NJ Holiday trip (12/27-1/6) ~ cont.

Here's the rest of our story from our road trip.  We decided to take 4 days to drive home vs. the usual 2 days.   I'm glad we did as we were able to catch up with some friends and also see some more sights along the way!

We decided to meet up with our friends from California (they were visiting family in PA).  Our meeting point - Gettysburg!

We had a few minutes to roam around before dinner time:

Somehow, I'm not recalling any of this stuff when I visited this place many many moons ago during my golfing/touring days:

I just remember a vast piece of land - and Bobby staring out, recreating the images in his head.  Ha ha!

I'm glad the boys are learning about the history of it:

After 1.5 years, friends are reunited!

So glad we were able to catch up in the middle of the country. Who would have thought!

Looks like these kids didn't miss a beat about being back together again and having some fun. Ha ha!

The next morning, we decided to visit the Gettysburg Museum.  A photo op with Abe :-)

This Cyclorama was extensive!!

What an effort to save it and repair it:

The entire canvas is longer than a football field and as tall as a 4-storey building. Yikes!

Here's the mini version of it:

Route taken by the North and the South:

Graham, taking a break - looking at photos in now his camera (thank you, Grandma and Pop-pop!):

Daddy, the ever enthusiast of the Civil War:

The Gettysburg Address - etched out beautifully by the window:

Time to keep moving West!  Another cloudy and gloomy day:

And as we climb, wait... what?! Snow!

We decided to take the southern route towards Columbus, OH and so, here we are in Wheeling, WV.  And it is COLD!!!

We stopped at a pizza place.  Not too shabby, eventhough Daddy broke his fork trying to cut something up. Ha ha!

Our official water bottle holder at the hotels :-D

We went to a candy store prior to the hotel stop.  Wow, what sort of drinks are they making these days:

OMG, Charlie decides to try out the hotel robe. Too cute!

And... straight to the laptop!

I guess Graham's not too far from it either:

Graham is conducting his orchestra.  This technology is amazing!

By the way, that's Bobby coughing in the background. Yeah, he just can't shake off that cough!

The next morning, brrrr, the car is an ice block!

Oh geez, there's even layers of ice INSIDE the water bottle that was left in the car:

Those houses on the top of the hill are so colorful! 

We decided to check out a market near the Wheeling Welcome Center:

Quick sandwich before leaving town:

Some of the architecture of these homes are so pretty:

There was a lot of construction along this one road that we were on.  I'd assume that it would be a great town to visit when it's all done and when it's not so cold :-)

Bridge!

Daddy needed to stop for a work call.  So the boys and I opted to hang around a park near the Columbus Metropolitan Library:

Time to eat our take-away of beignets.  They were already a tad cold but that didn't stop us from eating it all :-D

And what a cool park this is!  It's a topiary park and they are trying to recreate the famous painting -  Sunday at the Park.  A very bold challenge! 

There are even topiaries on the water:

What an awesome job!!

An interesting fact about this park - 10 acres for the Ohio School for the Education of the Deaf:

As we continue to kill some time,  Graham and Charlie are having fun with the partially frozen lake:

I'm not saving anyone if they fall in!

I told Charlie to keep his socks dry, but nope!  This kid, I tell you!!

We decided to get out of the cold and seek shelter in the library.  Looks like a lot of homeless people were doing the same.  Fortunately, there were lots of security and everyone was behaving nicely.

What a cool train set as the library's centerpiece!

I wonder how long it took to set everything up:

Daddy is finally done with work and we drive along Ohio State University for some very late lunch.  Momma, on the other hand, is tucking into the leftover food from earlier this morning:

By the way, Ohio State University is massive!!

Okay, home stretch!! 

One more overnight - I thought this restaurant would be a bit more intimate as Bobby and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary the next day.  Wow, 17 years!!! And nothing has changed - everyone is still fighting over dessert. LOL!!

Ice the previous morning and snow this morning.  Glad the storm wasn't too bad around this area. Otherwise, we'd be stuck for sure:

Time to bust out the authentic gummy bears during the car ride.  Bought it from the same spot where we bough the fancy can drink - in Wheeling, WV.  Graham has already asked 2-3 times now, to go back to that store. Ha!

On the way home, we decided to stop in downtown Chicago.  We just don't go downtown enough, so heck - why not?  And lucky us, we managed to find some street parking.  Graham is trying to figure out the payment while Mommy keeps warm in the car:

We used to watch a lot of TV series by Gordon Ramsay, so we decided to try out his burger restaurant.  these milkshakes were yummy!!

The onion rings were massive and looked delish, but unfortunately, I think the batter was too thick and it didn't cook through all the way:

Well, burgers were good though:

And massive!  So we split everything into halves:

Okay, so the consensus was - yummy burger but still not as good as the one at the restaurant in DC, near George Washington University.

Quick walk to check out the Hard Rock Cafe by the next corner:

What a cloudy and cold and yucky day!

Home sweet home!  Here's our "stash" from all the driving around :-)

When I used to go on road trips with my mom, she used to stop at all sorts of places to buy fruits and vegetables.  I've obviously taken it to the next level.  Ha ha!  Including our new little addition to our Christmas tree :-)

Oh, by the way, our friends from California gave us another 2 beautiful ornaments for our Christmas tree.  And so fragile!!

And my Christmas cactus is blooming too!

Aaahhh, it's good to finally be home.  Perhaps at some point, I can start organizing all the boxes in the basement and sorting out everything else in this house!  I did just clear up my work desk yesterday. Progress is slow.  Plus, the boys just had a 5-day weekend this past week because of the weather.  So eventually, I'll get back to some sort of schedule! :-)

Happy New Year/NJ holiday trip

Happy 2024!!  Can't believe we are already more than halfway through January though!  Where does the time go?  And of course, I've been terrible about getting back on track with posting on the blog.  So at some point I'm going to have to catch up on the photos and stories from the last half/Fall of 2023.  But in the meantime, I'm going to start off the year with our road trip to New Jersey during the school/winter break.

We decided to drive out to visit Grandma and Pop-pop again this past winter break.  At least we didn't have to deal with the freezing weather this time (compared to last year!).  Here's our crew - crazy Daddy at the wheel!!

Quite rainy and gloomy throughout the entire trip:

We decided to stop by Bucknell University on the way to NJ.  What a campus! And of course, beautiful homes around the area:

Before hitting the road again, we opt for some coffee and hot chocolate:

I think we are a family of "Croc" shoes:

2 days later, we are finally at Grandma and Pop-pop's house.  Boys are teaching Grandma how to play Connect 4:

Other times, boys are just playing on their computer games:

We did manage to break some of that routine with some games of Uno:

So much fun!  And what are the chances of drawing four cards and all of them being Wild cards??!

Someone was obviously not shuffling the deck very well. LOL!

We ate so much pastries from the French bakery located in Montclair.  Yummm!!

On New Year's Day, uncle Doug came by to visit.  He drove us towards the city of Hoboken to meet up with the boys' cousins:

Some artwork along the way:

What a cool building!  It used to be a school:

The boys are loving this projector wall TV.  Ha!

It took us about a 25 minute walk to get to our restaurant.  I was definitely hungry by the time I got to it.  Graham still loves making origami:

Charlie is just trying to stay awake as his face is not embedded into any electronic screen at this point:

Brunch!  OMG, this egg pizza was egg-celent!  Get it?? ;-)

Everyone, smile!

After brunch, we walked towards the water to admire the view.  And what a view it was!

Family we-fie!

Oh,... and a few more:

Let's go, people!!

Lovely photo!! :-)

Brothers being brothers:

Cousins - they are all growing up so fast:

I took away the boys' phone and Graham is happily using Grandma and Pop-pop's camera:

It was pretty chilly by the water but what a great day it was:

As soon as we get home, Graham is so excited to get back on his VR (Virtual Reality) headset: 

Ok, back to the real world... more Uno!

Daddy is obviously struggling here :-P

Although, I think I did end up losing with too many points!!

Daddy did get some brownie points for working some billable hours at the library near by.  Although, I'm not sure if he's actually working with a face like this.  Ha ha!

These are better - lovely photos with Grandma :-)

And with Pop-pop:

Okay, time for Daddy to take on Grandma in Connect 4 on our last morning:

Well, it is finally time to say goodbye to Grandma and Pop-pop.  It was so lovely to see them as usual!  On the way out, we stopped by the town of Clinton again.  Bobby loves his Red Mill!

Okay, here's a better photo of it:

And we obviously keep missing the Christmas celebrations here:

Hmmm, we did promise the boys' McDonalds on each road trip:

My fish wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - actually pretty similar to what I remember it to be.  Just glad I did get sick eating it!

More gloomy days as we make our way back to IL!

To be continued...