Our trip to New Jersey was a special one. What a crew of us stayed in Jay and Shirley's big old house! Three complete generations were under one roof. Our family, Jonathan and his family, and Mark was there too. We introduced Vincent to twenty or so cousins, including a set of twins just younger than him. We met our beautiful niece and her lovely mother for the first time.
Aren't those the most kissable cheeks?!? I assure you, they are. Zoe enjoyed watching Kerrigan eat, and both kids really liked her toys, especially what Zoe keeps calling the "applesaucer." (She means exersaucer.)
Vincent is not asleep under there, just resting for a moment. With all the excitement of playing with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents, he needed his rest. We romped in remnants of snow on our first day in New Jersey (sledding, snow angels, and a snow elk), and made a couple trips to the playground that David, Jonathan, and Mark played at as children. Vince went down the slide over and over again.
On Sunday evening, the whole clan gathered for a Passover Seder. So much family together is a wonderful, special thing. Jay leads the Seder, and Zoe helped her grandpa make the charoset for the Seder Plate. Zoe's favorite part of the festive meal was the egg soup, which Jay also made. She's mentioned it a few times since, so it really made an impression. If Vincent remembers anything about Seder, it will be that he spent much of the evening without pants on, having wet his through about the time Dayenu was sung.
Another big event for Zoe was a surprise early birthday party magicked up by Grandpa and Grandma. Some cousins dropped by, ice cream cake appeared, and there were presents. What a fun time for our birthday girl!
The travel itself went very smoothly, with all flights on time and connections easy to make. The trip to New Jersey was during normal waking hours. The flight back was a red eye, so a little more difficult. Poor Vincent begged me to put him to bed. "Night night...night night!" he wailed. He did eventually fall asleep in my arms. This was Vincent's last trip as a "lap infant," thank goodness. He wanted his own seat and his own buckle and his own tray table. Happily, the rough patches were brief, and in any case, it was a trip well worth making.
