NYC

A couple years ago Andy and the boys decided to do 23 and me just for fun. When Eva saw it she asked if she could do one. We said sure and it was fun to see her results. A few months into Covid Andy got an email that Eva had a match. Usually he ignored these because they are so far removed it didn’t mean much. But this one came back as 25% which meant a half sibling.

Of course I started googling like crazy and found Grace and her dads. She was 19 at the time and they lived in NYC. They were fairly easy to find (one dad is an actor and one is a producer for shows like The Real Housewives). We told Eva (she was thrilled) and we all kept in touch during Covid and hoped that one day we would eventually get together. Eva and Grace have the same birth mother but different birth fathers.

So when Spring Break rolled around this year and travel seemed safer we decided to go to NYC. The whole family flew in from NC and Ohio but at the last minute Cole was exposed to Covid so he stayed home and took care of the pets.

Eva was so nervous and excited (and so was I). I have a video of her waiting for Grace to come over to the house we were renting in Brooklyn, she made Andy wait outside and be on the lookout and at the last minute she ran and hid. But then she came out and they hugged and it was amazing.

The first night we just hung out at the house and got take-out. Austin and Taylor were flying in later then the rest of us and arrived around 9pm. I honestly couldn’t have asked for it to go any smoother. We were like one big family

We got to meet up with Andys sister Julie and her family that live in NJ so that was pretty great as well.

Grace is dating Hugh Jackmans son and Hugh kindly gave us tickets to see his show The Music Man

It was Eva’s first musical

The older kids went out exploring and Eva had some decompression time. NYC was a lot for her. People, noise, emotions. She did great with only one crying episode on the subway after the show. She was so tired.

The next evening we all met up for dinner. The Jackmans adopted their two kids so are big advocates and wanted to meet Eva.

Hughs brother is a teacher so he was very interested in talking to Austin who is wrapping up his two years doing Teach for America

All in all a really amazing trip. Andy got to go back for work a couple weeks later and met up with Grace and Oscar for coffee.

I have said it before but man I love a big family and being able to expand ours has been so wonderful. There is always more room at the table!