Ithaca, New York

After wedding week was over, we wanted to maximize our time on the east coast by visiting friends. We coordinated a way to have Jon return to Texas, me to drive our three littles up to New Jersey to visit and stay with the Humkeys, and then Jon fly to Jersey, we all pack up the caravan and meet the Elys in upstate New York. These are the crazy lengths we go to in order to keep up with our friends. And it was due time, as two of the three families had new members since we had seen each other last! 

First things first, the 6.5 hour drive up to New Jersey. Lots of snacks, lots of help from Gretchen in distributing said snacks, plenty of movies on the iPad and one parking lot "rest" stop for mom, before we knew it we had arrived in this lush dream-property that the Humkeys call their backyard!

These two are 3 days apart in age, and got along just like peas and carrots

Our kids learned that they have been missing out on a Basement their entire lives

And then came time to bring the Elys into the mix. We rented a single house FOR FIFTEEN PEOPLE in Ithaca, NY. The house worked well, except for the loudest baby in the world (Graham) waking everyone up every single day. At the end of the day, I think everyone was pleasantly surprised at how well we all worked in relatively close quarters. 

We spent the morning at an Amish market that was a childhood dream. Popcorn, ice cream, and just enough peer pressure to let our kids eat whatever they want. Everyone had a great time with their built in buddies, it must be genetic. 

Gretchen is in her glory eating sweets and posing for pictures with the Ely clan.

The big dad-win of the weekend was letting each child buy a $1 used stuffed animal from the market. The moms were unanimously against this decision. The moms were wrong. 

These stuffed animals brought hours of imagination and joy to the kids. The Ely children are pretty incredible and creative, they had stuffed animal weddings, stuffed animal veterinarian visits and outside of our rental house, a full on stuffed animal habitat. Total Win.

Ithaca is this beautiful town with a great mix of country and town, and has the added bonus of being part of the upstate New York wine country. We took a family tour of this beautiful winery, on a clear and sunny day. Moments after this photo was taken, Graham took his first steps on that green, green grass. 

The moms took a time out to visit a wine tasting room in town, where the front window has this cool collection of wine openers complete with corks attached. Someday, our dedicated wine room will have this kind of cool, eclectic detail.

Donuts for the win!!! Thumbs up all around!

This diner had one of the most unique features I've ever seen - a functioning, live, beehive with plexiglass walls so you can watch the magic happen. Mesmerizing. 

Before we bid Ithaca adieu, we took a hike in the Watkins Glen park to see some waterfalls. The paths were narrow and wet and dark AND I was wearing a baby so I didn't get many photos, but this side trip surpassed my expectations!

It was a fantastic weekend with friends, I hope we can do it again sometime soon. Take a look at the big girls holding babies in this group shot! And Alex is channeling his inner GC model pose. And if you look really close, you can see some of the stuffed animal habitat.