The Jersey Shore

After my mom spent several days in the City, we met my sister and her family at Newark airport. They were flying in for Brian's cousin's wedding and all Beth's in-laws flew in from Texas as well. Seeing Ryder was great!! He looks pretty much the same, but he does have 4 teeth now and he had just had his first hair-cut! He's slightly bigger and definitely feels more sturdy when I hold him. He's saying only a few words, like "da da", "all done", "hi", AND, he can moooo like a cow whenever you ask! He's not walking yet, but working on it. He was really staring at the escalators in the airport while we were waiting for Brian to get the rental car. So, I took him up and down them over and over again. He was walking with me behind him, holding on to my hands. Every time we came back down, I tried to steer him back to our chairs and he'd pull me in the direction to go back up! He's strong-willed! And I gave in every time. It was fun and it was good practice for his walking!

After meeting up with the McFarlane clan and getting our rental car, we drove from Newark to the Jersey Shore aka Long Beach Island. We stayed in a huge house with six bedrooms. Downstairs, Beth, Brian and Ryder were in one room, mom and I in another, and Brian's brother, John in the 3rd room. Upstairs was Brian's parents in the first room, his brother, Robert and his wife Melissa in another, and in the final room was their kids, Jordan, Jackson, and Harper. It was a great time! I loved being around all the kids! Especially Ryder, of course! But Jordan (5-years) and Jackson (3-years) are really sweet and a lot of fun too. Harper's a baby and still sleeps a lot!

Our house was on the bay-side of the island, so we had very peaceful water in our backyard-- literally just steps from the back door. We had a great porch off the second floor. The house came with lots of crab-catching baskets and the kids and Uncle John had a great time trying to catch crabs with chicken backs! They actually caught one and that was pretty exciting! The island is very skinny, so the ocean side is just a short walk across the street. There were huge waves!

I was only there for two nights and a day and a half-- not enough time! But, I had to get back to the City for a friend who had made plans to come to town before I knew my family would be in. Most of my time at the Shore was spent relaxing, working with Brian and Melissa on a puzzle, enjoying the back porch, playing with the kids, and watching the Cardinals/Mets playoff games! It was a good time and refreshing to be in such a relaxing place with family and friends for a few days.

Out our back door-- so peaceful!





























Ryder wearing the Pumpkin
t-shirt I brought him from NYC





































We saw some great fall foliage in the area. Mom
had us do a family photo shoot for her Christmas
card this year.













Ryder taking me to my bus to go home. After
this picture, he started crying and crying and
would not stop! My mom said he cried all the
way back to the house- about 15 minutes. I
like to think he was said to see me go!!