Vacation, part 2: New Jersey

A big reason why we went on vacation at all was to spend some time visiting with Jeff's family. Since much of my extended family is close, I feel like we get to see them fairly frequently, but Jeff's family is further away and so we just don't see them nearly as much.


It was wonderful spending so much time with them. We stayed with Jeff's grandmother, who took great care of us. Judah loved getting to see his great grandmother again. We also visited with two of Jeff's aunts and uncles as well as some cousins.
I think for Jeff the best part was just learning more about his family history. We talked a lot with Grandma about some of her family memories. His great grandfather was born and raised right there in Manhattan, and worked in the city as an engineer helping to build the 8th Ave subway. He moved his family out to New Jersey after he had kids, like so many other families at that time. Grandma went to the University of Alabama for college, getting a degree in physical education. She also played intramural basketball there, in the days before Title IX and women's collegiate athletics.
 
The town of Ridgewood, NJ is really delightful. There is a cute downtown that even has TWO cupcake shops. All the lawns are nicely manicured. And it's only a short bus ride from NYC. I loved just spending some time relaxing there. We got to play at a park, swinging and feeding ducks. Judah loved that part, too.

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