Here I am: Girls Trip 2019

Emily, Katey, and I haven't all been together since before Theo and Emily's twins were born! Even though we "talk" (via Marco Polo) almost daily, it was time for a real reunion! Ever since Katey moved to Delaware we wanted to do the trip out there so we could see her new stomping grounds. AND then she told us she was pregnant! SO, of course, we would be going out to the East to see her!

I asked my parents to watch Theo (Josh would be home at night to help) and they agreed to come to Illinois to babysit. Since we had just moved (Have I not talked about that yet? More on that later then.) and I had a bunch of boxes in their basement, we decided they would get a UHaul, drive our boxes to us, and stay at our place while I went on my Girls Trip. Yay! Everything is coming together!

Sunday, September 15th:

My parents drove a quarter-full (turns out we didn't have that much stuff in their basement), 10 ft moving truck from Maineville to Minooka.

[Moving truck all packed up]

Once they got here we quickly unloaded the truck and I started going through the boxes. I had a lot of nicknacks, books, and photo albums in those boxes, so it was fun to see all my old stuff and take a walk down memory lane.

[Photo album from when Katey, Emily, and I went backpacking through France and Italy back in 2009]

That night Josh and I went to Momotaro for dinner. I messed up and thought our reservations were at 7:00 (when they were really at 8:15). Arriving over an hour early for our reservation actually worked out great! We ended up spending that extra time at Izakaya, Momotaro's lower level bar. We got a delicious ahi tuna appetizer and then we split some beef ramen. Both appetizers were amazing which made me have very high expectations for Momotaro.

After we finished our appetizers we headed upstairs to the Momotaro dining area. The space was so fun! You could see into the kitchen and in the middle was a large sushi station.

We got the Chahan Rice (stone bowl beef fried rice, wild mistake, and soft-poached egg), kohitzuji (lamb bone-in chop), Chef's Seasonal Sashimi Selection (hamachi, madai, ahi tuna, octopus, and salmon), and the A5 Ebu Uni Maguro (charred A5 Miyazaki beef, botanical ebi, uni, bigeye tuna maki).

The rice and lamb chop were very delicious, but the sashimi and sushi roll were not the best. Turns out I'm not a fan of octopus or urchin. Who knew? For dessert we got a doughnut stuffed with dark chocolate and a bowl of matcha ice cream.

Monday, September 16th:

Since Theo is a complicated kid and has a busy schedule, I made sure that my parents would be fully equip to take care of him while I was gone. I printed off Theo's daily schedules, stocked the kitchen with his food and medical items, and plotted out where Theo's therapy appointments were before my parents came.

[Theo's cabinet with all of his food, medications, and syringes]

[More food]

[Daily schedules]

On Monday morning, my parents, Theo, and I hopped in my Traverse and drove to Ottawa where Theo attends Toddler School twice a week. I introduced Theo's therapist, Kelly, to my parents so she would know who would be taking him and picking him up from school while I was gone.

While Theo was at school, my parents and I went grocery shopping and to get doughnuts (the local bakery is closed on Monday's so we had to go to Dunkin' instead).

After Toddler School we headed back to our place in Minooka where my dad got to work fixing our garden. I have NO IDEA how to take care of a lawn or garden (and Josh hasn't had a lot of time since we moved), so I'm glad my dad was there to give us his advice.

Tuesday, September 17th:

The next morning Theo's PT, Cody, came to our place for therapy. Theo had a major breakdown towards the end of the session. He's been tugging on his ear a lot lately (we know there's water behind the eardrum, which is why he's getting tubes in next month), so I think it was really bothering him. Poor guy.

In all honesty, I wasn't worried about leaving Theo with my parents. I know he is in good hands. I was more worried about my parents. I was afraid they would realize how hard Theo can be and not want to babysit again. So, I was a little nervous leaving, BUT I was so excited to see my girls!

That night Josh drove me to the airport, so I could catch my quick flight to Philly!

[VERY empty flight!]

I arrived at the Philadelphia airport and grabbed an Uber to the Renaissance Marriott in Downtown Philly.

After checking in I decided to go on a walk to Sonny's to get a cheesesteak! It was a gorgeous night and even though it was 9:30 PM there were tons of people on the street (I think Hamilton had just gotten out).

Katey was driving in from Delaware the next day (arriving around noon), so I went to bed with a fully belly and without setting an alarm. It was going to be a great night!

Wednesday, September 18th:

[My corner room]

[What a view of Independence Hall! No zoom needed!]

I slept in, watched a little TV, and then got a text from Katey saying she was 10 minutes away! EEK!

Katey picked me up from the hotel and we headed to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch.

[REUNITED!]

I got a hotdog wrapped in a pretzel from Miller's Twist, two doughnuts from Beiler's Bakery, and a bunch of cookies from The Famous 4th Street Cookie Company® (you know, for the long drive to Manhattan 😜). The Reading Market was so fun to walk around. There are tons of shops and there are more I want to try. I guess we will have to come back someday!

After lunch we headed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We didn't go inside, but we got a picture with the Rocky Statue and hiked the Rocky Steps.

We then headed over to Elfreth's Alley. Last time I was here it was pouring rain, so Josh and I were not able to enjoy the alley. We strolled through the alley and found a nice garden where we could sit and chat. I didn't want to push Katey too much since she is 8 months pregnant, so we took a lot of breaks during our Girls Trip.

After leaving Elfreth's Alley we headed to the Philadelphia airport to pick up our final hoho: Emily! As we entered the "passenger pickup area" I rolled down the window and yelled "GIRLS TRIP!! WOOOO!!" The crossing guard was laughing at me, but I didn't care! The hohos were reunited and we were ready to party!

After picking up Emily we headed to CVS so we could stock up on snacks. We then walked to Pat's King of Steaks where we ordered our cheesesteaks. I got mine wit-out (without onions) and wit-whiz (with cheese whiz).

OH MAN! It's was the best cheesesteak I have ever had! What a way to end our adventure in Philly!

We then jumped back into Katey's SUV and headed up the 95 to our next stop: Manhattan!

[The Lincoln Tunnel]

After an easy two hour drive we arrived at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. I surprised the girls with a top floor, family suite, corner room with a view of Times Square!

The suite had three rooms:

a king suite for Katey,