New Jersey Highlights

It feels like a very long time ago that we were in New Jersey, but yet I will continue with my plan to re-live our trip on this blog to the best of my ability to remember!
The Friday before Yom Kippur, we packed up our stuff in Boston and drove to Teaneck. Simon was happily reunited with Joshua and Eli relished his role as big cousin and beat up on Zachary as much as possible. I'm sure he will regret that in another few years when Zachary is much bigger than he is.
We had a nice quiet Shabbos with lots of naps (for me if I remember correctly) and good food. On Sunday, Jon was the best and bravest uncle in the world and took Joshua, Simon and Eli bowling. They all came home in one piece. While they were gone, David was out celebrating Ari's birthday and Danielle came over with Emma which was nice and I'm glad it worked out because otherwise I wouldn't have seen them at all.
Shortly before the fast started, we got the sad news that Uncle Alan had passed away. It was a sad Yom Kippur. After it was over, David and I took the kids to the City to the break fast at Uncle Andy and Maeve's so that we could see them and Mama and the Robozes and Papu. Considering how late it was, the boys were decently behaved and made a good impression on the various relatives. And Simon taught Maeve some Hebrew.
On Tuesday, David had to go to Brooklyn for work and all the Daubers were at work/school, so I was on my own with the boys. We made a quick stop at the Diamonds to see Stef and her new baby Sami and then we went to Van Saun Park to go to the zoo and ride on the train. I don't know what is up with zoos in America, but just like at the zoo in Boston last year, there were very few animals at the zoo. The train ride was fun and we had ice cream for lunch so everyone was happy. There is also a fun playground there so we stayed there for a while.
After we got back, Ilana came over with Ian and William. It was great to see them as well. Simon and Ian spent most of the time playing Wii except for when Ian took a break to play the piano with Eli. And William and Zachary became friends.
Sarah and I left Tuesday evening to fly down to Savannah for Uncle Alan's funeral leaving all the men to fend for themselves. It was the first time Sarah and I had flown together since the time that she pretended not to know me on the Trump Shuttle a million years ago. I was happy to discover that she is now WAY more scared of flying than I am, but I was still nice to her and let her use my i-pod because that's just the kind of sister I am. It was unfortunate that we were in Savannah for such a sad reason because it is really beautiful there and it was nice to see where Uncle Alan and Kathy live.
We flew back up to New Jersey on Wednesday evening after a fun-filled ride to the airport with Uncle Andy and Julie Roboz who had NO IDEA where their hotel was. Trust me, it was amusing.
David and the kids had spent the day on Wednesday in West Hempstead with Huvi and her kids who she so nicely let play hooky from school. As I understand it, they spent most of the day at Target.
On Thursday morning, we got up bright and early to go to Philadelphia to meet the Sachses (which will get a post of its own since I am doing this by City) and when we got back, I spent another couple of hours packing again and then we were off to West Hempstead.