A Trip Back East

That's right, the Halver's flew cross country to visit family, NYC, and the Jersey Shore! It all started with an email chain, lots and lots of planning for Grandpa Derk's 90th birthday. We also have quite a few little cousins now, and we knew getting them all together would be pretty entertaining as well.

All that flying while pregnant certainly pays off because Allison was great both to/from Philadelphia! And boy was I nervous about flying cross country with a toddler! The trick is to sit around other kids, because not only do their parents understand, other kids are the best distraction! Only another 18 month old would tolerate 4 hours of peek-a-boo over the seat... The 3 hour time difference wasn't so bad either because we just kept her on AZ time. It was nice having her up until 10pm every night and sleeping in until 9am.

Up first was the big birthday bash! I was a little bummed we didn't get a group picture, but because cake has an amazing way of bringing everyone together this one's pretty good. Craig didn't make it in this one, but Allison's profile and my nose are on the far right :)

Family time continued the following day over ribs and a backyard splash pad. We're missing just 3 little cousins from this photo....

Uncle Joel took us out on his boat at Beltzville State Park the next day, Allison was so excited when she saw daddy coming back to the shore after waterskiing :)





The drive from Beltzville to NYC was painful... traffic wasn't too bad until we had to go through the Lincoln tunnel. Wow, never have I seen so many buses and cars trying to squeeze through one little tunnel. It took forever so thank goodness we had plenty of water and snacks to get us into the city! And because we decided to stay in the heart of Time Square, it wasn't easy to get to the hotel either. New learning: Valet in NYC = double parking. Silly me, thinking there would be a driveway or turnaround... The great thing about staying in Times Square though was the ability to walk everywhere! Surprisingly, we weren't forced to eat at a lot of chain restaurants either. Craig and I love trying new or local food when we travel, and we were able to find a lot of great eats near Times Square. Ask Allison what the best part of the trip was, and she'd probably "weee". Central Park had an amazing playground area, "weee" = swinging :) Her second choice would be the double decker bus tour (as long as we weren't on longer than half hour at a time, haha). She liked waving to all the people on the street...

And what trip to NYC wouldn't be complete without a visit to FAO Schwarz to visit the BIG Piano?

Thankfully, the drive to Ocean City, NJ wasn't nearly as long. We got out of the city, had a picnic lunch, and more "weee" at Liberty Park. Because it rained the day we went to the top of the Empire State Building we couldnt' see the Statue of Liberty so it was nice to finally see her, even if it was her backside :) By the time we got to New Jersey, it was time to RELAX the rest of the trip with some quality time on the beach. Allison was just excited to see another luggage cart....

Come on daddy, let's get back in the water!

Overall it was a great trip and exactly what we needed before baby #2 comes along. Allison is going to be a big sister in February 2012! And I'm so thrilled she was able to meet Grandpa, and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. No more trips planned until after the new baby gets here but hopefully we can get Allison and Ray Ray up north to play in the snow at least once this winter, even if I'm waddling to keep up with them...