2 weeks in massachusetts...2.5 weeks away from georgia

finally, a recap of our whereabouts from july 15-august 2nd...

crazy plan of ours, rachel and i concocted a 2.5 week road trip via new york.
four of us in a toyota echo, packed in tight. movies, cd's with music from glee, snacks, books and a gps named "giles"....
we drove to virginia the first day, nine hours, through sc and nc. the road was rural, very few homes along the way, mostly farm land and hills.
we stayed in a super 8 hotel. it had a pool and a continental breakfast. the kids loved it.
we swam, ordered pizza, watched disney channel and skyped with todd.
the next morning, after breakfast we began the 6 hour drive to palmyra and the hill cumorah pageant where we would meet up with karen, tom and the kids.
we were so excited to see them, it could not be contained inside the little car.
arriving at the hill we quickly found karen, ate dinner with them (and the rest of the cast) and then found the seats they had saved for us. i didn't think the kids would make it after driving half of the day, but they stayed awake and into it the whole time. maybe a little wiggly, but that is understandable.
after the performance we drove to a red roof inn rachel had booked. unfortunately, the company rachel booked it with forgot to tell red roof inn. we ended up in a handicapped room, with a king bed and a shower you could walk into. poor rachel slept on the floor, while i managed to avoid getting kicked by two children.
the next day we went to the joseph smith home and the sacred grove. but it was hot and the kids just weren't feeling it. i ended up dragging them out of the grove because I feared they would cast a bad spell on the quiet of the woods. luckily rachel got a picture. it is classic.
but once we got back to the hill they were in good spirits again...seeing katy and chris will do that to them. they love love love them!
we stayed for the show that night too, ate salted potatoes and melting ice cream sandwiches.
slept in our red roof inn handicap room again, and then left in the morning for massachusetts.
a little bit of traffic on the pike, and we made it to the church building my parent were at on sunday night.
and then the fun began...

• sitting in friendly's chatting for two hours with karen, tom, katy & chris
• a touching memorial service for my Auntie Susie
• lots of family i rarely ever see :( (wish we were closer)
  
• swim at the hotel pool with katy and chris
  
• bowling with my friend ted and his entourage
• a walk in a park and time on a playground
• day at the beach on cape cod - skaket and nauset
• hunting for hermit crabs, burying children in the sand, and playing catch on the beach (and then just a hint of sunburn)
• new england aquarium
• boston harbor cruise
• movies, chuck e. cheese's, mcdonalds, and grist mill with rachel
• visit from mikey
• street performers in boston
• dinner at my uncle's house and a rousing game of badminton in the backyard
  
• papa ginos, china ruby and ericksen's
  
• children's museum
• dinner at Mother Anna's in the north end
• riding the "t"
• pretzels, candy & build-a-bear in faneuil hall
• staying up too too late
• skype with todd (and with me when i was in chicago for three days for cha)
• cassidy's fourth birthday
• disney channel at grandma & grandpa d's
• the organ and keyboard at g & g d's
  
• and last of all...ben's wedding!

and then began the drive back. we all knew we would be excited to get back to ga, but driving out of town was bittersweet. it seemed to take forever. we wanted to drive 10 hours the first night and then 8 the next day, but it didn't work out that way. we stopped for the night just outside hershey, pa. (would have been fun to bring the kids there.) we ate leftover chinese we had packed with us and watched more disney channel.
the next day seemed even longer. we were ready to all get tossed out the window. but we arrived home around 7:00 that night. with lots of smiles and hugs we were home.

excuse me...tooth fairy?

he lost another one.
big gapping hole in the front of his mouth.
top left is gone.
pulled it out himself.
so cute.
waiting on the tooth fairy to show up...oh wait, he has to go to bed first.
up at 11:30. he's a night owl like me.
tooth fairy, give him a few more minutes.

date night

with xander!
we had two tickets to a braves game, given to xander when he attended the chevy sponsored day of baseball training at turner field.
originally we were going to get two more and all go, but with work schedules, etc. we decided to keep it just the two of us.
it was a great night. we sat on the left field line, one level up...where xander said the braves hit their foul balls. he was ready with his glove to catch one.
we had a jumbo dog and a hamburger with extra pickles (xander's request, which made the concession stand employees laugh) and extra hot french fries. we ended the night with dippin' dots in a braves hat cup. yup he was spoiled.
he loved yelling at the players and watching the jumbo scoreboard, checking out the players stats.
he loved seeing his friend ashton there and running the base up at the top of the stadium.
and he got a big kick out of the oversized chick-fil-a cow doing the tomahawk chop.
as the game ended with a winning walk off single by jason heyward (one of xander's favorite players!) he told me i was a "cool mom!" for bringing him to a game all by ourselves.
love hearing it now, and keeping my fingers crossed i'll hear it again when he's 16.

here they are...

school's here again

first day of school! first day of school! (name the movie!)
here we go again, but wait, this isn't like any other year! this year both x & c are official! x is first, c is pre-k.
here's what they had to say about their day:
x
"first grade is boring." "sophia and kailey are in my class". "i saw blaine, he is in the classroom next to me." "i went to PE today, but all we did was walk." "wouldn't you know, my snack is before lunch." "i saw CJ in PE."

c
"we didn't get to ride the tricycles." "we didn't get to play in centers." "i have two madison's in my class, and they both wear glasses." "i slept at nap time, and i didn't cry." "i didn't pick my nose, cause rachel told me i'm not supposed to in pre-k." "we made a book. i just writed on paper about how i felt about coming to school. i said happy, but i had to draw a sad face because i don't know how to draw a happy face. can you help me?"

oh how i wish i could watch them in their classrooms. i don't like missing so much of their every day lives. i know, i know, that is just they way it is...cut the strings already. but i miss it, and i want to see my babies. perhaps they'll talk more tomorrow after the second day.

as x puts it...179 days to go.