Exploring New York City with Our Nieces By The Dreamer · Kassie’s Journal

There’s something quietly powerful about watching people you love experience a place you already know by heart.

Rick and I live here. New York is our everyday. Errands, routines, favorite corners we don’t think twice about anymore. But for five summer days, the city shifted. It slowed down just enough for us to notice it again.

The heat was relentless. That kind of sticky, heavy summer heat that settles into your bones and makes air-conditioning feel like a small miracle. We walked anyway. We ducked inside when we needed to. We learned quickly that shade, cold drinks, and movie theaters are not optional in August. They are survival.

What stayed with me most weren’t the landmarks, though there were plenty of those. It was the in-between moments.

Watching them press their hands against the cool glass of the penguin enclosure at the zoo after being outside too long. The way they leaned over ferry railings, hair whipping everywhere, pointing out locations they recognized from movies. The seriousness with which food was evaluated. Pizza slices weighed against expectations. Frozen hot chocolate is declared a bold and filling choice. The expected highs of ramen and tacos. The unexpected lows of cocktail shrimp and watermelon juice.

At dusk in Central Park, lightning bugs flickered near the trees. The city softened. We climbed statues, lingered longer than planned, and let the day stretch instead of rushing to the next thing. It felt like a pause, which is rare in a city that never asks you to stop.

There were moments of exhaustion. Moments when the heat won. Moments when plans changed mid-sentence, and that was fine. Better than fine, actually. Because those detours led to laughter and the kind of memories that don’t need photos to stay vivid. We learned more about the young women our two nieces, our third and fourth, are becoming. That alone made the trip something we would not trade for the world.

New York didn’t feel like a destination that week. It felt like a backdrop for connection. For noticing. For remembering that the best parts of travel, even at home, happen when you let go of doing everything and pay attention to what’s already right in front of you.

Want the full trip overview, photos, and video?

Read NYC with Our Nieces: Five Summer Days in the City That Never Sleeps → https://www.kassiejrunyan.com/post/nyc-with-two-of-our-nieces-five-summer-days-in-the-city-that-never-sleeps