Part 2 of our trip East

Early Sunday morning we hoped in the car and drove 2 hours into New Jersey. Our first stop was the Zemanik's home to show off Rachel and to say "hi". Unfortunately, Meg wasn't able to be home since she was moving. But we had a good visit with Mr and Mrs Z. We were spoiled with pancakes with fresh blueberries and strawberries. They were so yummy! Even Rachel was excited for them. I sat done at the table , pushed my plate further away so Rachel couldn't reach them (so I thought) and sat Rachel on my lap. The next thing I knew half my pancake was gone! She had snagged it and stuffed her face! I was surprised how much she managed to shove in such a small space.


We were only able to stay at the Zemanik's for an hour before continuing our journey south for a surprise 80th birthday party for my Grandmom Taylor. She certainly was shocked. She took one step back and held onto the wall. Tons of family was there. My dad was able to make the trip up so it was fun to see him this weekend. I saw family I hadn't seen in YEARS! This was the first time that Rachel met either of her grandmoms and she got to meet them both at the same place.

After the party we gathered together at my Aunt Donna's for more reminiscing and stories of how the surprise was pulled off. I also found out that my grandmom Taylor had been upset with me for not giving her a specific time I was going to come see her (I was vague do to the party). She even baked a cake for us and was upset that nobody threw a party for us. She said it all makes sense now. She baked an apple raisin cake. I have to admit I was a little hesitant to try it because I normally just eat chocolate but I had a piece and it was delicious. I was thinking about it earlier today wanting another piece. Grams- do you think you can send me the recipe?

From there we went to Grandmom Hilda's to relax for the night. She was so sweet to let us crash at her house for the rest of our trip. I was excited to go swimming in her pool, so we didn't spend much time after brining our bags up to our room before changing into a bathing suit and jumping in. The water was 84*- that's warmer than the pool water here. Dad stopped by later and we watched home videos from when mom was there last time.

Then it was off to bed! Our adventure continues...