The Davis Family: Road Trip North

In mid-June, we hit the highway and headed to New Jersey for Jillian's high school graduation party. Jillian, George's Goddaughter, has spent a few days with us each of the past two summers and the boys love her dearly (of course George and I do too!). We were glad to celebrate with her and see other family and friends in the area as well. Judy met us there since she was smart and took to the skies. The road trip was less than enjoyable but I won't harp on that here. The kids were great, it was the traffic that drove us mad. I-95 is brutal, period. But, back to the trip! We stayed two nights in George's hometown of Toms River and two nights in Hillsborough which is closer to the party. A huge thanks to our wonderful hosts, Uncle Tommy in Toms River and Uncle Jack in Hillsborough, for opening up your homes to us!!! It rained (stormed and flooded actually!) on our parade the first day in Toms River but we made the best of it with a museum visit and lots of stops to pick up George's favorite eats. We had dinner at Aunt Vivian's house and saw some more family there. Then, when the rain slacked off that evening, we ventured out to the boardwalk for amusement rides and games. We also saw the cast of Jersey Shore working at their beach shop - hee hee. George has laughed the last few years about that show being filmed right where he grew up. Hopefully Snooki and the rest of the train wrecks don't take too much away from the reputation of the area because it really is nice! The second day we spent a few gorgeous hours at the beach before packing up and driving a couple of hours to Uncle Jack's. He greeted us with cocktails and a delicious meal. On Sunday we found a cool park with paddle boats and a neat playground. The boys got out some energy there and then we spent some time at the pool of Uncle Jack's neighbor. Quick showers and then we headed to Jillian's party. It was great to see so many folks there! Drew and David were quite popular since it's been sometime since we've seen everyone. They had a blast playing yard games, hanging with the big kids and drinking lots and lots of soda. They had a huge area set up with beverages and food. There must have been a dozen beverage mixers (sodas, juices, lemonade) and the Davis boys had some of all of it. Vacation, right? And, of course David had plenty to eat as well. The way he looks forward to food really cracks me up. Typical day for us - we had to BEG Drew to eat since he considers food last when there is anything fun going on. And then there is David, the buffet king. He can be having a blast playing something and then it's like all of a sudden he remembers there is food nearby and he jets over to see what's new. He doesn't actually consume all that much but he loves to see all of the options and load up his plate. Talk about eyes being bigger than the stomach. The party seemed to fly by and then it was back to Uncle Jack's to pack. We got up the next morning and drove back home. Thanks to everyone on the trip for making us feel so welcome and loved!