Melders Hit NYC, Part 2

Night 2 of the sleeping arrangements went way better than the first night.  The boys were exhausted from our big day (as were we!).  We benefited from that much better, longer rest and were ready for our last day in NYC.  Our plans were a lot more chill as well.  After the boys were up, they had a small breakfast and we all pitched in to pack up and clean up the apartment.  Koen was especially helpful and way more himself after the good rest.  A little after 9am, we headed out on foot to meet some dear friends for breakfast near where we were staying.  Eric was Doug's roommate in college, best man and remains a dear friend, Emily, his wife, has been our friend since she and Eric started dating over a decade ago.  It was so fun to get together with E & Em and catch up and let our kids hang out together.  I grabbed a few pictures at breakfast.  This first one is actually from Em.  Five kids (and one on the way) between the two families.  Crazy!!

The kids did great at breakfast.  The food and the new friends were great distractions for them.  Tav and Rita are only two months apart in age.  They were so cute together!

Another shot of our families enjoying this meal together.  Such a blessing to get to fellowship together for a little while.  Thankfully the kids were fantastic and we adults got a nice bit of chatting accomplished!

After breakfast we walked over to the Scholastic store to let the boys explore and play and we adults enjoyed some more time to squeeze in a few more conversations here and there.  You can see Doug & Eric catching up behind the dinosuar, while our kids hung out on the other side.

Tav & Rita playing a bit together.

Frankie and Penn having some fun too.

It was such a great morning and amazing how it all worked out that the kids cooperated with the plan and we adults were able to enjoy so much time catching up.  Of course we could've used a few more hours, but we all took what we could get!  Around 12:30pm it was time to pack up the kids, go back to the apartment, pack up the car and head out of town.  It was a good ride back home.  I mean, there was some traffic, some loud kids every once in awhile, etc., but it went as smoothly as it should've and we were home at 7:45pm.  Kids were in bed at 8:15pm.  I was asleep shortly thereafter.  Seemed surreal we had just been in NYC!  It was a great Thanksgiving getaway.  Thanks to Nana, PopPop, our apartment hosts, the Big Apple and Eric & Em for the fun times and memories.  We all had a great time!