Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

If you read the first in the series of these vacation blogs you know that we resorted to using dum-dum lollipops on the airplane. I never thought I would do such a thing until I had sweet little Ella. I knew I had to have some kind of trick up my sleeve. Also, in my defense, I thought it might help their little ears to have something to suck on during take off and landing. Why do we mothers always have to justify??? Anyway...I just have to tell you that the way home was a little hairy. There was some screaming involved and we were very ready to get off the plane. Ella leaked through her diaper and we both ended up wet. Luckily it was just a little pee. I'm still impressed with my feats accomplished in the airplane bathroom. I changed my pants, Ella's diaper and clothes. Let me tell you it's not easy for a pregnant woman with a backpack to change her pants in an airplane bathroom. Luckily the long line of folks in front saw me coming and let me cut in line. Holy cow! We got the job done and I was thinking how fortunate I was that I haven't had to deal with any puke yet, which is why I usually think of packing extra clothes for myself along with the kids' extra changes. Then on the way out of the airplane into the terminal Ella hurls. I am very grateful that she saved this for the very end of our trip and that it wasn't on the airplane, especially since I had already used up our extra clothes. Poor thing. Her parents probably fed her too many lollipops! I also have to document that at one point during the trip Will fell asleep. He most have been dreaming about those lollipops because it looked like he was licking one in his sleep. It looked so funny! It's always an adventure flying cross country with toddlers. We had a fabulous trip, but I think we're going to be staying home for a little while!

Moral of my story: Don't judge a mother who gives her children lollipops.
Always bring a change of clothes on the airplane.

Day 5--The Cookout

Will found a caterpillar on the steps. He was so excited to show all of his relatives.

She started out wearing a really cute dress, but she ended up naked before I took a picture of her!!!


Too much excitement for Will

Ella & Uncle Ed

Giving Great Grampa a hug

Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Steve had all of the relatives over to their house for a cookout the day before we left. Unfortunately Mike wasn't feeling too well. I guess that explains the lack of pictures. He's usually a little better about that sort of thing than I am! Here are the few that we took from that day. We met another new cousin, Evan, who was only three weeks old. Oh so precious! Beth (the mom) is a rock star for bringing him out so we could all meet him! Too bad I didn't take a picture so you could see how dang cute he is! :) I really enjoy hanging out with all of Mike's relatives. They are so much fun and I'm grateful to be a part of the family! Thanks to Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Steve for putting on such a great get together and to all of the aunts, uncles and cousins who showed up to visit!

Day 4--Auburn

Playing trains with Great Gram
Hanging out with great grandparents on a sunny day

Will played a lot of baseball. I think Mike's Grandpa got a kick out of watching him. We were all impressed with his skills!

Copying Great Grandpa

Family photo

Family photo + Buddy, the dog

Nice and cozy between Auntie Cheryl and Grampa

Uncle Steve and the girls

Most of day 4 of our trip was spent in Auburn, Massachusetts with Mike's paternal grandparents. We had some sunshine so it was nice to be outside. We played frisbee and baseball with the kids. Grandpa was impressed with Will's hitting ability. We had a nice visit and it was good to catch up. In the evening we traveled up the road to Auntie Carla and Uncle George's. Unfortunately we have not one picture from that visit, which bums me out. I guess we were too busy chatting and enjoying the company. Will and Ella played with their cousins Jessica and Samantha. They were so cute. Everyone was so great to us and we had a fun time together. That night we settled in to watch the Red Sox. You have to stay up late to watch them on the East Coast!

Day 3--Cape Cod and Shopping with Grampa & Auntie Cheryl

Will, the conductor
Perusing all of the animals at the Zooquarium

Exotic wildlife

Getting a closer look

Will and Ella found some riding toys and Mike indulged them.

Will just loved this train. You could pull a rope to make the bell clang and he took full advantage!

Will's passengers

Shopping trip to Toys R Us with Grampa and Auntie Cheryl. Will headed straight for the trains.

Ella followed suit

Grampa really wanted her to pick out something besides a train. Ella typically likes everything that Will does, but she does have a thing for purses or as people on the East Coast say...pocketbooks. She wouldn't even take it off of her shoulder to scan it at the checkout counter!

Our stay at the Cape ended up with a visit to the Zooquarium, which was a good spot to take the kids. They had outdoor and indoor areas with various wildlife. Afterwards we drove out to Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Steve's where we had dinner with Mike's Grampa. We talked it over and decided this would be our only opportunity to take the kids to Toys R Us (something Grampa really wanted to do for the kids). Mike's Grampa is so generous with all of us. He has a great big heart and really takes pleasure in bringing the kids shopping and letting them pick out what they want. Will remembers going with his grampa the last time we were back East. I don't think he left the train aisle! Ella would have been more than happy to stay with the trains herself. Grampa kept telling us to go find her a doll or something! :) Ella's just not much of a conformist, even at 1 1/2! She ended up with a Sesame Street computer toy and a purse. The purse was pink so I think it satisfied Grampa's desire for Ella to have something "girly". She toted it around for the entire trip and used it to store her puppy dog. Will made out like a bandit with a ton of trains. What a lucky guy! He really doesn't have too many at home so they will be a nice addition to his train set. It's also nice to think of Grampa every time I see Will with his trains scattered about him working on his railroad.

Cape Cod--Day 2

Will checking it all out

Upstairs near the "touch tanks"

We got some sun! Mike and the kids checking out the harbor seals outside.

"Can I pop out of that?" That's what Will asked us when he discovered there was a sun roof in our rental car. He was pretty thrilled when we said yes!

Brother and sister time at the park

Looks like Will is enjoying his ice cream!

Ella was more interested in the ice cream wrapper

Beach cutie
Ella had this little stuffed puppy dog with her for most of the trip

Getting close to 7 months along!

Discovering treasures on the beach

I love this picture of Mike making Ella laugh

Ah, to feel the sand beneath your toes...

Trying out big brother's shades

The weather cooperated a bit more the second day of our trip. It was wonderful to have some sunshine. We headed out to an aquarium in Falmouth, which was just perfect for the kids. It was a smaller place with a touch tank upstairs where the kids could have some hands on time with the sea creatures. A kindergarten class showed up while we were there. The kids enjoyed the company! After that we stopped for lunch and let the kids run around in a nice little park area. Will and Ella enjoyed chasing after each other. We took a stop off at the beach on the way home. It was pretty windy, but the view was just beautiful.

Vacation--Cape Cod, Day 1

An attempt at a family photo
Ella makes a fine pirate!

Arghhhhhhh!

Steering the ship

The pros

We've been back from vacation for over a week now and I am finally getting around to blogging about it. We had a great trip. It was so nice just to have the whole family together for seven days. The plane ride over to the East Coast wasn't too bad. We had reinforcements in the form of dum-dum lollipops and we did have to use them a few times! The first three days were spent in Cape Cod. It was good to have some down time so the kids could adjust and play around before we did some visiting with relatives. Will could not wait to go mini golfing. We found a place called Pirate's Cove and it was a hit. A great big place with pirate paraphenalia galore. Besides one other couple that was there before us we had the place to ourselves, which is great when you have toddlers. It takes a while to get through a game of mini golf with our two kidlets. Mike and I each made a hole in one. He still ended up beating me in the end. Afterwards we hit the game room for some skee ball and hoops. Then back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation. That night we took a dip in the pool. All in all a full day for our little family.