Visiting Family!

We finally got the twins up to Maine to visit Gary's family. We are so amazingly proud of how well they did traveling and just "going with the flow." And we had an awesome time visiting everyone.

For documentation/recorded purposes, here's a summary of our visit!

We woke up at 3 am! To drive 1 hour and 15 min to catch a 7 am flight! Austin and Logan thought riding on the plane was so much fun. On the runway, they acted like rockets ready for take-off. Then, they said "bye-bye" to the houses and everyone "on Earth!"

We arrived in Boston, got our rental car and headed right to the Children's Museum of Boston to meet up with Aunt Joyce and 5 year old cousin Jack. It was love at first sight. The museum was incredible and Jack really showed Austin and Logan the ropes!

We were going to do lunch, but go figure - by noon, Austin and Logan were crashing hard! So, we threw them in the car and headed to our destination - 2 hours away. Perfect napping conditions!

Austin and Logan woke up before we arrived and started getting really excited to see Grandpa's house! When we finally got there, Austin and Logan were thrilled to see their grandparents! And instantly made themselves at home!

We even had just enough daylight left for a quick trip out to build their first snowman evah! In fact, this was their first time with snow period. Unless you really want to count the non-accumulating stuff that fell last year for 12 minutes. But I'm not counting it!

Meet Frosty!

Austin and Logan did really well in the snow.

Logan really enjoyed sitting there and eating it! They both lost shoes and mittens several times. And Austin really was rather over the "cold" factor quite quickly!

We have to thank Grandma was doing such a perfect job planning for the kids. It was pretty obvious she's just this a time or two before (host grandchildren). She had just the right movies(Madagascar 2), just the right books - Diego! and even coloring books and crayons.

She even moved in like a pro when Grandpa "hurt Austin's feelings" trying to prevent him from slammin' his fingers in a sliding door and knew just how to comfort Austin to make him all better in a matter of minutes.

It truly felt like we had always been there! Everyone was impressed with how well Austin and Logan ate.

We took a trip out to see Grandma's cows. We couldn't touch 'em, but boy Austin and Logan didn't want to leave them!

We got a beautiful cake from Aunt Val:

We got to hang out with more cousins - all boys! And go to a basketball game.

And then, all too quickly, we were headed back home. We caught a 8:00 PM flight that landed at about 9:45 PM and then had to drive another 1 and 15 min home! We were so impressed with how well Austin and Logan did traveling, we moved around quite a bit and kept a pretty hectic schedule, but they just seemed to really go with the flow.

It was so wonderful seeing family and we hope to get back soon! Of course, now that I'm home - I'm wishing I had taken more pictures. I don't have any with Grandma or cousin Annie or aunt Sally....sigh - I guess we'll just have to head back even sooner!

Blog-A-Union

Blog-A-Union, (def.: n., v., adj., var. GuatSnowberFest!) Much like in that a RE-union is getting together with friends and family you've haven't seen in a while. A Blog-A-Union is getting together with friends who are like family that you've never seen before! ;-) As in last weekend was one of the best Blog-A-Union's evah.

Last week (yes, I'm that behind in blogging), we travelled north to visit Gary's family. (I will dedicate a future post to that specifically.) And all the stars aligned so that we could hook up with some very special families!

Bobbi at (private)

Steph at http://journeytoeli.blogspot.com/

and Beth at http://www.peachesncinnamon.blogspot.com/

Bobbie and Beth see each other quite frequently and are very good friends (insert jealous sigh). Steph flew into town for the long weekend and we took a brief 24 hours out of our family trip to catch-up with all of them. What an amazing experience for the four Momma's who have stood by, supported, consoled, cheered, celebrated, cried, and shared so many special daily moments together both on and off of Blogland for the last year and 1/2 or so!

And the children. Well, the children did what children do best - they went hogwild in Beth's house!!

Luckily, there was a brief reprieve outside of sledding and hurling down a 2nd "hidden" hill! Then, back inside for an incredible meal which Beth orchestrated effortlessly x2 - once for the kiddos and once for the (term loosely used) "adults." Where thanks to some incredibly special little ladies, we were all able to sit down and pretty much dine in "peace!"

Then, off to the hotel where Austin and Logan let their true colors and explosive energy loose and to my amused bewilderment, Bobbi's three darlings not only were unfazed - but kept up and matched Austin and Logan inch for inch and pound for pound of unbridled energy! We even managed a swim in the pool water, but that was cut a little short as it was apparently filled with Maine (translation ice cold!) water! lol

The next day, we hung out some more and then had one last fabulous meal together (and I believe the restaurant is still standing!).

And alas, a group shot:

And my favorite comment of the weekend as we were driving away the first night was from my hubby who said, "Wow - they're all just like us!" We all felt so relaxed, so comfortable and so at "home" with one anther. Speaking of...Huge thank you to Beth for opening your home. Thanks to Bobbie for traveling and for finding the cool hotel! Thanks Steph and family for flying out and overlapping your visit with ours. Thanks to all the kids who did such a nice job playing together. Thanks Cassie and Krista who were wonderful Mini-Mom's to all the wild ones.

What a treasured resource for our families for years to come. My only complaint....and it's a big one....is that it was too stinkin' short! ;-)

Be sure and check out the other girls' blogs, they have lots of pictures, too! We are SO looking forward to the NEXT get together!

Super Bowl Tradition...

Daddy and the boys...

Super Bowl 2007 - (on our 2nd visit trip)

Super Bowl 2008 -

And Super Bowl 2009 -

They're Famous!

Earlier in the Fall, Nonnie took the boys over to the State Farm Bureau (where Austin and Logan's Godparents work), to get their carseats "safety-checked."

Isn't that a cute pic? (Although Austin doesn't seem too sure of that guy invading his personal space!)

And now - they're picture is on the side of a truck!!

Next stop - Hol-leeeeeeeeeeeeeee-wood!