What I did on my summer vacation

In the tradition of the offical back to school writing assignment this is what I have been up to for the last week and a half.
Last Satuurday, Aug. 27 I drove to Iowa to meet my Mom because we were helping my brother move to New York. He had gone ahead to get an apartment before all the other students got back.
Upon arriving in Iowa I headed to Whitey's Ice Cream to get a Smurf ice cream cone, my childhood favorite. Then I went and had a visit with my Grandma Berry.
My Mom and I left on Sunday afternoon and drove late into the night and then woke up and drove into NYC the next day. We get there at about 4:30 and my mom drove like a pro in the city.
We checked out my brother's place which was on the 5th floor and then helped him move in. I'm glad I'm in shape, 5 floors is rough.
The next day we helped my brother register and participated in a lot of Welcome to College activities at Cooper Union. I didn't know anything about the school other then that it free. But I guess a lot of people have spoken there in the Great Hall including Abraham Lincoln.
That evening we went to go see March of the Penguins which was a really great movie. I'm glad we got to see it since we had all wanted to see it but none of us knew anyone else who would want to see it until we were talking about it and realized that we all really wanted to see it.
Then next day we went to breakfast with my cousin Katie before leaving NYC to head to Utica, NY. We saw my Aunts, Uncles and cousins. My Uncle Rick took my on a tour of the the Sturges factory where he is the President.
While we were visiting my Mom's childhood neighbor we walked over to look at the goldfish pond that is in the backyard of the house my mom grew up in. While we were there the current owner came out and invited us in to see the place and tell him what it was like when my mom grew up there. It was really exciting to see the rooms that I had heard my Mom talk about but had never seen. It was like walking into someone's childhood.
We got our half-moon cookies at Gingerbread Bake Shop and we ate them at the cemetary. Then we headed out to see my family on my dad's side of the family in Mt. Morris, NY. We had a great time seeing everyone. We went garage saling and to the farm market and for dinner we had fish fry at a place over in the next town. It was a great time. I was really excited to be eating something good and familiar because we ate some not so familiar food in NYC.
The next day we headed home to Iowa, making wonderful time getting there in 12 hours. In Iowa I was able to see my best friend from high school, Kerry. Kerry and I have been friends since 6th grade. Her friend Brandon came with us as well. We went to Maid-Rite because when you are from Iowa nothing says home like a loose meat sandwich.
Then for old times sake we went to see The Metrolites. Scott and Neal had been in our high school and college favorite The Kabalahs. Their klezmer polka evolved into "the hardest rocking lounge band". We table hopped until we got a table right up front. After awhile we decided to go back to Brandon's and play board games but since Kerry and I had a hankering for Candyland we had to go to Brandon's parents house to get the game.
I returned home yesterday and was back to work today.