We Love NY - Where Hailey Turned 13!

We hadn't been on a trip in over six months and we were all getting a little stir crazy since we typically don't do a summer vacation (because of Michigan). Well, maybe not Tom. He probably would prefer to go to Michigan rather than any other place.  

Happy 13th Bday Hailey!

Still, my Southwest Companion pass was expiring this year and I had some hotel points and other credits so why not take the girls to NYC. It wasn't a big trip that Austen would miss out on and he probably would prefer not to do half the stuff we did anyway. So off we went on Hailey's bday weekend (and with her permission to miss hockey - reluctantly). 

We arrived on Friday and visited our nephew and his family right from the airport. Extra bonus was our niece was arriving from Detroit at the same time so she Ubered with us to her brother's place so we could spend some time together. After a quick lunch, we walked part of Central Park. It was a beautiful day and it was great to be outside absorbing the sounds of the city. 

After that we had to hurry back to check into our hotel before our 5:30pm reservation at The Rock which was an observatory point where you could see the whole city. We got some great pictures and then leisurely strolled around Rockefeller Plaza before heading to dinner at Quality Meats where we enjoyed some great steaks. We were so full, we happily walked the 20 minutes back to our hotel to digest! 

Hailey at the Rangers hockey game

The next morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast and Ubered to the 9/11 Museum. We had a guided tour scheduled and were planning to spend most of the morning there. We did. That museum is huge and I think the kids were done after 3 hours spent on the tour, at the reflecting pools and in the museum. After the 9/11 museum, we went through the cooly designed Oculus (transportation hub and shopping plaza), we grabbed quick bit to eat there and planned out the rest of our afternoon. The weather was gorgeous again so we walked the Brooklyn Bridge and then went through the DUMBO (down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) neighborhood and then back over the Manhattan Bridge. We were still quite a distance from our hotel and it was much too far to walk so decided to try out the subway. Our niece had showed us how easy it was to navigate it from our phones and once we did it, we were hooked. We just had to load Apple Pay onto the girls' phones so they could go through the turnstiles on the subway. 

SoHo Matcha from Enly

We took a much needed hour break back at our hotel before our early dinner reservations at Pecora Bianca. We shared a pizza and pasta and an appetizer and a little gelato before heading to our 8pm show. We decided to see "Six" after the six wives of Henry the VIII. It was fun and fast paced and a great way to learn about history. We all enjoyed seeing a show on Broadway. After all, you can't go to NY without doing so. We picked up some desserts at Magnolia Bakery (not my favorite) on the way back to the hotel and watched the end of the White Sox game (where they lost - but it was a good run). 

On Sunday, it was Hailey's 13th birthday. And, it rained, the entire day. We'd had such gorgeous weather the past two days that it was such a bummer that we had to contend with rain. We scrapped Grand Central Station and the Staten Island Ferry due to the rain and took the subway directly to SoHo. From there it was a lot of shopping! The girls bought some items that soon became heavy to carry especially while managing an umbrella too. The bags became wet and ended up breaking where all the clothes fell out the bottom. They were Peyton's clothes and she is a huge germaphobe so she was none too happy! But it was pretty funny. We made it back to the hotel after we couldn't hold anymore things (and stopping for a matcha that Peyton had to have) so we could get on some dry clothes and get ready for an early dinner at a pretty highly rated soup dumpling restaurant - Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings in Koreatown. It was something different for dinner and we all enjoyed it before heading over to Madison Square Garden for the Rangers game. Madison Square Garden was really big and we had decent seats to watch the Rangers win 6-2. After the game, the rain was finally lightening up a bit so we went to Carve Cafe for some desserts and then sat in the lobby and Hailey got to blow out her candle. We officially have three teenagers now!

Monday we headed to the airpot for our flight home and the sun was finally shining again! It was a great trip. Hailey loved New York. Peyton said she likes LA better - it's less dirty! Me, I always like NY. I love the energy and that there is always something to do. And, it's especially beautiful during the holidays.

The perfect shirt for Hailey

More bday presents (the housekeeper actually accidentally threw out this bag with the gifts in it!)

Seeing Broadway Show - Six

Rockefeller Plaza

Top of the Rock - Empire State in distance

The girls at the Top of the Rock

Szurgot Family in elevator heading to Central Park 

Peyton Visits IU

The college visits have begun for Peyton. She'd been planning to visit one of her friends (from her summer job where she lifeguarded) at IU for awhile now so I told her if we were going down there she needed to do an official tour.

My Happy Place

We left early on Friday and made good time for our first general welcome tour. Stepping through the Sample Gates marking the entrance to IU was like coming home again and reminded why I love this place so much. The color of the leaves weren't quite peak season yet but you could tell in a few short weeks how much more beautiful and magical this place was going to be. We passed The Union where out back the fire pits were ablaze welcoming the first signs of fall. Our welcome was at Ernie Pyle Hall - my old journalism school. (It's so much easier touring a college campus when you know exactly where you're going.) The inside is completely redone now but there were glimpses of the old building still, including the windows where I studied in the j-school library.

We toured, I loved, Peyton loved and then hurried back to our other tour which was the Media School (which now encompasses the journalism school). Communications have changed so much over the thirty plus years since I've been there and IU has morphed right along with them, keeping up with social media and content creation plus game design and a myriad of other opportunities through their school. I was impressed. And, of course their building is pretty new and gorgeous. 

IU vs. Maryland Soccer Game

From there, we had to hurry out as Peyton was meeting another friend (sophomore at IU) who was giving her a tour of the Kelley School of Business and some other key areas. I was glad to sit down at the library (which is also way better than I remember) after a ton of walking. By this time, I was starving too so after Peyton finished her tour, I knew we'd have a long walk back to our hotel on Kirkwood (we were staying at The Graduate) so suggested we get some Pizza Express (now Pizza X) breadsticks and carry them to the Mellencamp Center (workout facility with natatorium) where I knew they had seats so we could eat. It was the perfect plan. We walked leisurely back the hotel but not before I saw Match Day signs for IU's soccer game that evening vs. #4 Maryland. IU was #2. We had to go. Now I had to just convince Peyton. She wasn't Austen but she finally agreed to go and we enjoyed a very nice night and a great IU win (3-1). 

The next morning, we were up and walking the Bloomington Farmers Market, had breakfast at Gables Bagels, shopped on Kirkwood and at The Union all before she met her friend for yet another tour and dinner. I also met up with an old IU friend and her husband for a few hours at Yogi's Bar and Grill before heading back to the hotel to drive the girls back to her friend's sorority for a night out. 

After that it was watching the IU vs. Rutgers game on TV and heading to bed before turning on the emergency bypass on my phone just in case I got a call from Peyton. She did text me at 2am but only to let me know what time to pick her up the next morning so I didn't get a great amount of sleep. 

I picked her up at 9:30am, we went to breakfast (in the old Denny's that is now something else that's pretty good) and we drove on home. 

Peyton did declare (more than once) that she was going to Indiana. I would love for her to go there so I get four more years at IU but there are so many schools to choose from and I want this to be her right fit not mine. So I'm going to keep encouraging her to visit others (and making her go). But, I can clearly see why she loves IU so much. I did too. 

Bagel Stop

Ernie Pyle and Peyton

Love!! Campus!

Old friends are the best friends. 

Hailey's XC Conference Meet

It was a short cross country season for Hailey this year. The heat at above 90 degrees had the district canceling many practices and meets. That's a total bummer too since she was really starting to enjoy running and it seems just when she was getting started, it was over. 

So last Wednesday, we trekked up to Bensenville to watch her in her final meet as a 7th grader. It was a tough course run primarily on grass and with a big hill you needed to run up twice. She got to see it earlier this year as one of the only other races that wasn't canceled this year. So this was her second time running it this season. 

The race started with the hill. And, I missed her going by there were so many kids and she tends to switch which side she runs on but I caught up with her after she came down the hill and she was at a pretty quick pace already running with the top girls at her school. Good pace, I told her but the real worry was if she came out too fast and she could maintain that pace the entire race. It was still very early. I wanted her to leave enough at the end for some kick as she got closer to the chute too. We'd been talking about the need to sprint in the end and she hadn't left enough in the tank to do that the previous meets. Plus, she says her strength is really her sprinting ability (can't comment on that since I haven't seen her sprint in a race yet but she says she beats all the fast long distance runners in sprints). 

Anyway, she was maintaining a pretty good pace the entire race and in the final 1/4 I could tell she was tired. "Do it for Connor Bedard!" she yelled to me as she rounded her final turn. And, then she was almost at the chute with two runners in front of her. "Sprint!" I yelled, "when you're in the chute, sprint!" And, she did. She's not that tall but she has long legs and they carried her past two runners and across the finish line where she placed 30th out of about 200 runners and #4 from her school. 

She probably ran her best race of the year. She learned a lot in the short season, made some new friends and told me that she's going to miss cross country! 

Running with the #2 and #3 runners at her school

HoCo 2026

Junior year homecoming is in the books for Peyton. These high school years are just flying by for Peyton but not fast enough as she still can't wait til she gets to college. 

Peyton & Luke

Still, she was able to enjoy a fun week of HoCo prep with her friends - spray tan, nails, football game. Finally, it was Saturday and the Homecoming parade was canceled due to the rainy weather we were having. Then pictures at the club were canceled due to flooding so they had to pivot. Luckily, one of my friends offered for all the kids and parents to come to her house. That doesn't seem like much but there were like 40 kids in the group plus parents! We all sprang into action to help her host that many people in a short amount of time. 

Luckily, we had a little break in the downpour so we were able to get some pictures outside. The kids then got into their limos to take them to Capri for dinner. Peyton said she was so full but the food was really good. They then went to the dance for about an hour (I'm surprised they still went to the dance since so many don't go after freshman year). They then headed back to houses to change for the after part(ies). But she was home just before 1pm and said it was really fun. 

Meanwhile, we Door Dashed Hailey some food (I almost had her Cane's go to Austen's fraternity since our Door Dash app is set to him) and went to our club for dinner with our friends (who were at the pictures). Fun night for parents and kids alike. (Hailey was even happy because she got her favorite home and the Blackhawks were on TV for their first preseason game.)

One more HoCo to go til Peyton graduates! Then we'll run it back for the next four years for Hailey! 

Cheer friends

One more pic!

Picture party!

All the kids

P&H

            The girls

Peyton & Luke

FamILLy Weekend

Austen's Room

Last weekend, we went to U of I to visit Austen for his sophomore year family weekend. We left early Saturday because Peyton wanted to go to the high school football game on Friday night (against their rivals - always a big game) and Hailey had her first drills and skills ice hockey practice of the season. 

We arrived about 11am. Austen gave us a tour of his fraternity (Peyton was not impressed!) and then we hit the bookstore (figured out that Hailey did not have one piece of U of I gear). Then it was off to his fraternity tailgate. We met some of his fraternity brothers and their parents. We played Jenga, did shots off a hockey stick and played some game with a hammer and a nail (slightly dangerous). The girls were bored and it was really, really hot.  So we decided to head into the football game. They were playing Duke and we were excited to see the world's largest scoreboard in their stadium. 

It was hotter in the stadium with the sun beating down on us for all of the first quarter. Everyone sought refuge in the tunnels after the 1st quarter. Well, everyone except for Tom. We didn't even come back in until the end of the 2nd quarter, and then everyone was ready to go at halftime including Austen and his friends. The game was close, and we would have liked to stay and watch but that heat really got the better of most of us and we were already in the sun by this time for over 3 hours. 

We checked into the hotel, watched the end of the game (they lost) and then got ready to head to dinner with the boys. After dinner, I walked back to the hotel. Tom dropped the boys back at the fraternity and took the girls to get cookies. We were meeting up with friends for a little pre-party before the bars and the girls were going to hang out in the hotel room. 

The night had cooled the air temps so it was a lot more enjoyable. We hit Red Lion and then at 12am, the moms headed back to the hotel while the Dads stayed out a little later with the boys. 

Everyone was a little slow moving on Sunday but we made it to breakfast at our favorite place in Champaign - Maple & Yolk. After, we dropped Austen off at the fraternity so he could watch the Bears game and do some homework, and we headed home.

Year two of FamILLy weekend under our belt. I don't think we'll be doing this next year. Football games are way too hot in September. It felt like he just left home, and really there's not much else to do in Champaign besides games, bars, eat. Maybe next year, we'll come down for a basketball game or just for the day. Tom will be back in November for Dad's weekend and then I'll be there in April for Mom's Weekend. That's probably good enough!

On our way to the tailgate

Found an old soccer friend @ the bars

Matcha!

Red Lion

Tom's Garden

Zucchini bigger than Hailey

Tom said in our old house there were too many trees impacting the growth of his garden so despite a lot of efforts he didn't really have much produce to show for it. Our new house has good sunlight and a little area at the back of the house where it makes more sense to grow some food. 

So one of the first things he did this summer was order some raised boxes for his new garden. He then picked a bunch of vegetables and fruits that no one in our house will eat. Kale, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and cucumbers. I used to eat kale in a smoothie and don't mind it in salads but that's what's grown the most and no one eats it. He doesn't even like kale. Little tomatoes - he eats but no one else likes tomatoes. Peyton has started eating peppers this year but they are coming in small and so far he's only gotten one. Same with the cucumbers and most of us will eat those. I like zucchini but our kids do not (Tom apparently forgets or doesn't really know what our kids like and don't like - ha!). The first one he grew was gigantic. It might have taken us 5 meals to get through this and the kids could barely stomach eating it one time although he made it into zucchini fritters which they liked better. Good thing Austen wasn't home because it's his least favorite vegetable!

Next summer, we'll have to have more input into what he picks to grow!

 

Hailey Begins her XC Season

About 1/4 mile in (blue shirt)

Now that the kids are back in school, the sports have started too including Hailey's cross country season. Now that she's in 7th grade, she can actually join more than just cross country but she said she's only going to do cross country and track this year. She doesn't want to try out for the middle school basketball team because boys come to those games and she doesn't want them watching her! Ha!  

The heat has been brutal since the start of the school year so they actually have canceled a few of her meets and practices. But, she still got one under her belt so far and looked pretty strong earning 16th place out of almost 100 kids. 

She's got some tough ones to run coming up including one that has a big hill that she must run twice. Not a favorite as she prefers to run on a paved path rather than anyplace that has hills and different terrain. It's all a learning process though and wish she had a longer season to train how to run. She's lucky that she has a friend's mom who is a sponsored marathon runner helping out and offering some great insight to the kids. 

Her ability to go the distance might be less strong than her sprinting skills but I've never seen her actually sprint so will be interesting to see if she has more endurance or she's a quick short distance runner - we'll have to wait for spring to determine that one. 

For now, she's just jogging along because she knows it gives her good endurance for hockey! 

Here she comes!