Visiting Family

One of the best things about my trip out to the East Coast was being able to see many of my close relatives that I have not seen in a while.

I went to New Jersey first for a too short visit with the Italian cousins. The Matthews are actually a little more distantly related than you would think (my grandmother's cousin's wife and her sons), but our families are close. I stayed with Iole and then we went to dinner at her son Scott's house. We had Therese's lasagna, Iole's bread, wine from Scott's friend's vineyard and yummy pudding cake. After several rousing Wii Sports games in which Ryan beat my pants off, Iole and I went home to watch the Food Network and chat.

Iole, Scott, Ryan and Therese

The next day I drove up to upstate New York to visit Aunt Jane and Uncle Mel. They live on a dairy farm (they are retired though), but the area is gorgeous. I was spoiled with fresh kielbasa and pierogies from the local Polish deli as well as lunch at Symeon's Greek Restaurant where we met Cousin Linda for lunch.

Once again, our time was too short and I had to drive the 8 hours back to DC, but I had a wonderful time.