Our Vacation, part 1

I am finally getting around to going through our vacation pictures. Here is the first half of our trip in CT. It was a great trip visiting wonderful friends.

The plane ride out went surprisingly well. I think a bit of that had to do with excitement for the trip and the fact that my mom flew with us and occupied Pumpkin pretty much the whole day. (I know I thanked you mom, but again THANKS for flying out with us...it was a huge help!) Luckily we had a lay-over after the first flight and the kids just ran around. The airport was pretty empty so we were not bothering too many people. The second flight was short and on a tiny plane. I got to sit without either of the kids and actually read a magazine! It was nice. The hardest part of the trip was the 2 hour drive from the airport to my friends house. We had to stop more times than I can count for the potty. Pumpkin still struggles with the whole needing notice thing for finding a bathroom. We made it work though.

The kids at the airport. This was between flights and they were still happy! :)
We drove from my friends house about 45 minutes to Hubby's home town. We stopped by his house he grew up in and the people his parents sold the house to still lived there! They let Hubby and Pumpkin walk around the yard and take some pictures. She thought it was really fun to see where daddy lived when he was her age. Since Hubby and his brothers were such baseball kids, they had this pitching plate in the backyard. It was neat for Hubby to take a picture of Pumpkin standing next to it. Memories....

While in that town, we also stopped by the police station to get some pictures. Hubby went in to let them know what we were doing and the Sergeant who was working happened to know Hubby's dad. He has been retired now for 21 years, so there are not many still in the department who know him. This guy was really nice and saw the kids needed a little break. He asked if we wanted to come around back and he brought out a motorcycle for the kids to see and play with. It was so neat and the kids just had a blast!

My friend's Hubby took Friday off from work so we all headed out to an aquarium. It was really neat for our kids since they really don't see many ocean animals out in the desert! They could pet sting rays at one exhibit. Critter walked right up and stuck his hand in the water. He was quite surprised when he actually touched one though! It was a look of surprise and laughter, quite adorable

This again is Hubby's hometown. We went back after the aquarium to meet up with some other friends for a late lunch. After we went to a gorgeous park and I just could not resist taking some pictures of Pumpkin. I forgot how green the East Coast is, especially with all the rain they have gotten this summer.

I think this is one of the first pictures of me and the kids and it was 2 days into the vacation! I need to get better about having other people take pictures for me and of me, especially with the kids.

Isn't this pond and area beautiful.

Pumpkin was in seventh heaven having two kids who wanted to follow her and do whatever she wanted! My friend's son L is going to be 3 in November and just loved playing with Pumpkin and she loved playing with him too! It made the vacation that much more special.

Okay, this is at that grocery store I was talking about. There is a little farm in the parking lot. No kidding, an actual farm. It was so cool! :)

Pumpkin and I both loved this sunflower at the grocery store farm. I just LOVE sunflowers!

The last day we were in CT we went to this really cool park with all wood structures. There were forts and climbing places, all made of wood. It was really neat and very different than what we have here at home. The kids loved it.

What a great visit with my friend. It was so nice visiting and being able to hang out with our kids. We have known each other now for 29 years! Even though we can not see each other as often as we would like, the friendship will never fade. I miss her and her family terribly and can not wait until we get to see each other again.

Just a sweet one of my boy before we left CT.

I love the green! Plus, her hair got to be braided again by my friends mom and it just made her day. It was so much fun going back and see so many places with memories.

I will get through more pictures soon from the second half of the trip. But, so many memories and stories to come! :)

Finally getting back to normal

I am still trying to catch up over here, which is why the lack of posting lately. I have SO MANY stories to tell and more pictures to go through than I care to admit. Well, I will admit I took over 800 pictures on our one week vacation. I think I get a little shutter happy :)

Our week long vacation to CT and MA was just amazing. I got to spend some quality time with the friend I have known since we were 2. We were sitting there watching the 4 of our children (2 hers, 2 mine) play together and realized we have known each other since we were their age! It was crazy. her husband is an AMAZING cook and made dinner and breakfast each day. He made a semi-traditional English breakfast on Saturday morning and I did not know baked beans for breakfast could take so good. We drove around CT going to where Hubby grew up, to one of the best pizza places I have ever been to, going to the Aquarium and a beyond amazing grocery store. Yes, I know I mentioned grocery store...but they have a little farm in the parking lot! That would just not be possible out here. The kids had such a fun time playing together.

Our time in MA was full of so many adventures and memories for me. We got to go see my grandparents house, the places I grew up, head downtown on a hot/humid day, and spend a lot of time at my aunt and uncle's house. When we got to MA they started having a heat wave. Now...we are used to heat but not humidity. Luckily, they live on a lake and we found it very lovely! Pumpkin became an even bigger fish while there. Once she got over her fear of the water, she just wanted to keep swimming. Wait until I post the pictures! I also got to hang out with my "baby" cousin who is now 24. It was so cool to just hang out and relax with my family.

I have so many stories to share and a bunch of pictures. But... I still do not have Internet hooked up to my laptop and I put my pictures on there, yes I know it has been over a year....but this is the way I am doing things! Once I can get my head in order I will post a bunch of pictures.

Until then, we are getting ready for Pumpkin to go back to school on Monday. We are all really excited. She has missed it terribly. But, I can not wrap my brain around the fact that this is her last year before Kindergarten. Critter is in his stage of imitating every word he hears and trying to talk up a storm. We are still waiting for him to say Nanny and Nana though...much to the grandmother's dismay. I will update more soon, but wanted to get the stories started :)

Saying "good-bye" to a special place

Today a very special business closed and I felt the need to dedicate a few minutes to it. Our FAVORITE place closed its doors today. It is the gym that I often talk about. It is where Pumpkin had her 2nd, 3rd, and 4th birthday parties. It is where she and Critter both took classes. It is where she went to Summer Camp for 2 summers. It was a HUGE part of our lives. There were often times Pumpkin would spend more time there on a Tuesday than she would at home.

My children have grown so much since going to this gym. It was really a home away from home. I met some amazing people and it was a great meeting place for our friends. I feel fortunate to have become friends with the owner, a truly amazing woman.

We will feel the absence of this place in our hearts. We have so many memories which will stay with us forever. Thank you Miss K for being such a wonderful influence in both Pumpkin and Critter's lives. We love you and wish you luck on your next adventures. We will be here supporting you in every way that we can. I am so thankful we have become friends and look forward to the future. Thank you for all you have done for our family and so many others.

These pictures are from Critter's last class and a very special play date before they closed.

I have almost the same picture of Pumpkin at the same age. It is really cute!

I will miss scrubbing the stamps off feet, hands and bellies each week!

Man, this girl loved the rings and bars. Always our little monkey!

We will miss RP, but know that the memory will live in our hearts.