Wow, this one really got away from me. I was originally waiting to post until I got Beth's pictures, however, she sent them to me promptly 2 weeks ago.
I procrastinate... I do...it's just part of who I am...love me or hate me.
Last month, Adam and I, along with his brother Kenny and his wife Beth, all took a road trip up to New York. We had all been talking about it for a while now and finally decided to work out the kinks (by kinks I'm referring to kids, pets, money, and jobs) and do it. Adam's and Kenny's family is compiled of some of the most fun loving, and generous people I've had the pleasure of spending time with. This trip proved no different. Of course, in true Martin style, they all begged for us to stay with them. In the end, the "winners" (ha ha) were his Uncle Dave and Aunt Ellen. This was for no particular reason other than the fact that we had planned on coming up and staying with them back in December but ended up having to cancel our plans.
Dave and Ellen live in the CUTEST little farm house that they have been renovating for past several years. Their yard looked like it was straight out of "Anne of Green Gables", complete with a real outhouse, a babbling brook, and a little red bridge. Picture perfect to say the least.
On our first day there we drove straight into the city so we could have a couple hours of shopping before meeting up with the family. About 1/2 way through the Lincoln Tunnel we learned that there had been 2 suspicious packages found in Times Square and the area had been evacuated. I guess we should be thankful for traffic because by the time we got there things were back to normal. After we had our fill, we drove back to Dave and Ellen's where we enjoyed a cookout on the patio and then hit the hay.
The next day we all took a trip to Hoboken, NJ and visited the famous
Carlo's Bakery. Yes that's right, The Cake Boss!!! We went in and got some cookies, cannoli's, and an UNBELIEVABLE apple crumb pie. Don't ask me why we got a pie, Adam choked, and if you know my husband he does NOT do well under pressure. It ended up being the best mistake ever. After we had our fill of baked goods and a few cocktails at the corner bar, we headed over to Staten Island to their cousin Danny's house. Did we take the ferry you ask? Oh no, that would be because the Staten Island ferry crashed into the dock earlier that day. Holy catastrophe, we were starting to think we had brought the end of days up with us to NY. So anyway, Danny's house, talk about cute, they live in a beautiful little brick cottage right across the street form a park. It was really gorgeous. There we met up with all the rest of the clan, including the newest addition who none of us had met yet, Danny's daughter Ava. She is 18 months old and she is adorable. Danny's wife Jenn had a feast prepared for all of us and then dessert was enough to kill a lesser man. Needless to say, it was fantastic!
We ended the trip way to early but needed to get back to those pesky kinks (with the exception of Harper of course). We were sad to go but now that we know the way, the next expedition will not be far off.
Our prayers go out to Danny and his family as he is fighting a brain tumor discovered last fall. We know the battle is not an easy one, but in the end, we have no doubt he will win the war.
Day one..."Green Shirt Day"
What did I tell you, an outhouse.
Day two..."Black Shirt Day"
Kenny and Adam with their Cousin Danny at dinner.
Cousins Sierra & Ava
The family...some of us were more ready for the picture than others.
Kenny, Beth, Adam, me, Dave, and Ellen
Day three (going home)..."Blue Shirt Day" (seriously, are they brothers or what?)
