tried to get the most out of our morning in New York. We had a quick but healthy breakfast at Fresh&Co and then walked over to Central Park. We were so excited to be able to go on a 45-minute horse carriage ride through the park and see most of the sites. Lily and Ennio loved Beethoven, our horse, and it was just a very lovely experience! A fabulous way to end our stay! We checked out from the hotel at 12PM, took a yellow cab to the airport and it was back to L.A.! Ennio cried because he didn't want to go back! He loves New York so much, he says he wants to live there! The travel bug has bitten our kiddos hard!!!

Pictures to follow!

Arriving in New York!

Arriving at our hotel and going for a swim on the rooftop!

On our way to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island!

Meeting up with Dillon!!!

Empire State Building experience for Ennio!

Enjoying Belgian Food at BXL Zoute!

Ennio knows the map of New York by hard by now!

Visiting the Museum of Modern Art

Horse carriage ride through Central Park!

Lily in front of the Friends fountain!

Goodbye New York! Hope to be back soon!

Summer camps

Ennio is taking the school bus every morning at 7 AM!

Summer is in full swing here and it's hard to believe we're in our seventh week of summer break. Gasp!!! Three more weeks to go and then school starts again! Time is just flying by! This year, Ennio and Lily have their own camp schedules for the most part because they have different needs and interests, so it is hard to put them in the same camps... even though that would make things a lot easier, but that's just how it is...
Here's a list of the summer camps and activities we have enrolled them in this year:

• WEEK 1 (June 11-15): Family travel to NZ
• WEEK 2 (June 18-22): Family travel to NZ
• WEEK 3 (June 25-29): Family travel to NZ + Ennio started Extended School Year services (summer school) on June 28 (the program runs at Toland Way Elementary School through July 24).
• WEEK 4 (July 2-6): Lily: Glassell Park Summer Camp + Field Trip to Mother's Beach/Long Beach
• WEEK 5 (July 9-13): Lily: Santa Cecilia Orchestra Summer Arts Camp
• WEEK 6 (July 16-20): Family trip to New York City! Lily stayed home on July 19-20, and Ennio went to school.
• WEEK 7 (July 23-27): Lily: Castle Carlin Summer Camp at Carlin G. Smith Rec Center + Field Trip to Knott's Soak City. Ennio will join Lily at the camp as of July 24.
• WEEK 8 (July 30 - August 3): Kizuna Japanese Camp for both kids
• WEEK 9 (August 6-10): Lily: Girl Scouts Camp in Altadena. Ennio: YMCA Summer Camp
• August 14: First day of school!

Oscar in New Zealand mode!

 I sent my godchild Oscar a T-shirt and magnet from New Zealand. Looks like he likes it!

New Zealand Day 15: Back to Auckland!

Wednesday, June 27 - DAY 15

Our last day in New Zealand and what a glorious day it was! One to remember! The sun really makes a difference! The past few days were great as well, but you do miss stuff when it rains. For instance, we didn't get to see the big "carrot" in Ohakune, and we didn't stop by the big "kiwi" in Otorohanga, because of the rain... Oh well... today made up for it!

We checked out of our hotel (very, very friendly service again), but left our luggage there and had breakfast in the supermarket next door ("Farro Fresh Food", the local Whole Foods, so to speak). Then we walked along Manukau Road, visited a music store, and then entered Cornwall Park, where we would spend the rest of the day. 

What a beautiful park! We hiked all the way up One Tree Hill and loved seeing sheep everywhere around us! In the park! I later read this is the "living farm" of Cornwall Park. The views from the Obelisque were again marvelous! This country really is something! We walked to the kids playground near the Stardome Planetarium, let Lily and Ennio play for a while (they loved the zipline), then walked back and had a late lunch at the Cornwall Park Bistro. Then back to the hotel where we picked up our suitcases and ordered an Uber to get to the airport. What a great holiday we had! 

We got to the airport around 6:30 PM and still had plenty of time to have dinner, do some last-minute shopping and then get onboard (at 9:50 PM) to fly back to Los Angeles. 

I loved our trip: my favorite days were the day on Waiheke Island, the boat ride on Lake Rotomahana in Waimangu Volcanic Valley, the jet boat ride to Huka Falls, our day in the snow and our last day in Cornwall Park - all the sunny days, ha! Now, I need to find time to make my amazing NZ album(s)! We definitely want to come back. We saw a lot, but we want to see more! The Northland & Bay of Islands, the Coromandel Peninsula, the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast. And last but not least: the entire South Island!!! We will meet again 😘

New Zealand Day 14: Meeting Kiwis in the Kiwi House!

Tuesday, June 26 - DAY 14

Unfortunately, more rain today! Well, I guess that is why New Zealand is so beautifully green! We had another delicious breakfast at the farm (no ostrich egg today 😉) and then took off to the Kiwi House in Otorohanga. We saw the feeding of the kiwis and some other typical NZ birds, such as the kea and kaka (native parrots) at 10:30 and 11:00 AM. I was so happy we'd seen kiwis in their natural habitat! They are active at night, so the time is switched around. They keep them in the dark during the day, and light up their surroundings at night. So, they're actually on European time! 

After our tour (in the pouring rain!), we went to the town's main street and visited the Ed Hillary Kiwiana Walkway. Otorohanga is known as the official "Kiwiana Town" of New Zealand and hotspot for all things "kiwi". Here, New Zealanders celebrate their national identity with Kiwiana displays of NZ icons, heroes and traditions. 

Then we had some coffee (mainly to get shelter from the rain!) and decided to have lunch at Huhu Café in Waitomo. Marcus drove a longer way, but it was more picturesque. I started to realize our vacation was soon coming to an end and tried to take it all in as much as possible! We had our quick lunch and then headed back. I thought check-out time was at 3 PM, but it was actually at 12 PM, so we had to hurry to get our suitcases out! It'd been a misunderstanding but Ann was really nice about it. She didn't charge us for it, she's very laidback and just a really lovely lady. I would totally recommend this place to anyone, especially if you have kids! We called our taxis and got to the train station. The train left around 3:45 PM and we got to Auckland Strand at 6:50 PM. We hauled 2 taxis to our motel, the Knights Inn, located in the middle, between CBD and the airport. Our last night in New Zealand!

New Zealand Day 13: Waitomo Caves and Big Bird Petting Farm!

Monday, June 25 - DAY 13

CLOUDS, CLOUDS, CLOUDS & RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!

The weather didn't look good for today, but no worries! We have our raincoats so we're good to go! First, we had breakfast at Ann's. She talked about her animals (big birds and miniature pets), her family, New Zealand, etc. A very warm woman! The kids loved her cats (I asked how many she had and she couldn't (or didn't dare to) give an answer. That many! She made a cooked breakfast for us and I had an ostrich egg for the first time in my life! Yummy! Apparently, one egg can feed 18 people (I just had a little piece!). 

I had tickets to see the world-famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves at 11:00 AM. We got ready and left the farm around 10:15, stopped at the iSite to get the tickets, and were right on time at the caves! The tour was great. I especially like the stalagmites and stalactites of the caves, very impressive! Then we got on a little boat and floated on the dark, black river with the glowworms above and around us... Nice, but less magical than what I had seen before on postcards or videos. Also, I kept on having to watch Ennio and make sure his hands an arms were inside the boat! But anyway, it was definitely worth the visit! We did a little hike afterwards and then decided to return to our farm. 

When we got there, the sun broke through the clouds and it was the perfect timing to go out on the farm and feed the animals. Ann agreed and it was absolutely fantastic! We were literally with the animals: ostriches, horses, cows, pigs, goats, you name it! The kids loved it! Ennio wanted to be with the "bulls", he wanted to touch the "horns" and was generally very excited to play with Betsy, the dog. Lily is such an animal lover. She had a great time, and still talks about this experience. It was her favorite part of our entire holiday. 

We took lots of photos, and when we were done around 4 PM, I wanted to lie down a bit, but Marcus still took off with Ennio to go see the country side. Good for him! We had the car after all and it is so pretty here in New Zealand. The views are spectacular (I'm repeating myself, I know). He drove all the way to the Marokopa Falls. I wish I had seen them too, but I was just too tired. Lily stayed with me and relaxed too. I hope I remember it correctly, but I think that when Marcus and Ennio got back, we just stayed in, had leftover food which we had bought at the supermarket the night before and then went to bed.