Labor Day weekend in NJ

My Labor Day weekend plans fell through late Friday night and I decided that with nothing to do in Boston, I might as well head home and see some family. So I got in the car at 6am on Saturday morning and headed to John and Jill's (I know some of you thought Jill had dropped off the face of the earth because she never posts to this blog, but in reality, she's just too busy to post, so I'll keep you updated on her life, too). I got there around 10am and got to hang out with Nathaniel, Sebastian, Emerson and John and Jill. We went to the Farmer's Market and got some amazing cheese made in NJ at Valley Shepherd Creamery (Gouda with Nettles called "Nettlesome" and amazing mozzarella) and some wonderful Jersey tomatoes (the best!) and other fruits and veggies. We got home and just had fun in the neighborhood, playing in the back yard, taking a walk and then before we knew it, Aunts Marianne and Eileen had arrived for dinner. They brought all kinds of fun stuff with them including an enormous stuffed moose for the kids, hand made pasta and wine and other goodies, all made in upstate New York. So we set out a spread of amazing cheese, wine, grapes and cashews and sat around the table and chatted for a good long while. It was great to catch up as I hadn't seen them in way too long.
Sebastian got to show off his spidey mask and Emerson is just really good at looking cute:

We eventually got dinner underway and using all of our fresh ingredients made a tomato & mozzarella salad with fresh basil and then a delicious pasta primavera with zucchini and yellow squash and tomatoes and garlic and all kinds of wonderful things. It was just great to share such a delicious meal with family. After dinner we all watched The Wild Thornberrys and then everyone was pretty exhausted either from traveling or waking up before dawn with small children, so we called it a night pretty early. Aunt Marianne and Eileen went to their hotel and I got to sleep in the sunroom on a beautiful end-of-summer night.

Sunday was a pretty packed day for all of us. We all got to hang out in the morning and then John, Nathaniel, Marianne and Eileen all went to the Yankees game and Jill and I and the little boys packed up and headed down to Mom and Dad's in south Jersey where they had just gotten back from picking up Grammy in Pittsburgh. So we had a nice cook out on the back deck and got to enjoy each other's company all evening. Grammy really loves seeing her great-grandchildren. It was the first time she had met Emerson and they were instant pals.
Here's a photo of me and Grammy and one of Emerson and his Great-Grammy:
John and Nathaniel headed down to Mom and Dad's on Monday (Marianne and Eileen headed back to NY) and we all got to spend some quality time at the homestead. We played some whiffle ball and Nathaniel and Sebastian went in the pool in their underwear (hey, that's what backyard pools are for, right?) and were fascinated by a huge pile of ants that had found something good to eat.

We all enjoyed another relaxing meal on the back deck and then it was time for me to head out. I had to drive all the way back to Cambridge to be at work Tuesday morning. Jill offered to come with me with Emerson, so she drove back up to Montclair and then I drove the rest of the way home. I was bracing for the worst as far as holiday traffic goes, but it turned out to be fine and I was home by 8:30. It was a perfect weekend!