New Jersey!

One of our very favorite places in the world to visit is New Jersey. I know it isn't a typical vacation hot spot and I'm sure we'd never have gone there on our own, but when you want to visit family and that family lives in New Jersey, then you do what you have to do. And actually it turns out, even without family, there is a ton to do there and it does make a great vacation destination.

Anyway, we had planned since last fall that we we would be heading out for a family reunion there in August. Then the announcement came from our hosts that they would be welcoming a new addition to the family at that time instead and that most likely a large family reunion would not be the best idea. Later though, Aliosn assured us that some family would be fine, especially since Isabel would most likely be getting baptized around that time and would love to have her cousins in attendance. So we kept our plans on the calendar. Then we began to wonder if we would be able to go after all with the expense of two unexpected trips to Kentucky that happened. Finally we decided to count all of our change that we'd been keeping in a jar for the past couple of years and see what it amounted to. We discovered that change really does add up and that we could still afford to go. So then the issue was tim. e I had time. The kids had time. But Kalen didn't. In fact right up until the night before, we weren't sure he would be coming with us. I told myself that I'd be okay with that and it would be worth 12 hours in the car with 5 kids to be able to see our family. But when he announced that he wasn't coming after all, I totally burst into tears. Apparently he can be swayed by tears (note to self). He decided to come after all and just bring his work with him. I ffelt terrible that he wasn't going to be able to do much with us, but it sure made the trip much better with him along. We did a lot of reading and some much needed talking too. Anyway, I apoligize for yet another enormous post, but this is more for me than anyone else. You can all just look at the pictures and skip the narration if you wish.

The Night Before:

Ever since Lynnsey found out that her cousin Cecily had lost a tooth, she was determined to get her loose tooth out too. (And we were a bit anxious as well since we were pretty sure that the New Jersey tooth fairy probably brings more money that the one we have here). That night, she met with success. She was SO excited. That thing has been loose for a year and a half. Sure enough the next morning, we could already see the new tooth growing in.

Day One:

Lots of driving. More driving. It ended up taking us 12 1/2 hours to get there. We had Mom and Timothy following us and Timothy's car has a really small gas tank. So about the time we'd hit a half tank in our car, Timothy would call and tell us he was on empty. And apparently Lynnsey also has a small tank, only in her case, it seemed to fill up and need emptying quite a lot. So we stopped more than we had wanted to. But the kids did great in the car. Kaya had her moments but by the end she had just resigned herself to the monotony and ended up sleeping a great deal. We got a little turned around once we got to Cinnaminson where Alison and Mike live and ended up calling them. Mike ended up coming to meet us and letting us follow him home. Everyone had waited up for us and the kids were so excited to see each other. It took us a couple of more hours to get everyone settled down and to bed.

Day Two:

In spite of a late night, the kids were all up with the sun. After breakfast Kalen settled in for a day of work in Mike's home office. Tim and MaryAnn (Mike's parents) came over and we piled into their van and Alison's vehicle for a trip to Philadelphia. Having lived in the area for many years, Mike's parents proved to be excellent tour guides. We had a lot of fun and saw lots of great historical sites.

I'm actually not sure what this building was, but it was old and and cool looking. Mostly we just thought the kids all sitting up there made for a good photo op.

Of course we had to see the liberty bell.

And Independence Hall. It was was fun to watch Taylor and Kendall, who have both seen the National Treasure movies, taking in some of the sites . At one point we were walking past a brick wall that had a loose brick and Kendall pretended to pull out the brick to retrieve the next clue in the treasure hunt...

Here they are at the Mint. We went inside but they don't allow cameras. Plus, it was Friday afternon and apparently they were having an early day and had shut down all the equipment already. The kids had a great time on the escalators though. Spencer still talks about that like it was a highlight of the trip.

This bust of Ben Franklin was pretty amazing. It was made out of pennies.

We also visited a museum that was all about Ben Franklin. The kids liked this area where you could dial different numbers and hear a recording telling them about different individuals in history. We also rested our weary feet and went into a theater to see a short movie about Ben Franklin.

This was just a random spot on a wall that the kids climbed onto on our walk back to the car. Cecily and Lynnsey were together non-stop on this trip. They were so cute together.

That evening we had the big birthday bash for Spencer and Isabel (who share the same birthday) that Spencer was insisting had to be in Jew Jersey so that his cousin Bentley could be there for it. They opened a few presents.

Then everyone decorated his or her own cupcake. (Spencer's allergy-free one made the trip with us from Michigan).

And then everyone got to blow out a candle. The birthday kids had two candles to blow.


Day Three:

The kids were up bright and early again and had fun with the absolutely precious Lydia. She is just the sweetest baby. And so adorable with all that hair and those big squeezy cheeks.

She is just so cute. I lost track of how many times one of my kids would lament the loss of Kaya's newborn days. I did a bit of that myself. But no one asked for a new sibling which I found rather interesting.

This was a big day for Isabel! We were so excited to be there for such a special occasion. Kendall especially didn't want to miss it.

Day Four:

This was a Sunday and we enjoyed attending church with Alison and Mike. The kids enjoyed going to Primary with their cousins where they made pictures with those little glass rocks like you see in fish tanks glued on as stepping stones to the temple. They were pretty cute. But we left them in New Jersey on purpose. You'll understand why after day 5. Anyway, we had one mishap that was my fault. I forgot to let the Primary teachers know that Spencer has food allergies. I wasn't even thinking about snacks at all. So the teacher gave the kids graham crackers and when Spencer didn't eat his she told him he needed to. Instead of being outspoken about things he can't eat like he usually does, he ate it. And got sick. His eyes were swelling and his skin was breaking out by the time we got home and gave him Benadryl. But before it could do anything, he threw up. We gave him more Benadryl and he seemed fine after that, thank goodness.

We ate dinner that afternoon at Tim and MaryAnn's and played a fun game of Scattergories before coming back to Alison and Mike's and having more visiting and play time.

Day 5:

One of the best parts of visiting New Jersey in the summertime is a day spent at the shore. We were busily gathering the necessary items to go that morning while the kids were playing. All of a sudden Spencer came into the room with a panicked expression on his face and told me he had swallowed a rock. Evidently, the stepping stones to the temple weren't staying on the pictures. The kids had each claimed one and were calling them Friendship Rocks. I asked Spencer why he had it in his mouth and his response was "I didn't. It just got in there and swallowed iteself." Later he confessed to me that he was pretending it was candy and it just slid down his throat. Anyway, at first I wasn't too worried. I figured that kids swallow stuff all the time and it would work its way out in a few days. I was't thrilled about having to look for it, but neverhtless, I just figured we'd deal with it. I had him drink some water to see if that would assist it's journey to his digestive system. The water seemed to go down and he was breathing fine, but he said he could still feel it in his throat. He ate a pretzel which came right back up again so I decided we'd better go and have him looked at. Alison, Mom and I drove him to the emergency room. I fully expected that we wouldn't be delayed more than an hour or two. I was wrong.

At first, the place was an adventure and you can see that Spencer was in good spirits. They took him for an x-ray and sure enough, the darn rock was stuck in his esophogus.

This isn't the best picture but if you look closely at the very top of his chest, you can make out a nice round shape. The doctor said it appeared to be stuck in a pouch where things tend to lodge in young kids and it would have to be removed. The problem: this particular hospital wasn't equipped to do this on a child. We had to be transported by ambulance to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Alison went back home and Mom and I rode in the ambulance with Spencer. After arriving there we realized that the day at the shore was not going to happen. They told us that they couldn't fit him in for surgery until the next morning (later they wouldn't even commit to that and said they'd just have to see). They were also worried because the normal tool that they use for retrieving objects from esophogus's probably wouldn't work on a slippery rock, so they were discussing piecing together a new contraption to try to get it. Not exactly what I wanted to hear. Meanwhile poor Spencer wasn't allowed any food or drink and we had a very long day.

He watched a lot of TV and spent some time in the play room and complained multiple times of being "so, so, so, so,so, so hungry". Poor kid. He promised me he would never eat rocks ever again as if that might make it so we could leave the hospital. I was so glad to have Mom with me but I felt terrible because she was missing the beach and I know she had been looking forward to it. It seems she is destined this year to spend an inordinate amount of time in hopitals.

Finally, after we watched Wall-E, I decided it was time for Spencer to settle in for the night since they were coming to do another x-ray at about 5 a.m. I was just getting him tucked in when he told me that he felt like he was going to throw up. He had told me that repeatedly all day but nothing would ever come up. But I got his cup for him and held it under his mouth. Sure enough, this time he threw up. And he got the funniest most excited look on his face and said :I don't have to sleep here tonight because the rock is out!" I dumped the contents of the cup into the sink and there it was. We were all so excited! Spencer just kept saying "I didn't have to be here at all!" We found a nurse who alerted the doctor on call who had to alert a bunch of other doctors. Anyway, it took awhile before they actually discharged him, but we really did get to go home that night.

And here is the cause of the whole ordeal. I love this expression on Spencer's face. Unfortunately, I may have the same expression when I get all the hospital bills. Two out of network hopitals and an ambulance ride probably will exceed the amount we took out of our penny jar.

In the meantime...While we were bundled up in blankets in a 50 degree hospital room, Alison and Mike and Tim and MaryAnn had decided to go ahead with the trip to the shore. It sounds like they had such a fun time. It was one of their hottest days of the summer but the water was perfect. They played for hours and then had pizza on the boardwalk before topping the day off on the rides.

Day 6:

Since Spencer had missed out on the fun the previous day, we let him choose the activity this day. He picked the children's museum which ended up being a good choice since the weather was still insanely unbearable. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so it was very crowded. We had fun anyway even with some irritable kids who were exhausted from the previous day.

After the museum we stopped and bought some Water Ice. So yummy and refreshing on such a hot day. It was the closest thing I've found to Eegee's which we used to get in Arizona all the time. It almost satisfied my years-long craving.

The Last Day:

It always goes too fast! Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Michigan.

Lydia won't look like this the next time we see her! Sweet girl.

The kids crammed in as much last minute play time as they could get while we loaded up the vehicles. It was a sad farewell with Bentley climbing into our van to give Spencer one last hug before we left and then not wanting to let go.

The drive back we made better time but it seemed longer since there wasn't anything to look forward to when we arrived. It was nice to sleep in our own beds again but the next day the kids just seemed lost without their cousins to play with. I think we are all hoping that the next visit will come soon! Thanks Alison and Mike for letting us invade your house so soon after having a new baby. We had so much fun and loved being able to see Lydia and be there for Isabel's baptism.