A Room at the Clerk-Inn

our last 4 days in NJ were spent at my sister's house in monroe, nj. I am really glad tracy and I made a decision to stay there with them. It was long over due. we haven't seen them in a year and a half. TOO DAMN LONG. We were able to see our 11 month old nephew aidan for the first time, and they were able to see (in person) their nephews for the first time! And most important, the 4 boys, Dylan, Aidan, Kaeden and Quinton, were all able to spend time together. It was great to see dylan (3) interact with our boys...you can tell he loves them very much...and is and will be an awesome big brother to aidan.
That wednesday, lauren & dave hosted our own cousin get together. jaime, craig & jack and tracey came up from south jersey for the evening. Again, another fun night of food and drinks. It was really great to see them all and see jaime and craig's son, Jackson for the first time. what a rip he is!!!
The evening consisted of many a kids screaming, hot dogs, burgers, and beer. Hanging out now that we have kids takes on an all new meaning. Being responsible comes to mind....meh maybe not.
Thursday we went to get portraits done of the four of us by Chris Marconi at Marconi Photography. Chris was our photographer for our wedding and does AWESOME work. I can't rave enough about his vision and eye for capturing life. Stop by his site,


That evening lauren, dave, tracy and myself were able to get away once again, with my parents baby sitting all the boys. We went to dinner at the Harvest Moon Brew Pub in New Brunswick. The four of us have not been out together alone in a very LONG time. It was indeed one of the best nights we had in NJ this trip, even if it was only for a few hours.


That Friday we had another small gathering at lauren's. They were kind enough to let me invite our friends, glenn, jenn and their two kids, Emily and Brenden. It was really great to see them again...we thought we were going to run out of time this visit to not meet up with them...but we managed to get it in, and fun was had by all. Watching the mets/yankees game with a mix of fandom. Even though we do not to get to see them often, every time we hook up with glenn & jenn, it's like we never miss a beat...just like with family. Great and dear friends. Again celebrating with beer and pizza!! My parents were there all day, and uncle rob, phil, angela and grandma stopped by as well.
the last day (saturday) we all went back to hang out at my parents for the day and had lunch and said our goodbyes...which weren't as tearful as I thought would be...I think mainly because we are having them come visit us in LA within months of each other. So it was more like...see you soon, rather than good bye...which made it easy on everyone. Thanks to everyone who put us up for the two weeks we were home...as crazy as it was at times with the boys...it was an awesome trip. Thanks to grandpa for picking us up and driving us back to the airport where he helped us in all the way up to security. grandma would of come too, but with all our luggage there was sadly not enough room in the car. Our trip ended on a great note, the flight back was half empty, we practically had the entire back half of the plane to ourselves!!! allowing us to bring both car seats on the plan and taking up each of our own rows. A much more comfortable way to fly. even though it happens once in a blue moon according to the flight attendants, who I must say were extremely jolly, i am sure due to the fact they had little to no responsibilities on the flight.

Full gallery of our stay at my sister and dave's: