Last weekend we went on an adventure and
took our first plane ride with all three kids! We figured we had to
take advantage of the last few days before Zoë turns 2, so we squeezed
her in as a lap infant one last time. Mike having Luca on his lap, and
me having Zoë on my lap, made it tight on the plane.... not to mention
technically difficult when we would try to get anything out of our
backpacks, or pick up dropped toys from the floor, or set up the DVD
player for Vince to watch a movie, or go to the bathroom. There were a
few times when Vince had one of the kids on his lap for a minute or two
so we could move!! We also happened to be in the very end row which was
bad for two reasons: no window for the kids to look out of, and
extremely bumpy on the landing. That combination makes it REALLY easy
to get motion sick, which Zoë happened to get while we were in descent
to Atlanta. Luckily I had just exchanged Zoë for Luca to sit on my
lap-poor Zoë yacked on Mike right before we landed (poor Mike too,
lol). She was fine once we got off the plane, but we joked that,
well.... we are about to visit some Silvestro family members so it's
time that at least one of our kids gets sick!(they have a tendency of
getting a stomach bug whenever we pack up and go to New York).
Luca getting in some reading time with Dad
Mike and I weren't the only ones tired from the plane ride. Yes-we promptly fixed the booster seat after seeing this!
Our
trip to Georgia gave us the opportunity to see Mike's sister Lisa and
her family, and we also got to attend the wedding of a good friend of
mine from Peace Corps. Laura and Matt got married on her parents farm
in Brasstown, NC. It was such a great reunion of old friends and new
babies. I absolutely cherish every moment I can get back together with
the amazing friends from my years in Malawi. That being said, how sad
is it that I only have a couple pictures from the whole wedding! (though
I was dealing with three over-tired, over-heated children for a
while). Here's my good buddy (and square dancing partner
extraordinaire) Dave giving some hugs to Luca.... and then the awesome
bluegrass band from PA that played in the barn after the wedding
It
was so exciting and fun to be able to stay at Lisa and Neal's house for
a visit! The kids were equally excited to spend time with their
cousins Andrew and Noelle. It was really such a joy to see them have
fun with and get to know their cousins. We spent lots of good time at
their neighborhood pool, attended Noelle's swim team awards ceremony
(she got the coaches award!), went for ice cream a few times, played at
the house, and explored the Georgia Aquarium-which was so impressive!
Vince was also super excited to sleep in Andrew's room along with
Noelle. Zoë was so upset when we banished her to another room, poor
girl. Mike tried to be nice and give her a chance to sleep with Vince
on the toddler blow up bed. Yeah right....that didn't last long! They
were monkeys in there until we had to go and finally break it up.
Noelle, Vince, and Andrew pose at the ice cream parlor
Mike and Andrew playing chase at the pool playground
Best photo of all the cousins! what a good looking group :)
Andrew getting to know Luca, although I think his favorite was Zoë. What a sweet little boy Andrew is!
Cooling off at the spray park
Zoë and Andrew dancing a jig (I think)
The monkeys, I mean kids, didn't leave us any room at the table (that's ok, we ate in the dining room)
The Georgia Aquarium Rocks!
Vince's absolute favorite was the tank with 4 giant whale sharks. Those are amazing fish!
We are back home now, and
since our trip Vince has been putting himself to bed for naps during the
day-ok, that's awesome... please keep doing that! I think these kids
are tired from all the fun, but we can't wait for the next trip!
