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Plans – they often change

Posted on September 15, 2008 8:53 am by TheAngelForever

When you become a parent, you learn how to go with the flow a lot more. Heck, you also learn how to function (or so they say) with little or no sleep. This weekend would be a great example of that.

Friday we were supposed to leave after JL arrived home from work to travel five hours to see my brother, SIL, and niece S for a first birthday party weekend. My parents left earlier in the day and told me that the rain was horrible going in the direction. By the time JL was home from work it was 3:40 in the afternoon. We knew that by the time we finished packing, loading the car and kids to head out it would be 4:30-5:00 at best. That means with a stop to eat we would not arrive at our destination until 10:00 at best. Add the weather and kids into the travel and it would likely be later.

We quickly looked at the radar of weather conditions for the evening. It looked miserable. The rain showed no end and was quite heavy in the direction we were going in. We changed our plans. Rather than leave at night we would get up VERY early and load the sleeping boys into the car and go before the sun was up.

Dinner was made, a quick errand and everyone went to sleep early. I set the alarm for 3:00 and hoped to be on the road at 4:00. NHL was up at 2:00 and hardly went back to sleep after that. I moved the alarm to 4:00. Since it was shabbat I was doing all of the driving and wanted a little extra sleep. At 4:00 I quickly packed the rest of the items, both boys were up (GAH) and we hauled everything into the car. We were on the road by 5:00 heading to see Uncle I, Aunt M, and Cousin S.

Do you prefer getting up early to drive or doing the trip at night? Although I was exhausted and the sun was not out and there was thick fog, it was smooth sailing at this hour of day. I was pretty much the only car on the road with all of the big trucks. We made it to our destination in just under 5 hours including a stop at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and a pit stop.

Once we were there the kids quickly started to play. Here is Uncle I reading all of the kiddos a story.

We had a fabulous weekend spending lots of time with family. The kids enjoyed playing with Cousin S and did not want to leave yesterday afternoon. We arrived home late last night. JL and I were exhausted from little sleep. This is what we hope to catch up on soon.

Great photos of the kids playing and of course Cousin S’s birthday party from yesterday coming soon.

Categories:
family jsl looking back nhl photos road trip sleep travel weekend

A whole lot of rides going on

Posted on September 14, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Lots of happy thoughts as we head home today from our weekend away for my niece’s first birthday (a long drive home with the boys). Trying to think optimistically, holding back on the positively pessimistic Eeyore thoughts from within.

Here are happy pictures from Labor Day to give us good road tripping vibes.

Thanks to Aunt L, Uncle J, Nana and Papa for a fabulous end of summer!

Categories:
family fun jl jsl nhl photos road trip summer

Train time

Posted on September 13, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Memories from childhood are wonderful, especially when you can relive them with your own children. I vividly recall going to our local amusement park and riding on their train. The train there is very special. It is old fashioned, has amazing details and has been taken care of with extreme care by the owner of the park through the years.

On Labor Day we went to the park before it opened. JL was thrilled to be able to get close to the train for some gorgeous photos. I have to admit, prior to this I had never seen the train without swarms of people around it. These photos show the real beauty of these antique trains.

It really is a wonderful place to take our kids. The park is small enough with lots of choices and most importantly it is SO clean. The people that work there love their jobs and are so polite with the guests, and especially patient with the kids.

Of course our visit would not be complete without a ride on the legendary train. JL, Aunt L, Uncle J, NHL, and JSL all climbed aboard and went for a ride before it was time to leave (almost two hours later).

More ride photos to come soon!

Categories:
family fun holidays jsl nhl photos summer

Merry-go-round memories

Posted on September 11, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Each year we take photos on the Merry-go-round as a tradition with the boys. We started this when NHL was little. On Labor Day we went back to the local park with my parents, Aunt L and Uncle J (in town visiting) for some fun in the sun. We had a wonderful time. Since we arrived at the park before it opened JL was able to get some gorgeous photos before the crowds arrived. I love how the park takes amazing care of their ride.

Here are some of the horses up close.

Once the park was opened, it was time for the boys to ride. NHL went with Aunt L for a spin and JSL with Papa (starting the tradition).

Of course we HAD to get a photo of Papa with NHL since we were not thrilled with the ones from May of this year. In order to keep the tradition going Aunt L switched with Papa for a few seconds.

*** Please note, no flags were injured in the making of my father’s shirt!

There are many more photos from the day, but I figured I would split it up some. We hope to go back to the park one more time before they close for the season, but if not we have fabulous memories from our trips this year.

Categories:
family fun holidays jsl nhl photos summer

Got sneakers?

Posted on September 9, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Do you have an older sibling? I am the oldest in my family. I have to admit, I never really paid attention to how my little brother reacted to me when we were really young. As a mommy, I have been watching my little guy try to follow his big brother around. If NHL does something, JSL wants to do it.

A week before Labor Day the boys were outside. I asked JL to bring up NHL’s old push to ride Fisher Price bike to see if the little guy would like it. For some reason we could not get the push handle back on the bike. I told JL just to take it outside to see what JSL would do.

Sure enough he loved it. He was "walking" his bike all over the place. He did not stop moving for most of the time he was outside. He had a blast chasing after his big brother and daddy. There was a little problem, JSL had no real shoes at the time. At that point he was not really walking on his own, so he only had the soft bottom shoes. His froggy shoes were in rough shape anyway, so we just let him use those.

Two days later we went to the doctor for JSL’s 15 month visit. I asked the doctor if we should get him shoes since he was basically ready to walk. She said it was probably a good plan for when he’s outside, but for indoors it did not really matter. That night we packed up the boys and went to get some shoes. We bought NHL a pair of black tie shoes for the Jewish holidays and to have something other than sneakers. And below are JSL’s sneakers.

Labor Day weekend JSL finally started to walk around on his own. Since that time he has gotten better at balancing and can go for much longer distances, bend to get things, and turn around while walking. The problem has been he does not like to walk in his shoes. He was so used to walking with naked toes that the clunky nature of sneakers throws him off.

This weekend we took the sneakers back out again. This time we held his hand and he tolerated the shoes. Last night he was started to get a kick out of wearing them and walking around stores and things with an adult hand.

Today I figured out how to get him to nap in the afternoon. We arrived at school about a half hour before NHL was getting out. I parked the car down a side street and JSL and I walked to school. Thanks to the sidewalks we went all over the place. We walked and walked and walked. The smile on his face as he looked up to me while holding my hand was priceless. I promise, I will get a photo of that soon. When we got back home he was so exhausted he slept for almost two hours!