3 Airline Seats for a Family of Five, Please....

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!