Driving up east side

For our annual trip I took the girls on a two day drive up to PA, NJ, and NY. We ended day one in Fayetteville, NC for the night. The drive was easy and the girls travel well. We were loaded with the essentials from our luggage to snacks and games needed to make the drive more enjoyable. Day two we cruised through by mapquest directions without a GPS and well we added about 2.5 hours to our drive, but eventually we made it to our first destination Allentown, PA. My oldest brother his wife and their 4 daughters live here. We spent 24 hours catching up, watching the cousins play together and taking our traditional stroll through Trexler Park across the street from their house. The day we were to leave we stopped at Wegman's and bought a few groceries and bagels for the family. On the way to the car I spotted a couple dollar bills and told the girls to get them. I looked about 2 feet ahead and spotted a $20. Lucky me! I looked around to be sure I wasn't on hidden camera being watched and lucky for me not a soul was in the parking lot (it was early). Nice start to the trip I thought.....

After leaving PA we were off to our next destination....Stanhope, NJ to visit one of my oldest friends Josh (we go back to our early teen years), his beautiful wife who I adore Lora, her daughter Ava, and their son Luke. They welcomed us into their home with open arms and made us feel so special. The kids had so much fun playing together the entire week! It was truly the most relaxing part of the trip being around good friends.

I have a blast with my girls they love to have fun just like their mommy. Normally this trip is a 4 person family trip, but that was not the case this summer. Jeremy had major things come up he needed to deal with and not to disappoint the girls from this long lived planned trip I took them alone. Having saved their money for 6 months to make a visit to the American Girl Store located in Manhattan, NY to purchase their own special gifts it was a must to get there. How fun it was to take the girls into for the second year in a row a store with girls in mind it was a memorable trip. We also spent another day in the city just tooling around taking photos wherever we could.

The trip was cut shorter than I had wanted it to so visiting my grandmother on Long Island was not an option this time around I'm sad to say. I promised to make it up to her with an extra trip back up in the fall.

Going home was a bit tougher due to the traffic on NJ turnpike at some points I sat still for an hour! Once things got moving we made good time. For our overnight we stopped in Rocky Point, NC. Made it home by dinner time on day two.

Now back and caught up it's time to plan out the fall schedule for school, classes, gymnastics, field trips, and more.....enjoy life it is full of amazing opportunities and learning experiences.