Last Day of 2010

Our day started off by checking out of the hotel and picking up breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, we got back on the Interstate and proceeded with our journey to Rhode Island to visit Grandpa and Grandma. However, Steve surprised us along the way with a stop to Liberty State Park to get a quick cache. Inside the park was the old Central Railroad Station of New Jersey, so we no doubt had to check it out. This historic spot once welcomed most of the immigrants from Ellis Island to start their new lives in the "land of the free". It was very cool to walk through the station and imagine all the people.

Then after checking out the cool train station, we got back in the car and headed over another part of the Liberty State Park. This was the cache location which happened to be a pretty cool area. It had a perfect view of the Statue of Liberty. After finding the cache, which Tyler found after some searching, we set my new camera up that I got for Christmas, and took a family photo with the statue in the background. After getting a few shots, we planned to go to Carlo's Bakery; the home of the famous Cake Boss. We've been there on two other occasions, however this time we got there much too late and there was a line formed down the street of people waiting to get their cakes for New Year's.

So we went on to our next destination where we met up with Larissa and her family at a restaurant for lunch. It was wonderful catching up with Larissa, Cory, Aya, and Danielle. The girls had grown so much since the last time we had seen them. At first the kids were all kind of shy with each other, but then after 5 minutes, it was like they were best friends. Danielle and Tyler held hands while we walked to our table. They were super cute together! The whole time during dinner they had so much fun. It was too bad we couldn't stay longer for them to hang out. Meanwhile Steve and I had a great time conversing with Larissa and Cory.

After saying our goodbyes to our friends, we once again got back on the road where we finally made our way to Grandpa and Grandma's house. Tyler was sooo excited to see them. Our visit was long over due; it had been a year since our last trip to see them. And what a sweet surprise, Tyler's cousin's, Cameron and Myah, were staying for the weekend as well! Before long, Grandma said she had a surprise for Tyler up in the room we were staying in. We went up to find a Winnie the Pooh, a Wocket from Dr. Seuss, and the Grinch sitting up in the room! She even had their corresponding books for Tyler. He immediately picked them up and gave them a great big hug. They were his new buddies and we had some great new books to read. Soon it was time to go and get some dinner. We got in Grandpa's big van and headed down to one of our favourite restaurant's here in Rhode Island where we enjoyed a delicious meal. When we returned home, the kids had a blast getting reacquainted, playing around, and then having a few games on the Wii before bedtime. It is always great to see Cameron and Myah playing with Tyler, they have so much fun and they are awesome with him. Overall, it was a fabulous last day of the year. Steve and I typically don't stay up to ring in the New Year because we're just too tired; this say was no exception. LOL We all went to bed around 10:30, which was good because we wanted to be well rested up to spend another great day with everyone. :)