Meg's Mommy Journal: New York Trip

No, not NYC, but western NY to see family and celebrate Grandma's retirement after 20+ years working in the school district. The kids were very excited to see everyone, especially all their cousins.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and stayed with Aunt Katie, Uncle Bill and Will. We were the first folks to stay in their new guest room, and the kids got to have a sleepover with Will. Thursday night we went to Grandma's retirement dinner while the kids hung out at the house with some friends of Aunt Katie. Erin, being the oldest, was a big helper with the rest of the cousins.

Friday morning we headed off to the zoo. I always love visiting a zoo. The kids just get so excited about all the animals. We got to see the elephant getting his morning bath which was really cool. The tiger was also about and running around. We took a few minutes at one of the play areas to let the kids climb around and wade in the stream.

That afternoon grandma and grandpa watched the kids while the moms and dads drove out to do some wine tasting. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we all enjoyed a little adult time break. And when we got back Grandma and Grandpa weren't even tied up.

On Saturday we celebrated Cousin Avery's 3rd birthday by the pool. She was so cute opening all her special Toy Story gifts. We spent the rest of the afternoon splashing around the pool since it was simply a gorgeous day. Erin and Jeffrey even got a special visit from their Uncle Jonathan who had recently moved from DC to NY.

Aunt Robyn came up with the awesome idea of getting a family picture of all the cousins. It has been quite a while since all 5 of them were together. Erin is the oldest at 7, and Will is currently the youngest (about 2 1/2). So you can imagine the fun of getting 5 sets of eyes looking at you all at once. Even so we certainly got some adorable pictures of the kids. Great idea Aunt Robyn. I'm going to make another post that has some of my favorite photos from that little "shoot".

We spent the rest of Sunday outside at the pool. That's just where Erin and Jeffrey wanted to be. Swimming is probably their favorite thing to do.

Most importantly over the weekend we all got to spend some very special family time. The kids got to play with their cousins and hang out with Aunts, Uncles and Grandma and Grandpa. Tom and I got to visit with family. We'll get some more time with them later this summer at Cousin Rylie's birthday. Can't wait to see you all again soon.

Will and Jeffrey Engrossed in Star Wars