Summer Vacation #1: New Jersey

The week of Memorial Day, we headed back east to our hometown for a much anticipated visit to see family and friends. This visit was the first in nearly 14 months and the family was itching for some quality time with the kids (and I guess the parents too). We spent a full week there to try to avoid the rushing around that usually comes with a trip back home. So what did we do while we were there? The usual visiting with family and friends as well as some fun things too. First of the mentionables was a trip to the Staten Island Zoo with my grandmother, aunt and cousin Daniel. The kids enjoyed the zoo, especially the petting area.

The next day, we took a trip to the Jersey shore. The weather was gorgeous, in the 80s with practically no humidity. Actually we had good weather all week with the exception of Tuesday when it was rainy and 100% humid, exactly what I despise about NJ weather. So back to the beach, we were joined by my mom and sister, cousin Greg, and later on cousin Suzie and her kids, Danielle and Michael. It was a fun time, we ate lunch and spent a few hours relaxing in the sun while the kids played around the water. Notice I didn't say in the water, because the water temp was in the 50s that early in the summer.



Other activities included a family BBQ on Memorial Day (complete with pulled pork sandwiches and homemade potato salad, both recipes courtesy of Emeril), a trip to NYC for me to spend time and have dinner with Jessica and then a drink with cousin Dan, swimming at Karen's house with "the boys" as Keely calls them, and dinner and play with Shannon, Derek and their adorable little girls. The kids also had a sleepover with Nana and Annie one night. All in all, we had a great time!