First Day in New York

I arrived in Albany about ten minutes ahead of schedule thanks to a tail wind from Chicago. It was so great to see my sister waiting in her mini van at the curb. Despite having flown all day, I was pretty stinking jazzed to spend the next six hours catching up.

Our ride to the farm was fairly uneventful, only interrupted once by jaywalking guinea fowl. I wasn't fast enough with my camera, but it suffices to say they were goofy looking and in the way. :-)

Upon arrival at the house I was greeted by Rory who is SO big now, I almost didn't recognize him.  Crazy! His greeting was somewhat unsure, but he warmed up quickly. See the picture below for proof of that sweetness.

Joe was waiting inside with a big hug for Auntie Amy! That guy is sweet and fun and also HUGE. One year is too long between visits for this auntie.

We spent the evening getting reacquainted. The main attractions for the night were Rory's new basketball hoop and taking pictures with Auntie Amy's phone. Some of the results are below.

I arrived back at my B&B around 10:30 to find the front door inaccessible due to a guest accidentally locking the knob instead of just the code accessible deadbolt. A few quick phone calls later and I received instructions to walk down the side yard to the kitchen door which was blessedly unlocked. It's the country, people.

I got a good night's sleep and enjoyed a lovely breakfast of quiche and fresh fruit before being picked up by my sister in order to attend Rory's end of the year IEP meeting. It was great to hear about all the progress he has made.

And let me say this publicly and loudly: my sister IS Wonder Woman. When her youngest was diagnosed with EoE, a disorder that could have completely destroyed his esophagus, necessitating tube feeding for the rest of his life, she eliminated all grains, gluten, soy, casein (dairy) and all preservatives from his diet. She learned to make everything he needed from scratch to slow down his refluxing. Today his feeding specialist and his nutritionist, along with the rest of Rory's IEP team applauded all her hard work and sacrifices, explaining that it has all worked. Well done, Sis! !
Now we are headed out to volunteer in Joe's classroom for the afternoon.
Here are the pics!