Our East Coast Junket: Part One

Lucy and her cousin Maddie

I am way overdue in updating our life with Lucy as of late!   Lets just say things have been a bit busy!  We had a wonderful ten day vacation jaunting up the east coast, visiting family and friends.  We finished out the trip in Western NY for the annual Barnes' family reunion.  The trip was so wonderful in so many ways. 

 In the interest of not getting overwhelmed by the 1000+ pictures that I have been going through and editing, I decided to divide our journey into separate blog posts.  So stay tuned for parts two and three, but  let's begin here, with our trip to Chatham, NJ, to visit my brother and his family. 

Ray and Jessica welcomed sweet baby Caroline Rose in January.  These were our first moments of meeting her.... and she didn't disappoint with her sweet smile and always pleasant nature.

Can I just say how cute this precious girl is?  She is so squeezable and lovable.   

If I had a dollar for how many hours Lucy and her cousin Maddie played on this trampoline,

 I would be rich!  

I think we enjoyed watching them as much as they enjoyed playing

The weather couldn't have been better during the time we were there.  

Perfect for fires at night, and slip-n-slides during the day!

My brother, Ray, and Maddie.

Lucy, Caroline and Jessica

Caroline had a "love-hate" relationship with Sophie (the giraffe in her mouth).  So funny!

This sweet girl was always so happy! 

We went to the zoo one day.

Did I mention that Lindsay came with us for this first leg of our trip?  What a treat!.  Not sure what she thought about the ten hour drive in the car with us, but I hope in her mind, the memories of laughing at Mad Libs outweighs Brian and I's bickering about each other's driving.

This bald eagle was pretty awe-inspiring.

Stay tuned for New York City, Boston and Western NY......

Lucy and Lindsay Lou

As far back as I can remember, my niece Lindsay has come to visit us over summer break.  I always wondered when she was younger....'will she still want to come see us when she is older/a teenager?'   My thinking then was, of course, that most teens prefer being with their peers as opposed to us weird and completely out-or-touch adults.  Luckily, Lindsay isn't like 'most teens'...and she has continued to bless us with her visits.   (Even if we did have to watch "The Bachelorette" with her!)  

It goes without saying that Lucy is in heaven when her cousin is here.   And Lindsay is so good with Lucy...always playing with her and doing girlie thing, like painting nails!

And curling her hair:  (9 second video)

We went to the Creation Museum one day, and our friends Tammy and Abby joined along. 

Is there anything more cute than two friends spontaneously holding hands?

 

For anyone who has never been,  the Creation Museum is a must see!  They have amazing botanical gardens.  The weather could not have been more perfect the day we were there.

They also have a petting zoo.  The pictures below are some of my favorites.  For nearly fifteen minutes, Lucy was trying to pick up one of these little roosters.  Abby had walked right in to their pen and held one;  Lucy was so yearning to do the same as her friend.  But she was scared and timid.   Finally, with lots of support and coaching from Abby....she did it!  You can see the excitement in Lucy's face, and the pride in Abby's.  It was priceless!

The girls even got to go on a camel ride!  (all one minute of it!)

Donuts....and a beautiful morning at the park:

Lindsay took this picture!  So cute!

I never knew it was such hard work to play at the park!

Lindsay is off to college in a few weeks!   So amazing!  The thought creeps into my mind, as before, 'will she still want to come and visit us?  even though she is a young adult? and further away?' I have to believe yes, as we so treasure her time with us.