Impromptu Vacation

 We decided to go out on a limb and do one last little hurrah together before Nick starts medical school next week. We decided at the last minute to take a little trip to New York City and then to Jersey Shore aka the beach. We had so much fun! I'm so glad we did it. Who knows when we'd get the opportunity again to go together. 

New York is only a 2 hour drive from our house. The drive was fun for me because I love seeing how different it is out here. However, the freeways are wack out here. It feels like there's no such thing as freeways... only toll ways and the other roads are all busy with lots of lights and those roads are supposed to take you places. I miss I-15. I miss being able to get to point A to point B quickly. First world Problems. We made it to New York and boy is it a whole new world out there. 

If you visit NYC, I highly recommend NOT driving through the city. Big mistake. We did, however, get to ride the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Sadly, it rained A LOT during that little trip ( about an hour over all). Madeline was a complete trooper though and she was loving it all. The Statue was breathtaking! It was so huge and seriously SO neat to see in person. I just feel SO blessed to have been born and raised in this beautiful country. We also saw Ellis Island from the Ferry. 

After the Statue of Liberty tour, we walked over to ground zero. That was heart wrenching. I had the opportunity to visit there 3 months after it happened in 2002. Back when we went, they didn't have a memorial yet since it had just barely happened. It was hard to see it back then too. This time, we had to get (free) tickets to go past the gates to see it. They had a lot of security and it was very organized. As soon as we walked passed security, we walked up to the first building memorial. It was a HUGE hole with waterfalls down each wall... and then another hole. The loud sound of the water really gave you goosebumps as you walked up to the memorial. People's names who died during the attacks were engraved around both waterfalls. My heart went out to those people and their families. There were 2 memorials like that for each building that was destroyed. They're building another World Trade Center right next door. It's supposed to be the tallest building in the USA. 

This reminded me of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. haha

On the Ferry

That's New York behind me

Amazing! 

She was amazing to see up close!

On the Ferry

The Ferry we took

That tall building in the back is the new World Trade Center being built

I need one of these next time I go to NYC. For real. 

This tree sits right next to where the World Trade Centers were. It was the only tree that survived after 9/11 in that area.

Driving away... bye New York!

I absolutely LOVED New York. I highly recommend visiting the place. I wanted to show Nick Times Square after we did all this other stuff, but the baby was tired, so we decided to just drive by Times Square just to see it real quick. Boy, were we wrong. " Real Quick" turned into 3 extra hours of driving... like 4 miles. RIDICULOUS. Nick was quickly initiated in the crazy driving of NYC. So much honking and craziness. The Taxi drivers are insane. We spent half the time laughing as we watched INSANITY on the road with all the crazy drivers everywhere. We definitely will NOT be driving through the city again. Lesson learned. I'm SO excited b/c my sisters and Katherine are coming out here in a couple of months to visit! 

The next day we went to Jersey Shore ( the beach.) It's only an hour and a half away from our apartment. I really liked it! It was our first time to play in the Atlantic ocean ( well, Nick was the only one that swam. I'm too afraid of all the shark attacks I keep hearing about... especially on the east coast. Right Melinda?) Madeline loved seeing the Ocean and playing in the sand. We went to a place called Beach Haven. It was a a cute little beach town. It was different than California, but I loved that it had an "east coast" vibe to it. All the houses were really cute and it was just fun being there. It was a nice, hot day... perfect for the beach. It was weird though... they make you buy a "beach badge" to go to the beach here. They make you PAY! They don't make you do that in California. Oh well, it was worth it and I'm just happy to live so close to the ocean. I could sit and listen to it all day long. It really was so beautiful and a lot of fun being there. I hope to go back at least ONE more time before it gets too cold. 

Playing in the Atlantic Ocean. ( She also got to play in the Pacific Ocean not too long ago!) Lucky baby! :)

Sweet girl!

Ritas: this place is SUPER popular out here. It's some yummy ice water stuff with custard. TO DIE FOR delicious. It's like the In-N-Out of the East Coast, minus fries and hamburgers. 

Oops... extra pictures.... 

On the ferry

behind the statue

Ground Zero Memorial 

Remembering 9/11

I want to EAT her. 

She HATES hats. haha. But she's a red head and WILL get burnt with out it. :)

Jersey Shore

Are you still reading this? :) I'll keep typing if you want me to. :) It was a very fun little trip and I'm so glad we got to go. Nick starts school on Monday. He's very excited! I'm excited for him... but my stomach still turns every now and then at the thought of being out here for 4 years. :( I just have a hard time being far away from loved ones. I'm sure it will go by quick... While Nick is growing and learning so much in Medical School... I'm sure I'll be learning and growing too in different ways.... so many different ways...

Please pray for us and this brand new chapter in our lives! :)