East Side Road Trip!! Hershey, PA, NYC, Cooperstown, NY, Killington, VT and Niagara Falls!

And we are out. East side, here we come! 

The kids knew about Cooperstown, NY for Luke and his baseball team however, they had no clue about anything else. They kept asking why we we had to leave so early for NY when the other baseball families weren't leaving until the next week. Ben and I have so much fun planning and surprising our kids!! Parenting does have it perks! :)

Aunt Cathy and Uncle Tom were in on the surprise and gave us each a card/gift to open up on our way!

Drew's 2nd grade teacher (his last year teacher) is from Hershey, PA. All year he would come home telling us stories that she had shared with them about growing up there. So, our first stop had to be Hershey, PA for our Stu Bear!!! Surprise, Drew!!

AND that's not all. Mrs. Jordan, Drew's 2nd grade teacher, was in town and surprised Drew there!!! I mean, can we love this teacher anymore?!?! She and her family hung out with us as we explored Hershey World!

Before the show they were passing our cups of just the Reeses Peanut Butter cup filling. OMG. It is so, so good!

Off to the chocolate factory to make and design our own Hershey bars!

Deciding the type of chocolate and filling in each of our custom-made bars!

Into the factory we go...

Watching each of our bars being made on the line.

We each designed our own logo and cover!

Then off to the ride to learn about the history of Hershey.

We decided not to do the theme and the trolley ride through town. We found out that Justin Verlander was starting pitcher for the NY Mets that next day (Sunday) at a 1pm game in NYC and Ben and I voted for that instead!

So we ended the night with a late night dinner and nightcap at The Chocolatier restaurant at Hershey Park.

We were so hungry and this meal did not disappoint. Every meal is served with some sort of chocolate. The kids had Hershey chocolate drizzled on their hamburgers. I had a peanut butter cup on my hamburger and Ben had potato chips and chocolate on his. Ben and I shared a flight of chocolate martinis and the kids shared a Hershey milkshake. YUMMMMM!

Afterwards, we drove around the town of Hershey. So cute! The lampposts throughout town are capped with a silver Hershey Kiss. 

Next surprise!!! The next morning we left Hershey and drove straight to Citi Field in the outskirts of NYC for the Mets afternoon game!

Walking on the overpass from the parking garage to the ballpark.

It was a hot one!!!

Justin Verlander pitching!! And we got to see his 250th win!! Good thing we went when we did. The next morning we woke up to the news that Verlander was traded to the Houston Astros (again!).

Mets win and the park celebrated Verlander's 250th win!

After the game eating some lunch in the parking garage...Road tripping!

Surprise 3!!! We stayed 3 nights downtown NYC at the Embassy Suites in Times Square!

View from our room! We stayed on floor 17 and the window cracked open! I loved waking up looking out our floor to ceiling window, overlooking the city and hearing the sounds of the city wake up with me. I mean I was living my Sex and the City best life.

After eating a great breakfast, we are Embassy Suite junkies for their breakfast and happy hours, we took a walk all around NYC.

They were celebrating Harry Potter's birthday with popsicles and tattoos!

Cooling off in the sidewalk fountains.

All the architecture!

After walking 4 miles through the city and seeing all the things we landed at the 9/11 Memorial. Always remember.

Then we walked to the battery to see the Statue of Liberty!

Then we took the subway back to our hotel. :) 

Kids 1st ride on the NYC subway!!

Just eating NYC pizza in this cute, little park in the middle of the street by our hotel...

Before leaving for Surprise 4...Back on the subway to watch a NY Yankees game!!

Yankee Stadium...One team that we never root for. :)

We watched the Rays beat the Yankees on their home turf!! We were all Ray fans that night!!

Around midnight we were back on the subway. Here's the thing. After a Yankees game, the subway station is PACKED. All of us fanes were packed in like sardines and I just kept looking at my feet praying for that train to come!

Back at the hotel Drew wanted to go to the top level again (Floor 31) to see the skyline again. He loved looking out at all the things of the city.❤

While, Drew and I were enjoying the lookout, Ben and Ellie were downstairs at the bar getting a nightcap! (Luke fell asleep in the room). 

The next morning we were out and about!

Empire State Building:

The New York City Public Library:

If you look closely, Elle, Drew and I are on the rooftop of the library adjacent to the big, historic NYC library. This library that we are at is the working NYC library with the kids section in the basement! We had to go check it out!

Shopping on 5th Avenue:

Drew picked out some sweet new baseball shades at the Oakley store. :)

Elle had to hit up the Sephora store!

The Plaza Hotel:

We watched Home Alone 2 on our road trip to NYC so we all wanted to check out this hotel! You can only tour the lobby, pretty fancy stuff.

Sitting in front of The Plaza Hotel:

When in NYC do as the New Yorkers do...We all had to get one lunch from a hotdog stand. We hit up the stands outside of Central Park!

Central Park:

Walking down towards the big fountain and the pond with the boats.

Watching the turtles...

So, Ben saw this video on YouTube, where you "clipped" people. The premise is simple. Try to clip someone with a chip clip without them knowing. Well, I had brought some snacks and the Goldfish bag had a chip clip and this provided hours of fun and hysterics.

Luke was the first to get clipped (See clip below 😁) Look at Drew's face! LOL!!

We clipped each other up and down the park and street back to the Embassy Suites.

We made it back in time for happy hour and I got Luke so good one last time...While waiting in line to order his drink. Luke and all of us were dying when he realized it!! It doesn't take much people.

Surprise 5: That night after happy hour we surprised the kids that we were taking them to the Broadway show, Aladdin!!! Ellie was in her school performance of Aladdin last Spring as the lamp vendor (the narrator). We were so excited to surprise her with this show!!

Our seats were magic...1st row of the mezzanine. I will never forget this night. Never. WE all loved the show so much. The whole Broadway experience, really. The thing that surprised me was how much Luke loved it. I knew Elle would be ecstatic and Drew would enjoy it too, but Luke was on the edge of his seat the whole show. Laughing hysterically at the genie and bouncing his head along with the songs. A night I'll always cherish.

The magic carpet actually flew!!

After Broadway we walked all around Times Square before heading back to our hotel. Tomorrow early morning we needed be up, checked out, and in the car by 5:30 am to head to our next stop...Cooperstown, NY!

We 💓NYC!!

We made it and on time!! Leaving NYC is no joke. The van was parked a lot of blocks away but Ben got the van up to Hotel's curb, the kids and I were packed at the curb waiting for him, we beat all traffic with the city still waking up, and our Google Map did not disappoint. I was so grateful. This was the part of the trip that worried me the most. You can't be late for registration. You had to have everything on the packing list. What if we forgot his turf shoes? Or his mitt? Bat? Showing up late to registration and now he can't play in the first game? It just seemed like a lot of moving parts, especially after being on the road for a week AND showing up from the heart of NYC that morning and making it to up state NY on time. BUT we did it!!

Next leg of the east side trip...A week of baseball with our baseball Elite family in Cooperstown, NY. Let's GO!!!!

Waiting with the team after registration to unpack in their team bunkhouse!

Opening Ceremony for the week-long tournament. All of the teams are announced and they parade in front of the spectators.

The thing that had in me in awe was the beauty of this place! The fields were nestled in a valley with rolling, country land hills surrounding the Disney of baseball. So pretty!

The Elite family getting ready to cheer for our team!!

Here they come!!

All 72 teams (teams from around the country!) on the field being celebrated!!

Let's GO, Elite!!

You get the jerseys there that the teams wear for the week. This week we are cheering loudest for 3-8!!

Luke and Chase, our 2 catchers.

Watching Maverick back in their bunkhouse.

A visit to the baseball Hall of Fame in the town of Cooperstown. This was our one miss. Because they were being provided with jerseys we didn't pack them. However, after we had left MI the team decided last minute for the boys to wear their championship Sunday reds to the Hall of Fame. Oh, well. If this was the worst of it, we're ok.

Pin trading is all the rage during the tournament. Each team designs a pin and then trades their team pin for other team pins. And that's not all. There are different level of team pins. For example, of our team we had the regular pin and then the clutch pin that spins and glows in the dark. I'm not kidding.

Then we designed and bought each player a customized drawstring bag with all the things including a customized pin towel to hold your collection of pins! Again, not kidding.

Our boys watching the competition.

Rain delay had the 4 of us in our van watching Home Alone 2 again. :)

One of our baseball families opted out of the hotel (Their whole extended family came to cheer on our boys!) and got a VRBO instead. We spent an afternoon cooking out at their place and playing games.

The rain delays caused some back up and all the games must get played so one of our games was pushed back to 2:30 am start time. Yup. We woke up our boys and families back at the hotel at 1:30 am to be alert and ready for the 2:30 game.

This is from the parking lot looking down into the fields for the game.

Our game was in the Green Monster...

This is a pic from the day headed into the Green Monster. (For perspective)

Rise and shine for an early game. Or would that be a later game? Who knows?! But for the next game and it was with daylight.

The little brose cheering on their big bros. So stinkin' cute.

Girls passing around the volleyball during the games!

Warm-ups.

Ellie and Drew were so supportive of Luke all week long!! Baseball is an emotional sport filled with highs and lows. These 2 were here for it.

Out to eat the best spot in town. It was so good we ate their twice! Luke left his team's pin there for them on their collection wall.

Most meals were here though. Either in the lobby or in someone's hotel room!

This video is priceless. We were out at the fields with the team and Ellie sent me this video. Our home was this hotel for the week and our kids rolled so well with it. Plus, Easy Mac for the win. :)

Even the siblings were in on the trading pin business!

Our team and families took over the pool in between games!

It wasn't all about the boys. These girls love each other so much!!! Lots of time together💛

Katie, Keke, Theresa, and Ellie. The best younger sisters around!

And the adults had a lot of fun too. We love our baseball family!!

One of the days the boys had earned a by because of their success in the bracket. YAY! So the 4 of use headed out on a daytrip to Rexford Falls!

We first climbed the top part of the Falls.

Then we hiked down to the bottom.

Look at how beautiful up state NY is!! The pic below looks like a pic from Kawaii!

I was nervous to swim under the falls because it may not look it but sister had some power!!! Leave it to Ben though to check it out!

And to bring Ellie...

And Drew too!!

Such a good Dad. I was all in for taking the pics. :)

Headed back for a picnic lunch.

The boys made it to the quarterfinals for their tournament. We would have liked to have gone further but a powerhouse out of California got us. It was a great week with all of the emotion of baseball, all of the belly aching laughs, and all of the proud hearts that we had for our sons and our team. Way to represent, Luke!! We are so proud of you.

Ben and John held it down for the week, keeping the stats.

This pic. So much emotion and a moment I know I won't forget and I hope Luke holds onto for a long time too. The last game in the quarter finals, we lost and the last play was on Luke in leftfield. He made a running snag and then, the ball dropped from his mitt. Oh, Luke. The team huddled with their coaches on their field. Hugs and fist pumps. And then Luke. With tears on his cheeks, walking off the field he just sat at this table while his team headed back to their bunkhouse. I sat with him for awhile unit he was ready. We are so proud of you, Luke and we love you so much. A moment to embrace and remember that nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes, and that we need to give ourselves and others grace...Because we are all worthy of grace, forgiveness, and love.

Time to pack up and head out...

Luke and John. Best buds. 

Cooperstown, you were so much fun. Baseball on steroids and we will hold onto these memories for a lifetime. Luke, you are amazing and we are so proud to be the parents of 3-8!!!

Surprise 6: After saying goodbye to our baseball family we were packed back up in the van and headed to VERMONT!! The kids had no clue that we were there for a week to celebrate Papa & Gma Cooley's 5th Anniversary with them and Auntie Nae and Uncle Freddy!! Ben and Freddy had planned this whole surprise Anniversary trip for all of us!! They chose Killington, VT because this is where Mom and Dad went on their honeymoon on January 13th, 50 years ago!!

We stopped to get groceries for the week. I truly didn't think that we would all fit back in the van. With all 5 of us, our luggage and now $600 worth of groceries for 9 people of a week. OMG. We could barely see the kids in the back but we did it! We were now headed to our VRBO in Killington for the week!!!

Mom and Dad...Happy 50th!!!!! We love you both so, so much!!!

This was our "treehouse" for the week! And it worked out perfect. We all stayed on the lower level. There were 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms that we were able to share. Then the main floor for all of us to hang and then the upstairs was the master suite, bathroom, sauna for mom and dad!

We showed up a few hours before everyone else to setup, put the groceries away and decorate! Janae and Freddy were picking up mom and dad from the airport and then coming to the house.

Our kids settling in playing Heads Up!

Ben and I setting up...

Decorations done!

I forgot to mention...We also traveled with these blown up balloons in the van too...LOL!

Apps ready!

Fresh flowers, done!

Champagne ready!

They're here! Luke fell asleep. :)

Ben made a wedding video using Mom and Dad's wedding albums. So special watching it with everyone!

The first morning and we had a delicious breakfast at home.

Then we headed out a nearby river to hang. We were planning on going tubing in this river but the water was to low so the tubing was closed.

Cards that night!

These 2 cuties being so sweet together after a yummy breakfast out.

Then the 4 Cooleys had a day at the spa!!

While Ben and Uncle Freddy took the kids to a par!k

High ropes course!

Then, ice cream!

Then, they went hiking around a local waterfall!

These crazy cats came and got us from the spa and we were off to Killington Ski Resort for dinner.

On our way Mom and Dad spotted The Wobbly Barn!! This was a spot Mom and Dad hung out at on their honeymoon! It wasn't open but we had a lot of fun watching Mom and Dad light up with the memories of it!

Luke!! The resort had this tool to measure the snowfall...Luke was right at the foot mark??

Cheers to Mom and Dad!!!

There were moments we just hungout with each other too.

That night we played lots of games!! II hope we can always hear the laughter when we look back at these pics!!!

The next day we took a gondola ride up the side of Killington's mountain!

The view from our gondola!

We spotted a waterfall below...

On top...Vermont is beautiful.

Mom and Dad. Love wins.

We brought up champagne for a toast to these lovebirds. 

Walking around at the top. It was just a tad cooler than on the ground. :)

There are more than 100 covered bridges in Vermont and we were there to see some! 

We headed to this sweet town Woodstock.

50 years later and still so cute. 

That night we ate a pub that had live music and cornhole. SO fun!

Happy 50th Mom and Dad!! You guys are the very best and we love and cherish you guys so much!

What a great week of celebrating! Till next time, Killington!

Breakfast on our way out...

Last surprise: All packed up in the van, we drove back to northern NY for a night and then surprise! We are going to the Niagara Falls!

We took a ride on The Maid of the Mist!! You go on this big barge/boat thing and go right between the Falls. SO cool!!

Ben and Luke recreating a pic they took together many moons ago on their first baseball trip to see the Toronto Blue Jays!

We had one more surprise... To stay on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls. We crossed the border and that's when we all decided. 3 hours away from Rochester, MI...Let's go home. It's been so much fun. We've seen so much, so many firsts, a lifetime of memories to remember and we could stay one more night but we were ready. Time to head home with a lot of laundry, many more miles on the van, and happy hearts. Thank you, east side. We will remember this trip for a lifetime!!