NJ fun and NY troubles!

I know today is Charlotte's birthday, but I've been so exhausted from the past couple of weeks that I figured I should get this post done before I think about birthday posts! And...I always feel like I have to report events in chronological order...sorry!

So on August 6th, my mom and the kids and I left and flew to NJ to meet my dad and sister and nephew for the weekend. We stayed at my aunt and uncle's beach house for the weekend with my grandparents and then stayed at my aunt and uncle's house till Tuesday when we attempted to come home. The time at the beach was great, I hadn't seen my grandparents since my wedding and they had never met Timothy and Charlotte, so it was great to get to see them again, hopefully we can go back soon and spend time with my aunt and uncle (who graciously let us stay in their homes while they were away in Europe!). The beach up there was surprisingly nice too and the water wasn't too cold. Charlotte, of course, loved to eat the sand, and Timothy liked to stand and look at the water. Tyler jumped right in and swam in the ocean, that boy has no fear!! I think Timothy's favorite part of the week was standing on the top balcony in the house and spitting ice onto the driveway. The best part of the weekend was when the lifeguard pulled up and parked in the street in front of the house and Timothy saw her get out of her car (in a bikini) and exclaimed quite loudly, "Look, she's a naked girl!".

On Sunday we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house and stayed there Sunday night and Monday night. On Monday, the real fun began. We tried to drive into NYC to go the Museum of Natural History and to the Yankee's game that night. On our drive in that morning, the Kia van that my parents had rented from Enterprise lost all power in the middle of the George Washington bridge!! We were able to coast off the bridge and off on the first exit to a park along the Hudson River where we were stranded for the next almost two hours. Needless to say, none of us will be buying a Kia or renting from Enterprise again - and that's not even the end of the troubles with that darn van!! We got it to start back up and made it to the Museum and the Yankee's game and home again that night.

The Museum was really cool, I wish we had had more time to spend in there, the ocean room was amazing. The Yankee's game was fun, but SO hot and humid! We made it to almost the end of the 5th inning when Charlotte started to fall apart so we had to leave. I don't think Tyler or my dad were too happy about that! We enjoyed time at the house and the wonderful pool and ate dinner at Friendly's - we used to eat there every time we would come visit when we were little. Brittany got a picture of us in front of the sign so I'll post it when I get it (hint hint!!).

We attempted to leave on Tuesday morning. We were driving to the airport when the van started to break down again. It was crazy, we would drive for a few minutes and then dad had to pull off on the shoulder and let it rest for a minute and then try it again. We ended up getting to the airport five minutes past the check in time for mine and mom's and the kids' flight back home and they wouldn't let us check in, so thus began our fight with the Delta counter at Newark airport. That was the rudest bunch of women I have ever seen!! They finally got us on a flight to Atlanta but couldn't guarantee a flight to San Antonio. We got to Atlanta and waited to hear our names called for the SA flight since we were first on the standby list...but in the end, we didn't make it and ended up spending the night in Atlanta and catching a flight home the next afternoon. It was so sad, the kids were starving, we had to sleep in our clothes, Charlotte spent the night in a hotel pack n play in the bathroom and the poor girl was so tired that I had to wake her up the next morning so that we wouldn't miss the shuttle to the airport!! Again, needless to say, I will never buy a Kia or rent from Enterprise again!! I had never been so happy to be home and to take a shower!!

It was a fun trip in all though, and I do hope we get to go back and see everyone again soon. I promise I'll blog about Charlotte's birthday soon!!