Our Trip to the East Coast

In November we had the amazing opportunity to heat out east to visit Matt's family in New Jersey and some of our friends in New York City.  It's something I've been wanting to do for quite awhile now.  I had still never met Matt's grandparents and had been wanting to visit Anna in NYC since she moved there 7 years ago.  

We started by spending a few days at with Matt's aunt Barb and uncle Mike at their gorgeous home in Perrineville, NJ.  We couldn't have felt more welcome and the kids immediately made themselves at home.  We got to spend some time with Matt's grandparents (Grandmom and Pop Pop),  Barb and Mike, and their kids Jay, Gabe and David.  We got right into the swing of things and began our East Coast adventure.  One of the first nights we were there, we were able to hang out with Matt's aunt Diane and her husband Frank.  It was nice being able to catch up with everyone that we hadn't seen in over four years.  One of the days we were there, we took a trip to Princeton, which was absolutely gorgeous.  The town was adorable and the campus was so old and beautiful.  We just wandered around town and enjoyed the amazing weather.  Plus, Sue and Don's old friend Mike was able to come over and join us.

Frank, Max and Julia hanging out

Max and Jay goofing around

Barb and Evelyn

At Princeton

Future Princeton student?

One of the other days we were there we visited a place called Grounds for Sculpture.  Basically, it was just like it sounds- large grounds covered with sculptures.  I don't think I could ever do it justice, by describing it, but I will say it was so unique and different and the sculptures were all so creative and interesting.

Sculpture of a lunch by the lake

Max loves ducks!

Sculpture of a Monet painting

Creepy shadows in the bamboo

Before heading to New York, the gals (minus Diane, who sadly was working) got to go and get mani/pedis, which was SO nice and relaxing.  We also spend more time with the rest of the family and went to visit Don's cousin Joanne at her house.  She hosted the most amazing dinner where we were able to meet more extended family.  Those New Jersey folks sure do know how to make you feel welcome.

Next up, Matt, the kids and I headed to NEW YORK CITY!!!!  We drove into Queeens to drop off our stuff at Anna's house and immediately took off for Manhattan.  It was so much fun getting so see all the things I had only previously seen on TV or in the movies.  The kids played at Central Park, we visited Times Square, did a little shopping and did a LOT of walking.  On day two in NYC, we did more wandering and shopping and met Matt's old college buddies, Travis and Pedro for lunch.  They were so much fun and so incredibly interesting.  As Anna put it, you can tell when guys went to school in Montana.  They just seem nicer and more down-to Earth than the average New Yorker.  Other than that, we got to see the Statue of Liberty, Occupy Wall Street and Ground Zero, which was just as moving as you might imagine.  I loved our tour of the city and can't wait to go back.  It was slightly challenging having the kids with us, but we still saw a lot and had so much fun.  And I was so, so happy to be able to spend some quality time with Anna.  She was a fantastic tour guide.

First subway ride!

At Central Park

Anna and I

Tribute flag at Ground Zero

Occupy Wall Street

Travis, Pedro and Matt

After a few days in NYC, we headed back to Jersey.  We relaxed some more and got to have dinner with Don's cousins John and Tom and aunt Jean.  Not surprisingly, they were great people and were just as fun and interesting as the rest of the family.  This trip exceeded all of my expectations.  Evelyn was feeling a little under the weather, but overall the kids were great and had a blast.  Max adored everyone and loved horsing around with his cousin Jay (and playing with his snake-ew!), bonding with his aunts, chatting with uncle Frank and snuggling on the couch at bed time with Uncle Mike.  Evelyn was comfortable with everyone too, and really took to Barb.  Both kids loved spending time with Grandmom and Pop Pop too.  I love that whole family and am so happy to be a part of it.  I can't wait to go back next year. 

Sue and Don on their anniversary

Max and uncle Mike

Grandmom and Pop Pop

Frank and Diane

An Awesome Autumn

I love the fall.  I mean, I love, love, LOVE, the fall.  I love the colors, the brisk air, kicking leaf piles, pulling out my warm sweaters, drinking hot cider, anything that is made with pumpkin, seeing kids so excited to trick-or-treat on Halloween, and the growing excitement of holidays to come.  My favorite month of the year is October (well, it's tied for first with December).  It has become even more special to me since it's the month of my anniversary and the birth month of my FAVORITE little girl in the world.  This year was certainly no exception.  Now that my mom is retired, she was able to spend two weeks with us as the end of the month.  Other than my wedding day, this was the only time in 14 years that I was actually able to spend time with my mom in October and I loved every minute of it.  Come to think of it, I've really lucked out in the mom department for the last couple of years.  Last year, Matt's mom was able to spend two weeks with us to help out with Max during those last extremely uncomfortable weeks I was pregnant with Evelyn, for which I will always be so grateful.

Anyway, this year we were able to to two pumpkin patches with the kids.  The first was with Max's play group, and the second was just Matt, my mom, the kids and I.   In addition to visiting the pumpkin patches, I ran my fist 5k with the kids, Matt ran his second marathon, we got a visit from my dear friend Jodi and her husband JJ,  and we took both kiddos trick-or-treating.  This was especially fun since Max actually kind of understood what was going on and loved dressing up as Superman and going door-to-door requesting candy.  We decided to dress Evelyn as an angel to be ironic.  Ha! Ha!  It really was a perfect month.  Here are some pictures of the good times we had.

Max and his fellow adventurers conquering a giant hay pyramid

The kids with Grammy

I think Max loves pumpkins as much as I do

Doing the Run Like Hell 5k with the kids

With my monkey and little pumpkin

Marathon #2 completed!

Pumpkin patch princess

That's big spider

Max and his daddy went through a corn maze.  This is Max jumping out and "scaring" me

All of the fun of the day wore her out

My much loved friend Jodi

Jodi and JJ.  One of Max's favorite couples.  :)

Who are these strange people in my kitchen?

Super Max!

Indian Summer

And so my summary of the last several months continues...

As our summer turned into fall, we were able to enjoy another Evelyn milestone: WALKING!  She took her first steps (pretty confidently!) at 11 months old.  The stinker took her first steps during the short hour that I left to go to the gym.  I thought one of the benefits of being at home with the kids was getting to see those precious moments!  Alas, I missed this one, but I was very happy Matt got to see it.  And I did get to see an encore as soon as I got home.

 But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Before Evelyn made those first steps, we kicked off the beginning of fall by watching Matt complete his second Warrior Dash race.  It's a 5k with lots of obstacles along the  way including a mud pit covered with barbed wire and a ring of fire.  He did great of course, and the kids loved running around in the woods while we waited for him to finish.

Max doing his own dashing

Kissy face!

My Warrior

Max goofing around with Skip

True love is kissing your filthy husband after a muddy 5k

Warrior princess

After the Warrior Dash, we decided to go visit my folks in Carson City, NV.  We hadn't been there to visit them since they moved there, so I was eager to check out the town.  I thought I'd be sad about them leaving Vegas, but I really liked Carson City.  It reminded me of Missoula in the 80's.  It was one of the friendliest places I've ever been.  It was SUCH a relaxing visit.  We spend one day driving around Lake Tahoe, which was gorgeous.  And we couldn't have had a nicer day.

Max checking out the lake

Love my parents!

Dad trying to keep Evelyn out of the water

One of the other days we were there, my mom and I were able to go over to Reno, which is only about 20 minutes away, to visit my friend Lindsey from elementary school and her adorable daughter Grace.  It was great to see them and catch up.  I don't think I had seen Lindsey since high school and it was so fun to meet her little one.

Lindsey and Grace

Our attempt at getting a group shot

Other than that we pretty much just hung out and relaxed.  Max and his Grammy made some cookies, we played outside quite a bit, and took one afternoon to go on a little train ride.  Max was pretty excited right up until it was time to ride the train.  I think he was scared by the loud whistle.  But once he got on he was able to relax some.

He's such a big helper

In the train station

Waiting for the train

A nervous Max

It was so much fun to see my parents' new home, even if it is only temporary.  I look forward to our next visit!