Day 906 - The Whirlwind Adventure of Roadtrip Week 2 (OH, WV, PA NJ) 🚗💨

Sunday, June 18th, 2023 - Saturday June 24th, 2023

18th Sun Day 7 🌞 - What a morning! We left Oberlin for a quick hop to Canton, OH (just 1½ hrs) for a breakfast rendezvous with the Wohlwend family 🍳. All three were guests on Dad's podcast. Our tummies full, we drove through West Virginia for a few minutes and made it to Mechanicsburg, PA for the night. We drove by Mom's childhood home. James' rash was clearing up.

19th Mon Day 8 🍫 - Highlight: Hershey's Chocolate World - Hello, heaven on earth! 🍫🌍 We went on the free tour that Mom did 30 years ago and bought snacks for the road. James tried a s'mores made with Reese's peanut butter cups and loved it. It was a super hot day! 🥵 Then off to Philadelphia driving through the farm lands in Lancaster, then got to Pat's for cheesesteaks, next meeting up at Dad's friend, Rob's in Cherry Hill, NJ. James met another Baby James. They played with toys 🧮 and watch Miss Rachel together. James loved scooting around the finished basement. The cuties even did a high 5! 👋🏻 We snagged a cozy hotel room in Bordentown, NJ which would be our post for the rest of the week. What a day!

20th Tues Day 9 🍝 - We started the morning with Dad’s work call ☎️ at the hotel. Lunch with Mom's college pal Maria at a beautiful garden restaurant, then drove by Mom's old college and wrapped up the day with a fabulous Italian dinner with Cousin Janet, Nick, & Ann where he was showered with love and gifts. James scooted all over the house! A day for reconnections and hearty laughs!

21st Wed Day 10 💈 - Early birds today! Today we really conquered New Jersey! In the morning we headed to Matawan, NJ for an emotional visit to the cemetery to visit Grandma Eleanor, a stop at the barbershop to see Aunt Liz, and then, of course, BAGELS! 🥯 Zipped over to New Egypt to visit with Uncle Robert, Justin, and Jacob, where James scooted around and tried climbing the stairs while the boys ate bagels. Then another 40 mins to Lawrenceville, NJ for a dinner feast at Barry’s with so much family! James met uncles, aunts, and cousins... Barry, Anya and Ian, as well as Audrey and David, and Chuckie and Liz. Grandpa was there too and brought the delicious cheesesteaks and pizza! James was again showered with love and toys. 🧸 Cousin Ian set up an amazing train set for James and rick-rolled us on the saxophone! 🎷 James loved the jam session! 🎸 [Video below]

22nd Thurs Day 11 🌊 - Uncle Adam and Cousin Mark stopped by our hotel early in morning to see Dad. James was sleeping and has been waking up super late. We spent the afternoon in Barnegat, NJ at Cousin Gabrielle's new beautiful home and visited with a bunch more of Dad's family... Debra, Frank, Linda, Andrew, Sal, Gabrielle, John, Jordyn and JJ! James and Jordyn really loved playing with the new drum set from Linda! 🥁 Again, James scooted around the house and was intrigued to try the staircase too! We celebrated Dad's early birthday with delicious cake. 🍰 James tried all the different flavors of icing! 😋

23rd Fri Day 12 🚀 - Originally the plan was to go to Sesame Place because James loves Elmo but it was a rainy day. 🌧️ Instead we took James to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. After our experience we wouldn't recommend it to children who can't walk yet. James wanted to scoot all over the public museum floor in downtown Philly and that was not an option as far as health and safety concerns. James screamed a lot! 😱 There were 3 spots that were designated for children only under 3 years old. However there were 8 year olds running around knocking down the babies and toddlers. 🏃‍♂️ The signs are so simple to read! 🚫 Overall, there are a ton of photos and videos from James' experience at the museum. Afterwards we went to the Reading Terminal Market for tapas which was foodie heaven. James tried cheesesteaks and fries (but mainly just ketchup) 🍟. He also loved the ice cream! 🍦 In the evening, we had a quick drive to Willow Grove, PA to get a new hotel because the hotel we were staying at was booked for the weekend.

24th Sat Day 13 🎉 - Today was a huge family gathering in Levittown, PA for Cousin Avery's 4th and Cousin Oliver's 2nd birthday!🎈Everyone was there for the Birthday bash 🎂! James met a ton of cousins and great aunts! Mom has a very large family in Levittown, way too many to name! 😂 [See photo below] James really enjoyed playing with toys, others kids, scooting around, trying the stairs, eating banana pudding 🍌, and playing in a Kiddie pool! Balloons, cake, and family – what more could we ask for?

Tomorrow is Dad's birthday and we are off to Baltimore!

P.S. You can email James your love and support as often as you’d like. Mom and Dad read these email to James as they come in. We all love them! JamesWestonAbramowitz@gmail.com