Rachael's good friend Nicole was wonderful enough to offer us a ride out to NJ! ˆ nicole c ˆ driving ˆ

Meredith napped in the back. ˆ meredith ˆ driving ˆ sleepy ˆ

Check out the mega-deck at Tim and Emily's new house! It's leads down to... ˆ house ˆ nj ˆ

...THIS AWESOME POOL! ˆ pool ˆ

I went down to the pool a couple minutes later to check it out. I heard a sound behind me... ˆ pool ˆ

...and turned around to see this lovely white tailed doe. ˆ deer ˆ

She was so busy happily chomping away that I managed to get within five feet of her before she realized I'd sneaked up on her. ˆ deer ˆ nj ˆ

The hostess! Who's a proud lil' homeowner? ˆ emily ˆ tom c ˆ

The birthday girl! Spinning yarns. ˆ rachael ˆ birthday ˆ

Swallowing meats. ˆ casey c ˆ rachael ˆ

Getting LULZ. ˆ becky ˆ little rachel ˆ nicole c ˆ rebecca r ˆ laugh ˆ

Around 7pm I noticed that Meredith had gone done disappeared! After peeking my head into a couple of rooms I finally found her napping upstairs (with her tiny dino arm up in the air). ˆ meredith ˆ asleep ˆ dino arm ˆ

I heard the sweet sound of video games and made my way back downstairs to find that Guitar Hero had been fired up. Dom and Casey. ˆ casey c ˆ dom ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

Deb and Tom! These are Rachael's awesome parents that I grew up down the street from. Tom was trying the game for the very first time and Jodee's explaining how it works to Deb. ˆ deb c ˆ tom c ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

Dom... ˆ dom ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

...vs. Tom! ˆ deb c ˆ tom c ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

Simon and Rachael. It doesn't matter if it's your birthday... ˆ rachael ˆ simon ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

....WINNER STAYS. LOSER WALKS. NO EXCEPTIONS. ˆ jodee ˆ simon ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

The blissful sounds of Guitar Hero must've made their way to where Meredith was sleeping, because she reappeared from her nap just in time to... ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ

...head to the kitchen... ˆ emily ˆ tim ˆ tom c ˆ birthday ˆ

...to sing to Rachael and wish her a HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY! ˆ rachael ˆ birthday ˆ cake ˆ candles ˆ

Yay! ˆ casey c ˆ dom ˆ nicole c ˆ rebecca r ˆ

MLE cutting up what turned out to be ICE CREAM CAKE! Holla! ˆ emily ˆ birthday ˆ cake ˆ ice cream ˆ

Happy birthday, Ray! ˆ rachael ˆ birthday ˆ

What do you mean I've got something on my nose? ˆ rachael ˆ rebecca r ˆ

Hahah. ˆ rachael ˆ rebecca r ˆ

We were all out on the deck late night drinking beers and Dominic (who is Scott's cousin that we also grew up with!) started talking about shot-gunning beers at college. ˆ casey c ˆ emily ˆ rebecca r ˆ

I forget this guy's name, but he's Jodee's guy and he's really funny. His ears immediately perked up at the mention of shotgunning... ˆ beer ˆ shotgun ˆ

...and about 10 seconds later Dominic found himself with a beer his hand with Devra and Jodee's guy insisting Dom show what he's made of! GAUNTLET DOWN! ˆ devra ˆ beer ˆ best ˆ chug ˆ shotgun ˆ

Hahaha. Devra and the other guy completely DEMOLISHED their beers. It was impressive. They even had time to wipe their chins clean and compose themselves before fixing Dominic with these awesome looks. Hahaha. NOT IMPRESSED! ˆ devra ˆ beer ˆ best ˆ chug ˆ shotgun ˆ

Nightswimmin. ˆ pool ˆ

The next morning, we got up a little after ten... ˆ meredith ˆ bed ˆ sidekick ˆ yawn ˆ

...had ourselves some breffis and a nice swim in the pool... ˆ meredith ˆ simon ˆ pool ˆ sunglasses ˆ

...and then headed back to NYC. Happy 29th Birthday, Rachael! Love you! ˆ driving ˆ nj ˆ

As it was in the beginning, so it shall be in the end. ˆ meredith ˆ asleep ˆ driving ˆ