A Big Family in the Big Apple
It's really, really hard for the Hundts to turn down travel- even when it's ridiculous and crazy and last minute...
When I learned that I could attend the premiere party for the TV show "Crash Test World," which I've been writing educational content for, it seemed like a no-brainer that I would find some way to get to Brooklyn, NY.
Both Josh and I LOVE LOVE New York City and are currently raising boys obsessed with big buildings, lights, fountains, bridges, etc so #hundtboysx4 have taking quite a liking to New York City even though they had never been. We had always planned on going to the city at some point... maybe even kinda soon, but in seven days?!?!?! Um, no.
Anyway, I don't know what happened, but there I was, on a Saturday morning, five days before we were set to leave, dancing around the kitchen singing the Beastie Boys "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn." The rest of my boys followed suit after Josh booked an Air BnB. Off we go to the Big Apple!
This trip was wonderful, memorable, challenging, and in general went NOTHING like I thought it would... Here were some of the biggest take-a-ways:
1.) We drove around the city... a lot.
This was my fourth trip to NYC and Josh's third and although I've always driven to GET to the city, I never drove within it. You take the subway, you take the bus, you take a taxi, or in my case, always, you walk all over the freaking city. This time, however, we did an incredible amount of driving. We were staying outside of Bushwick in Brooklyn and was able to park our car on the street FOR FREE there. I know, that's like the holy grail.
We drove into Manhattan and within it, drove to Coney Island on the other side of Brooklyn, drove to Staten Island, drove to Queens. We parked all of those times, somehow, and often were able to score more free parking. There were many reasons why the driving occurred including Preston getting sick on the subway and the sheer amount of walking we were already doing.
2.) Speaking of Coney Island
My family is a HUGE HUGE fan of the hotdog eating contest held at Coney Island every year on the 4th of July. We watch it every single year. I always thought it'd be fun to go there, but never thought we'd actually do it. Buuuut since we drive around the city a ton, why not drive all the way to the opposite tip of Brooklyn to check out Coney Island?! It was honestly a lovely surprise. The boardwalk was cute, it wasn't busy, and we got a Nathan's Famous Hotdog. The onion rings were absolute yum.
3.) Eating was challenging
While were on the subject of food, it was not easy for my big family to eat in the Big Apple! When we tried to pack ahead of time, we had to lug way more stuff than we were already lugging so that was hard. If we tried to eat while out, we got into some pickles. For example, we were in Washington Park and had promised the boys a NYC hot dog. Josh went up to get those from a vendor so we could eat in the park and learned that particular hotdog stand only took cash, which we had run out of. By the time we found an ATM and got situated, we weren't near the park anymore so we had to change plans. We ended up eating slices of pizza in Little Italy literally on the side of the road. No park was near, no benches, no nothing.
My family isn't super great at a restaurant (can you even imagine?) so we avoided those. Somehow my circus showing up on a Saturday date night at a quiet little cafe didn't seem like a good time ;)
We had very limited food selections near our Airbnb too, which was difficult.
Anyway, there was a lot of pizza and hotdogs consumed, but that's very New York so I guess it's okay, right?!
4.) My kids don't travel the same way
You might be thinking DUH and yes, that's fair, but each time we travel, people are a little bigger and are changing themselves so you never know exactly what you're going to get. Judah and especially Nolan are great walkers. They were amazing in Toronto and so we had high expectations for them in NYC. For the most part, they were amazing, but Judah, always the independent, wasn't really into staying right by us. The crowded-ness of NYC is so different than any other place that we've been so Judah made us nervous several times.
Carter got tired walking easily and I guess I have to understand that, he's four. Preston hardly got to actually explore the city himself- an 18 month old walking by himself in the city did NOT fit. He always wanted to pick up everything off the ground and sometimes eat it.
Nolan is an absolute rock star- wanted to know all the history of everything, see everything, and was game to go anywhere in the city. As long as we never had to wait for anything, he was spectacular. But I already know he has the travel bug so that didn't surprise me.
5.) We saw four of the five Burroughs
If someone had told me I would've seen Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island in one four day trip I would've said you were nuts. Buuuuut with our extra driving, we got to see SO much more of New York City than I've ever seen. That was really cool and something we weren't anticipating. We got to drive on almost all the bridges, which was a huge highlight for the boys.
6.) Walking the Brooklyn Bridge was awesome
I'd seen it done in Sex and the City, I'd seen it done on the Real Housewives of New York, but after spending time on the Brooklyn Promenade (probably my favorite sight of the whole trip), we ended up walking the bridge too. We all really enjoyed it. What an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful bridge.
7.) We saw my teaching partner and her husband, in Manhattan... on accident!
Katie flew in with her husband for the premier and couldn'tve been staying farther away from us basically. Sure enough, on Monday morning, as I was pushing Preston around the High Line near the Hudson Yards, Josh called me to meet back up with him as he was talking to BRIAN AND KATIE! So crazy! In a city of 10 million people we were all literally at the right place at the right time.
8.) Brooklyn Promenade
Walking around the piers near the Brooklyn Promenade was my favorite thing we did the whole trip. The skyline was absolutely stunning. We went down there on Saturday morning and walked around in the midst of Brooklynites shuffling their kids to soccer games, walking their dogs, and taking a run along the shoreline. After the Crash Test World premiere, I decided to Uber over there to see the Manhattan skyline at night all by myself. Sitting on a bench in quiet was surreal and magical.
9.) We literally don't fit in NYC
There wasn't a single family we saw with four kids. Honestly, we only saw maybe one family with three kids (who were all tweens and teens). A family of six does not fit in New York City very well. We didn't fit well getting on the subway, we didn't fit well walking in crowded areas, we didn't fit well trying to find a place to sit and eat, and we didn't fit well on the sidewalks. In fact, it was super challenging finding a place to stay. We were booking last minute on a holiday weekend, which certainly was part of the problem, but NYC spaces are small and my family is not. Can you imagine how expensive a 3 bedroom Manhattan Airbnb might be per night?! Holy Toledo. We got SO lucky to find our place in Brooklyn- 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, AND a fenced-in backyard!
I can't tell you how many looks, questions, and whispers we got as we tried to trot around the city. I love love my big family, but we are a wide load circus for sure.
10.) On our way out of the city
So that we could do most of the drive during the night, we got up to go home around 3am. Because we are a sucker for touristy things and a sucker for adventure, instead of talking the suggested route, we drove a bit out of our way to go to Time's Square. We never got there as we walked around Manhattan and were feeling like the kids would love to see it. Time's Square at 3am is lovely ;) What a sensational way to end the trip.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While the trip was going on, I wanted to turn around and go home several times. It was really stressful- keeping everyone together, keeping everyone happy, keeping everyone alive. Thankfully, every night as we shared smiles and frowns, the smiles were full of buildings we saw, how gorgeous the city was, how much they LOVED everything about NYC.
I don't think it was the right time to shuffle four young kids around one of the mega-cities of the world, but we found ourselves wondering if there would ever be a right time??
That's kinda how it is traveling with a large family- it's going to be challenging, you're probably going to want to go home a few times, there will be tears shed... probably by children AND adults, but it is also so so so so worth it. I can't say that enough.
When I learned that I could attend the premiere party for the TV show "Crash Test World," which I've been writing educational content for, it seemed like a no-brainer that I would find some way to get to Brooklyn, NY.
Both Josh and I LOVE LOVE New York City and are currently raising boys obsessed with big buildings, lights, fountains, bridges, etc so #hundtboysx4 have taking quite a liking to New York City even though they had never been. We had always planned on going to the city at some point... maybe even kinda soon, but in seven days?!?!?! Um, no.
Anyway, I don't know what happened, but there I was, on a Saturday morning, five days before we were set to leave, dancing around the kitchen singing the Beastie Boys "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn." The rest of my boys followed suit after Josh booked an Air BnB. Off we go to the Big Apple!
This trip was wonderful, memorable, challenging, and in general went NOTHING like I thought it would... Here were some of the biggest take-a-ways:
1.) We drove around the city... a lot.
This was my fourth trip to NYC and Josh's third and although I've always driven to GET to the city, I never drove within it. You take the subway, you take the bus, you take a taxi, or in my case, always, you walk all over the freaking city. This time, however, we did an incredible amount of driving. We were staying outside of Bushwick in Brooklyn and was able to park our car on the street FOR FREE there. I know, that's like the holy grail.
 |
| The Verazzano Bridge heading to Staten Island |
 |
| Driving around Manhattan |
We drove into Manhattan and within it, drove to Coney Island on the other side of Brooklyn, drove to Staten Island, drove to Queens. We parked all of those times, somehow, and often were able to score more free parking. There were many reasons why the driving occurred including Preston getting sick on the subway and the sheer amount of walking we were already doing.
2.) Speaking of Coney Island
My family is a HUGE HUGE fan of the hotdog eating contest held at Coney Island every year on the 4th of July. We watch it every single year. I always thought it'd be fun to go there, but never thought we'd actually do it. Buuuut since we drive around the city a ton, why not drive all the way to the opposite tip of Brooklyn to check out Coney Island?! It was honestly a lovely surprise. The boardwalk was cute, it wasn't busy, and we got a Nathan's Famous Hotdog. The onion rings were absolute yum.
3.) Eating was challenging
While were on the subject of food, it was not easy for my big family to eat in the Big Apple! When we tried to pack ahead of time, we had to lug way more stuff than we were already lugging so that was hard. If we tried to eat while out, we got into some pickles. For example, we were in Washington Park and had promised the boys a NYC hot dog. Josh went up to get those from a vendor so we could eat in the park and learned that particular hotdog stand only took cash, which we had run out of. By the time we found an ATM and got situated, we weren't near the park anymore so we had to change plans. We ended up eating slices of pizza in Little Italy literally on the side of the road. No park was near, no benches, no nothing.
 |
| My Italians in Little Italy |
We had very limited food selections near our Airbnb too, which was difficult.
Anyway, there was a lot of pizza and hotdogs consumed, but that's very New York so I guess it's okay, right?!
 |
| HOTDOGS |
4.) My kids don't travel the same way
You might be thinking DUH and yes, that's fair, but each time we travel, people are a little bigger and are changing themselves so you never know exactly what you're going to get. Judah and especially Nolan are great walkers. They were amazing in Toronto and so we had high expectations for them in NYC. For the most part, they were amazing, but Judah, always the independent, wasn't really into staying right by us. The crowded-ness of NYC is so different than any other place that we've been so Judah made us nervous several times.
Carter got tired walking easily and I guess I have to understand that, he's four. Preston hardly got to actually explore the city himself- an 18 month old walking by himself in the city did NOT fit. He always wanted to pick up everything off the ground and sometimes eat it.
Nolan is an absolute rock star- wanted to know all the history of everything, see everything, and was game to go anywhere in the city. As long as we never had to wait for anything, he was spectacular. But I already know he has the travel bug so that didn't surprise me.
5.) We saw four of the five Burroughs
If someone had told me I would've seen Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island in one four day trip I would've said you were nuts. Buuuuut with our extra driving, we got to see SO much more of New York City than I've ever seen. That was really cool and something we weren't anticipating. We got to drive on almost all the bridges, which was a huge highlight for the boys.
 |
| playground in Staten Island... of course there were lots of playgrounds ;) |
6.) Walking the Brooklyn Bridge was awesome
I'd seen it done in Sex and the City, I'd seen it done on the Real Housewives of New York, but after spending time on the Brooklyn Promenade (probably my favorite sight of the whole trip), we ended up walking the bridge too. We all really enjoyed it. What an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful bridge.
 |
| Nolan and I walking the Brooklyn Bridge |
7.) We saw my teaching partner and her husband, in Manhattan... on accident!
Katie flew in with her husband for the premier and couldn'tve been staying farther away from us basically. Sure enough, on Monday morning, as I was pushing Preston around the High Line near the Hudson Yards, Josh called me to meet back up with him as he was talking to BRIAN AND KATIE! So crazy! In a city of 10 million people we were all literally at the right place at the right time.
 |
| Thanks for the picture, Brian! ;) |
8.) Brooklyn Promenade
Walking around the piers near the Brooklyn Promenade was my favorite thing we did the whole trip. The skyline was absolutely stunning. We went down there on Saturday morning and walked around in the midst of Brooklynites shuffling their kids to soccer games, walking their dogs, and taking a run along the shoreline. After the Crash Test World premiere, I decided to Uber over there to see the Manhattan skyline at night all by myself. Sitting on a bench in quiet was surreal and magical.
 |
| The beauty hurts <3 |
9.) We literally don't fit in NYC
There wasn't a single family we saw with four kids. Honestly, we only saw maybe one family with three kids (who were all tweens and teens). A family of six does not fit in New York City very well. We didn't fit well getting on the subway, we didn't fit well walking in crowded areas, we didn't fit well trying to find a place to sit and eat, and we didn't fit well on the sidewalks. In fact, it was super challenging finding a place to stay. We were booking last minute on a holiday weekend, which certainly was part of the problem, but NYC spaces are small and my family is not. Can you imagine how expensive a 3 bedroom Manhattan Airbnb might be per night?! Holy Toledo. We got SO lucky to find our place in Brooklyn- 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, AND a fenced-in backyard!
I can't tell you how many looks, questions, and whispers we got as we tried to trot around the city. I love love my big family, but we are a wide load circus for sure.
 |
| Barely fitting in a selfie barely fitting in the city |
10.) On our way out of the city
So that we could do most of the drive during the night, we got up to go home around 3am. Because we are a sucker for touristy things and a sucker for adventure, instead of talking the suggested route, we drove a bit out of our way to go to Time's Square. We never got there as we walked around Manhattan and were feeling like the kids would love to see it. Time's Square at 3am is lovely ;) What a sensational way to end the trip.
 |
| BYE <3 |
While the trip was going on, I wanted to turn around and go home several times. It was really stressful- keeping everyone together, keeping everyone happy, keeping everyone alive. Thankfully, every night as we shared smiles and frowns, the smiles were full of buildings we saw, how gorgeous the city was, how much they LOVED everything about NYC.
I don't think it was the right time to shuffle four young kids around one of the mega-cities of the world, but we found ourselves wondering if there would ever be a right time??
That's kinda how it is traveling with a large family- it's going to be challenging, you're probably going to want to go home a few times, there will be tears shed... probably by children AND adults, but it is also so so so so worth it. I can't say that enough.
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