Holladay Happenings: Trip to New Jersey

Erik, Noriko, Hanna, Max and Maya are moving to India. Since we hadn't seen each other in a year and who knows when the next time will be, Ebba took the two boys to New Jersey for a get together with them and Johan's family. We all stayed - 8 kids, 5 adults - under one roof at Johan and Kristen's great house and had a wonderful, crazy time. In addition to playing around in the back yard (the bouncy castle was very popular) and hanging out together at home, we: went out to eat at a Sushi bar/Japanese steak house; visited a couple of different playgrounds; went to a baseball game where we celebrated the 3 cousins with August birthdays (Soren, Maya, Max); and enjoyed an early evening at the pool with pizza. Kai spent most of our visit in the baby carrier, sleeping, eating and just hanging along for the ride. Noah had a wonderful time, had so much fun with his cousins and fully enjoyed all of the varied activities. It was so great to watch him interact with his cousins and clearly having the time of his life. I wish we all lived closer! In the evenings, with all tired children sound asleep, the grown-ups enjoyed some drinks and conversation in the warm summer night air. Of course, we wished that Phil, Staffan, Denise and Liv could have been there as well to make it a complete sibling reunion. It was so sad to kiss goodbye to Erik and family on the morning that they left - Noah could clearly tell that Mamma was upset. We can't wait to hear updates on life in India! Noah, Kai and Ebba spent another day in New Jersey before heading back home to Daddy. As we were waiting to depart form our gate, Noah grew impatient with the waiting and piped up: "C'mon everybody, let's go" and then when we finally took off, he looked out the window and said "Bye-bye New Jersey". Here are some pictures from the trip.