A Whole Lotta Mangiaracina's

As mentioned in Wednesday's post, we headed up to New York last Friday night for a weekend of family fun and a very special wedding.  We left after rush hour ended in DC and sped up to casa de Kolb.  James slept the entire way in the car which was both good and bad.  When we arrived, he perked up like it was morning. Luckily, by the time we got settled, he cozied up to us and slept like a baby.  We woke up late on Saturday (unheard of under normal circumstances!) and headed to the Eggery (mentioned here, here and here) with the entire family for some good eats.  James entertained Ed, Uncle Joe and Grandma while I was able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast chatting it up with John and Adriana.  It was bliss!

Post breakfast we decided to visit the new strip mall that was built after we left New York.  It is an AWESOME mall known as The Gallery at Westbury Plaza (fancy!) and a great addition to the neighborhood.  I'm talking Nordstrom Rack, Off Saks, Bloomingdales Outlet, Banana and Gap Outlets, Trade Joe, Container Store and all kinds of cute eateries including Red Mango and a Shake Shack.  Hello?  Where was this mall when we lived there!!  But I digress...

James had a ball running around the stores, playing with Grandma and Uncle Joe and just entertaining everyone in his path.

After we soaked up all the retail therapy we could handle, we made our way back to the house.  James took a decent nap and woke up ready to play with the animals over at Grandma M.'s house.  On our last trip, we discovered that James has a love of all animals - not just Lucy.  His most favorite at Grandma's house is Princess the cat ~ and she seems to love him too, surprisingly.  The cute factor is at an all time high when James sees the cat.  He points and squeals and it is just adorable.  Everyone got a kick out of it - even Princess. 

We decided to take advantage of a small break in the heat and headed outside to play with some bubbles.  Grandma M. has a gorgeous backyard that she takes extra special care of.  She recently installed a beautiful patio making an already great space even better.  James had a ball chasing the bubbles and chasing Marty.

James had a great time as did we all.  Ed and I headed to the Graziano/Diez wedding later that night and left James in the capable hands of Adriana, John, Joe, Lee Ann and Grandma.  They did a great job but I think James ran them all ragged!  I think the exact quote from Uncle Joe the next day was "I don't know how you guys do this everyday."  Well said Uncle Joe.  Well said. :)