Jersey Summer Lovin'

Friday 8/7:
-We left San Antonio at 6pm and arrived in Philadelphia around 12:15 am. Dad, as per tradition, picked us up from the airport. He was smiling so big when he saw my baby bump :)
-We chatted the whole drive home, I was surprised we were all able to stay awake. I'm pretty sure we are all very exhausted (I didn't sleep on the plane this time because I was pretty uncomfortable...and also really into Gone With the Wind.)
-We got to Grandma's house a little before two....and of course Gram was still up to greet us. We chatted for a while...then crashed on the pull-out couch.
-I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve though! I was so excited to see my family and to have the baby shower the next day!

Saturday 8/8:
-First, it was a high of 85, at the most, pretty much every day we were visiting. It was amazing. That's like 20 degrees cooler than Texas!! I was in heaven.
-Tim and I slept in until about 9, but people started coming over to get ready for the shower so we had to get our lazy bums out of bed!
-Chelsea brought us some delicious bagels for breakfast, which was so sweet.
-At 10:30 we picked up Jenica from the bus station (she came down from her internship in the city!!!!)! Such a joyous reunion! I love her so much, and I am so grateful we were able to spend so much time with her during our trip.

-When we got back to Gram's we had some lunch and started getting ready for the shower.
-The baby shower went from 3-6 and it was absolutely lovely. So many people I love were there to celebrate with us! We were so overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone's generosity. We felt so spoiled and so loved.

-After the shower we helped with the clean-up, then some of us went back upstairs to Gram's and hung out. For some reason a pizza from Carlos' was ordered...because we hadn't eaten enough that day...but oh my goodness----my months of craving Jersey pizza was FINALLY satisfied and I was so happy. Jenica serenaded Mason for a while on her ukulele, and we all (including Mom, Chelsea, Gram, Tim, Jenica, Mason and I) enjoyed a relaxing evening after the big party.

Mmm sooo gooood.  

-Jenica stayed the night with us, and she and I stayed up way too late (as per usual) talking and discussing life and putting on weird facial masks hahahaha. But we love it :)

Sunday 8/9:
-Jenica, Tim, and I woke up early (which was pretty tough) to make it to church. It always feels like home when I walk into that Freehold Ward building. So many memories made there have helped shape me into the person I've become. It's always wonderful to see so many people who were so critical in my life!
-After church we were starving, and so so happy to see a delicious spread of veggies and cheese and crackers Gram had prepared for us. She was so sweet and considerate of Jenica's food allergies. After lunch we all pretty much crashed and took naps, haha. I think everyone was pooped from too much partying the day before ;)
-The whole fam went over to the Z's for a family bbq. Gotta love that redneck outdoor kitchen ;) We played two-hand-touch football, and since I'm the pregnant lady I got to be quarterback and no one could touch me. My team won, of course, with some crucial plays by Timmy and Jenica. It was really fun to play football with all my siblings again. I can still kick your trash Anthony! haha.

-Later that evening everyone really wanted to go over to the boardwalk (since Uncle Mike and cousin Richy were visiting from upstate NY). It was a beautiful evening to walk around.

-Jenica stayed the night with us again and it was great :)

Monday 8/10:
-Tim and I dropped Jenica off at the bus stop early so she could make it to the city in time for work!
-We had a perfectly lovely beach day with Mom, Chell, Gurpreet, and Mason. Tim still thinks it's ridiculous that you have to pay to get on the beach in New Jersey (and it is)....but worth it. Except is was a little sad to see some of the lasting effects of Hurricane Sandy. The sand on the beach is just not the same. We soaked up lots of sun and splashed in the waves, mostly sitting on the sand right at the wave break, and playing with Mason. It was a little chilly and rough to really go far out.

^This is from when Chelsea dropped her soda can and it exploded and wet soda dirt got all over us...

-On the way home we got some delicious pizza at Lino's :) My grandpa's favorite pizza place. I have very fond memories as a little girl of sitting on the counter-top and playing with dough that Lino gave us. I could also drink their sauce. So. Good.

^Tim had the best silly voices...but was not really into me capturing them...boo

-Mom (and Mason) had a sleepover with us that night. We talked all things baby and it was wonderful. (It was also a blessing because Gram got really sick in the middle of the night and I'm so glad Mom was there to help.)

Tuesday 8/11:
-Mason joined Tim and I (aka I stole him) for some good morning snuggles. I love that little man. I'm so glad Tim finally got to meet him! They were best buds.

-This day was rainy and kinda lazy. Mom, Chell, Tim, Mason, and I went to the movies to see Inside Out! Super cute movie. Mason fell asleep on Tim's shoulder and it was the cutest thing ever. We also wandered around the mall for a little while (since the movie we were originally planning on seeing was sold out.) We had a really good time.

^Found a Yoda hat in the disney store! Shoulda bought it.  

^Sleeping baby on your shoulder=the best 

 -We hung out at home for the rest of the evening...watching Shark Tank with Dad and chasing cats away from us, haha. I convinced everyone to play cranium with me (not an easy task people!) and I think we all had a blast! One of my favorite memories from the trip. After cranium, Gurpreet brought out the game he made for one of his classes...and we played...and I laughed the entire time because of how ridiculous it was.

Wednesday 8/12:
-Mom, Timmy, Mason, Chell, Dakota, Gurpreet, and I went over to the Manasquan Resevoir for a picnic lunch this day! Goodness, it was so incredibly beautiful. I miss all my east coast trees so much! I just love looking up and seeing nothing by sun shining through a canopy of leaves. We wandered around for a while trying to find a good spot to actually picnic...and it took a little while...and we had some major complainers (hemhem Chelsea/Dakota, haha). But we finally found a little grassy area off the path and settled in for some delicious sandwiches. It was a beautiful day and I'm glad we got to spend it with these peeps.

^This giggle kills me. And oh...yeah...pizza on my lap :) (I LOVE NONSTOP PIZZA!)

-On the way home we stopped at the farm to see Dakota's horses, and drop her off for practice. It's so funny to see how much my family has transformed since I left home...they are so farm people now...never would have imagined that! It's good though.

-Grandma had everyone over for dinner...a delicious spread of pizza/wings/penne vodka from Carlo's (my favorite!). Yummy yummy in my tummy.

-We ate pretty quickly because we had a bingo game to get to! Love playing bingo with Gram. There is absolutely no talking aloud during the game--or you will be violently shushed by all the old ladies! And trust me, you don't want that! We were all losers, except Chelse won $5!

-Later that evening Chelsea, Gram, Gup, Dakota, Tim and I played a fun trivia game

Thursday 8/13:
-Early in the morning we caught the bus into New York and met up with Jenica in the heart of Times Square (where her office was.) It was such a miracle---work was letting her out super early so we got to spend the entire afternoon and evening with her! Happy day :)
-Our first stop (of course) was picking up some Jambas down a couple blocks.

-Then we took the subway to Greenwich Village where we wandered around....we ate delicious pizza, looked into different shops, and played in the water fountain :) I love being with Jenica because she inspires me to live it up! Probably would not have gone in the fountain without her, always a good time with my bestie :)  They also had some really nice clean public restrooms in the park there....nothing could've made this pregnant lady more happy. I totally went twice haha.

-We then walked over to Little Italy. We got some amazingly pure gelato (? I don't know how else to describe it---tasted just like we were eating the actual fruit!), and found this giant Christmas store. Super random, but we love Christmas!

^Pink Santa?? Why?!

^Kinda love this. haha. 

-From Little Italy we went over to China Town. After looking around for a bit we took a rest in the park. Oh, it felt so good to sit and stretch for a little bit! We were serenaded by some Chinese karoke-ers :) and I adored seeing the tables of elderly people playing Maj-Jong (or whatever)-the guys at one table and the ladies at another (and they all had umbrellas for some reason too??). I really felt like a fly on the wall in this Chinese community. It was fun to just sit back and observe the customs of that community.

^Finding our Zen in the park 

^So stanky 

 

-We were also on a mission while in China Town! Gram requested we bring her back plastic Chinese soup spoons, if we could find them. We went into so many different markets...but no one spoke English very well....and had no idea what I was asking for. This one sweet lady wrote down a secret message in Chinese on a slip of paper and told me to show it to someone on the street and they would let me know where to go...it was awesome. We eventually found this 4 story grocery store and miraculously in the basement we found the spoons! Hurrah! Jenica also did some lovely interpretive dance to the music :) And the owner let me use the employee only bathroom (which was pretty sketchy) but I was so grateful! Thank you baby bump! We also enjoyed seeing all the whole roasted poultry in the store front windows, haha.

^The secret message!!!!

-After China Town we took the subway over to the World Trade Memorial (we considered walking, but decided against it because we were starting to feel pretty tired.) The Memorial was so peaceful. I'm so glad we were able to sit and reflect on such a pivital moment in our nation's history, and our own personal histories as well. We all shared our feelings from that day, what we were doing, and where we were when we heard the news. That memory will forever be seared into my mind. I will never forget!

-For dinner we went to Shake Shack. I had heard so many great things about it-and there was one super close to where we were. The burger and fries were pretty delicious....although we left still a little bit hungry. 

-We took the subway back up to Times Square after dinner to make it to our show! We saw Phantom of the Opera to top off the perfect day in the city! And the man at the door even let us cut the line when he noticed da bump---bless you baby! We sat at the tippy top, but it was still amazing. I also may or may not have taken my shoes off in the theater because my feet were totally swelling with being on them all day and it being so hot. Unfortunately the people behind us did not obey the no phone during the show rule (ugh! the worst!!) but we didn't hold back our annoyance. By the second act they finally got the hint I think.

-After the show we were so exhausted as we made our way to Jenica's apartment. We had a fun little sleepover...and all crashed pretty hard pretty fast.

Friday 8/14:
-In the morning we grabbed some quick breakfast on the way to work (for Jenica) and the bus (for us). We dropped Jenica off with lots of hugs and love, then slept on the bus the whole way back :)
-Mom and Gup and Mason picked us up at the bus stop and brought us home to quickly get changed so we could go crabbing at the bay! I'm tellin' you...the party never stopped.

^This little man (a million heart-eye emojis!)

-It was a perfect day near the water. Tim really enjoyed helping Gurpreet with the crab cages, and I enjoyed just sitting back and playing with Mason (and laughing at Dakota for taking ridiculous selfies for snapchat haha). Mom, Chell, and I walked with Mason along the little beach area, then Chell and I took over when mom wasn't feeling well and went back to the car to rest. We had a great time together, and Gup caught enough crabs for him and Gram to have a feast!

 

^Oh yeah...did I mention we picked up pizza (again?) :)

-We brought the crabs back to Gram's and Gup and Tim worked to clean them and cook them. Tim (and I) even tried some. Still not my favorite.

^Mason was really mad his buddy fell asleep and wouldn't play with him

-Later that evening we went to Dakota's horse show! It was a beautiful drive out to the farm and I loved walking around petting the horses and basking in the cool night air. I miss that so much. Tim and Mason were buddies there and it was adorable.

^Oh yeah...we stopped at Wawa on the way home too.... :)

-Grandma/Grandpa Z also came to watch so it was fun to spend some more time with them. Unfortunatlely while we were there my phone feel on a rock and the screen cracked pretty badly....still have to get that fixed....ughhh. It was fun to watch Kota ride though! I'm glad she has this in her life, she has such a passion for it.
-We left early (it was like 10pm, ha) so we could pack our bags. We ended up staying up until 3 am packing/squeezing everything into our bags....man, not an easy task. Wish mom could've been there with us, but she was sick that night :/ thank goodness Gram kept the fridge so well stocked with sodas and ice cream! haha.

Saturday 8/15:
-Gram made us a delicious breakfast to send us off. We had so much fun staying with her, as always. We then went over to the house to say goodbye to everyone. Luckily we caught Anthony just in time, we almost missed him. And we had to drag Gurpreet out of bed (it was almost noon) to give us hugs goodbye. Loser :P
-Dad took us over the hospital to say goodbye to mom. We didn't get to stay very long, so that was a little dissappointing. I was sad she got sick at the end of our visit :/ On our way to the airport we stopped for one last slice of beautiful, wonderful, amazing pizza. Heaven.

-On our flight back we reflected on the trip...and it always seems like the week flies by. We were so grateful for all the people we were able to see and spend time with, and for all the fun things we got to do. We were so grateful we were able to have this trip!! Our last time flying sans baby! Crazy!! And so so exciting.