NYC Christmas tour

Stacey brought her camera along for the walk through the city on Monday night and it was a great evening with all the festive highlights!

Back to School First

Another first for the school record book: first day starting in September! With our move to NJ last fall we made it to a district with a post-Labor Day start for the first time. Since the girls were at a charter school that always started early in NYC, they had class the last week of August and our summer always seemed to be shortened by a good few days. Of course I was usually not complaining but it did seem a bit off. So today was our first time waking up after a quiet Labor Day recovering from the cousins' departure to a FULL day of school. No half measures here! And the girls were excited. Starting 3rd and 6th grades and you can see in those smiles they are ready!

Coney Island Farewell

How do you say goodbye to New York City and to summer in one perfect day? Head to Coney Island, Brooklyn, of course! Our farewell weekend with the cousins included a leisurely ramen lunch and Diego-in-charge hang out on Saturday (while we snuck away to karaoke) and then a ramped up Sunday at Luna Park in Coney Island. The cousins were guaranteed an amusement park visit and after briefly considering Six Flags, I thought this was the better option. Why not enjoy the beach views and the famous sights of one of New York's best summer attractions? The day was a solid success and according to Sara it was her favorite part of the trip. Our girls impressed me with their roller coaster prowess and I think they enjoyed racing to and fro with their unlimited wristbands. 

Los Primos En Nueva Jersey!

The cousins have arrived! And they are quickly assimilating to life in the Jersey burbs. I mean, what's not to like? We have a pup, a yard and all the malls and shops you can want. The first night we took them up to Fitzgerald's for a little pub fair. It was the first night and I was already realizing that cooking for 7 was going to be an interesting challenge for this household. Luckily, both Sara and Diego were up for the adventure and the next day we headed to the Garden State Plaza Mall and did a nice tour of the shops, stopping at Shake Shack for lunch. The rolled ice cream was another hit and it started to feel like this week was going to be a very tasty one...

Checking out the world that is Claire's

Sara and Elisa diving right into the lipstick at Sephora

Making our own Lego characters was a long, but fun process...love the results!

Rolled and covered in toppings galore

Sara's first time bowling was a smashing success

Dominoes for the win :)

Pool day!

The new playground at Watsessing was a nice distraction on a hot afternoon

Finally made it to Kreme & Crumbs, the new ice cream shop in Bloomfield

What Do You Meme? and mocktails for a fun night in

Diego in his happy place with Taylor Swift at Target!