a mini family reunion

Saturday was a busy and family-filled day. For a variety of reasons, nearly the entire Eastern contingent of relatives on my mother's side were in New Jersey this weekend, and we got to spend the day with them.

In the morning we met up with some of them for some adventures in the city. Because our group consisted mainly of young boys, our activities were geared to entertain them. First up was a ride on the Staten Island Ferry, followed by lunch at a pizzeria in Lower Manhattan. Squeezed in between we got a bit of a history lesson as we walked past both the Fraunces Tavern, on Pearl Street (where George Washington gave his farewell address to his Revolutionary War soldiers), an 18th century cistern which was once filled with, along with water, discarded 18th century artifacts (aka: 18th century garbage), and the foundation for the tavern owned by a 17th century governor of the territory. Our stomachs full, we then rode the train to Midtown for our final Manhattan destination: FAO Schwarz, where everyone oohed and aahed over the goodness to be found in this spectactular toy store.

Those traveling into the city from New Jersey drove in cars, and luckily they left room enough for us to join them for the return trip. Back at the home base, we jumped into our swimming suits and headed down to the lakefront beach in my aunt and uncle's neighborhood. It was a beautiful day -- perfect for a little dip in the water. Even Garrett thought so, though it took quite a bit of coaxing to get him in there.

In the evening we dined on a delicious picnic dinner in the backyard. While the adults lingered longer at the table, the kids roamed about the yard playing. Though Garrett has an adorable second cousin who is just his age named Lucy Rose, he preferred to hang out with the bigger boys, especially the 4-year-olds, Rees and William, who happily took him under their wings. They played in the hammock, with the baseball and bat, and lounged in the lawn chairs eating ice cream.

At the end of the evening we caught a bus back into the city, and, after riding a series of very slow subway trains, finally arrived back home, happy and exhausted. Even though my aching body is still recovering from all the fun, there's no denying that we had a great time. It was so nice to be in the company of the branches of family who have taken such good care of us while we've leaved in the East: Dwight and Bethany and their boys (which were added to last fall by the most adorable identical twin brothers I've ever met), who we'd get to see occasionally while we lived in Muncie; and Joel and Colleen, who let us escape to them when city life gets to be too much.

And now, because what fun is a post with photos to accompany it, here's a visual sampling of the day:

Garrett, Rees, and William looking at the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry

Rees tickling -- err, I mean, introducing himself to Garrett


Fraunces Tavern


Swimming in the lake (Garrett's in the neon green getting tossed into the air by Blake)


Picnic dinner


Rees and Garrett playing baseball


Garrett and Lucy Rose