New Jersey Trip

The kids and I recently returned from a trip to see my parents in New Jersey. Here is a summary of our trip.

Friday--We loaded up my sister Jennifer's car. She had arrived in the wee hours of the morning after taking finals at LSU the day before. We drove for about 14 hours and stopped in Tennessee only to realize we had lost an hour so it was even later than we thought. However, we made sure to wake up early so we could get our free breakfast.

Saturday--Drove for another 10 hours, and about half of it was in the rain. The kids started getting really restless because we couldn't let them out to run--not the most fun day. We finally arrived about 9:30 that night.

Sunday--Church and resting up. The kids played with their cousin. That afternoon Grandpa took them to the park, while Jennifer, my Mom, and I went to TJ Maxx.

Monday--My brother, Stephen, drove in and spent some time with us. He lives about 2 1/2 hours north of my parents. Grandpa took Isaac (my 9-year-old cousin that lives with my parents) and Evan to see Karate Kid. That afternoon Evan participated in Isaac's MMA class with him.

Tuesday--Grandpa, Evan, Claire, Jennifer, and I drove to New York. We had lots of fun. We saw the Statue of Liberty from the shore, saw Battery Park, rode the subway, and went to FAO Schwarz (where we played on the Big piano and Grandpa got the kids a toy). Then we went to visit my sister Emily's new apartment. She lives on Wall Street, so we walked past the New York Stock Exchange, and Trump Tower to get there. Her apartment is beautiful, but she has to pay quite a bit for that little bit of real estate and 2 roommates. We had some delicious New York pizza for dinner, and then took the subway to Time Square. In Time Square we walked and saw the sights, but the highlights for the kids were M&M World (where we got M&M's), taking a picture with SpongeBob, and getting their I heart NY t-shirts. Finally, we took the subway back to the car, and drove home. The kids passed out as soon as they hit their seats. It was a great day!

Wednesday--We needed to recover a bit from the big day before, so we took it easy in the morning. Then Jennifer decided to take the boys to the batting cages. Unfortunately, they were inexplicably closed. Instead they settled for McDonald's ice cream and playground. They boys went to the MMA class again, and then Jennifer took them to play Putt Putt golf.

Thursday--Grandpa, Jennifer, Isaac, the kids and I went to an indoor water park called Sahara Sam's. With the exception of a lunch break, the kids played in the water and went on slides non-stop for a 5 hours. The boys then went a MMA class. That evening, I held down the fort by staying with my Grandmother and all the kids, and my parents went to dinner to celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary. Claire was beyond exhausted and quite a mess this evening.

Friday--Grandpa, the kids, and I went to see the Statue of Liberty. You can actually go their from the New Jersey side of the shore, and since many people do not know about this, or have a way to get there, the lines are considerably shorter. We were able to get on the first Ferry after we got there. I would have liked to spend a little more time at Ellis Island, but the kids did not find it as interesting as I did. Evan was being kind of miserable because he was "Starving." We got back on to the ferry and headed over to the Statue of Liberty. We ate lunch, and Evan had a "New York" hot dog, which improved his mood considerably. Then we saw "The Lady" She was pretty amazing, and I was surprised that she made me feel a little emotional. Evan had lots of questions, so we stopped at the gift shop and bought a book that told her story (we also got Statue of Liberty suckers). We said Goodbye and headed back on the Ferry.
We got home, and had time for the Grandma, Jennifer, Claire, and I to go shopping. Jeffrey and Stephen, drove down after work, and got there around 9:30, so the kids stayed up late to play with their uncles.

Saturday--We got up, packed up, and headed to the airport for our ride home. The flight was uneventful, and the kids did pretty well (as long as you don't talk to the guy that was sitting in front of Claire and kept getting his seat pushed on). Ladd picked us up and I came home to a wonderful surprise. Seriously, one of the most awesome things that my husband has ever done for me...he redid our bedroom while I was gone--painted, put down wood floors, and put up a new ceiling fan. It is beautiful.

Well, we are now down to the last week of summer vacation. I hope to get lots done. Will let you know soon!