In The Summer, In The City

I must give my parents credit for the fact that I know the lyrics to Summer in the City. They wouldn't let us listen to popular music as kids. We could only listen to oldies. Apparently the music of the 60's and 70's was super wholesome.
Ahem.
Well, even if they selfishly made us listen to their music because "it's not as bad as what they play these days" I am eternally grateful that I was raised on good music and not pop. I mean, what was good in the 80's and 90's? Debbie Gibson? To this day I absolutely abhor pop.

On that note, my mom was up recently to visit me. Scratch that. To see her grand kids. Usually when either of our moms comes up we'll pick her up from the airport, drop her and the kids off at the house, and disappear for three days. So, this one time it was nice to take care of her instead of the other way around. (Sorry, Vall. :) Your next-next trip, we'll take care of you.)
I got to bake for her! Holla! And we took her to a few really cool places special to New England. All in all, it was such a grand weekend, and as we were exiting the airport Li'l Bit said, "It's just not the same without Shermee." (Followed by sobs only an Alford Girl could conjure up.)
So here are some pictures from all the fun we had together:

Mom got Gizmo this hat at the Wenham Museum. (They have an AWESOME train room!)

I looooved baking for her! So fun.

Goofing off for the camera.

We took her down into the city, and the kids wore their new Shermee-bought outfits.

Fun times on the carousel--Ladybug loved it! Oh, she's just getting so big!


We went to the North End for a ridiculously good Italian dinner--and of course one last stop at Caffe Vittoria for dessert. The waitress taught the kids how to say "Gi-LAH-to" like real Italians. :)

And even though we had no towels or extra clothes, we just had to let the kids play in the fountains. They loved it!

Every single warm day I'm constantly stocking up memories. I keep telling myself, "Remember this when it's been 15 degrees for two weeks. This is worth it."

Vacation Pictures

more pictures from our vacation:

after seeing our dear melissa in virginia, we headed to south carolina to see our hunts. it was so good and sweet to see them.

our sweet families

li'l bit LOVED pete! she can't wait until we give in and get her a dog. she'll be waiting for a while!

then on to the vacation house in north carolina! it was gorgeous! the house was great, the mountain air was so clean and cool. wonderful respite for this city family.

one of my cute nieces. not sure which one. ;) twins.

the girls had such a fun time playing in the pool.

all tuckered out! how sweet can it get? li'l bit, puppy, gizmo, and hippo. :)

playing pac man with cousin G. they had a lot of fun together.

time for s'mores! the kids loved it. and amazingly enough i did not freak out with three "babies" near the fire...and no one caught on fire. (part of me not freaking out-and no one catching on fire-was ladybug staying buckled into her stroller the entire time the fire was lit.)

our view from the HOT TUB!!

sweet G.

the kids had so much fun together--they were all completely pooped by the time we left!

Home

Thirty-six hours of driving can yield some pretty darn cute moments:


And, of course, it can also yield some pretty crazy moments. For instance, our beloved van having her first hiccup and being stuck in Allentown, PA for six hours. Or Li'l Bit getting sick and puking when we were still two days from home and then riding the rest of the way with sallow eyes and a huge bowl in her lap. (Which thankfully remained empty.)
But even considering those mishaps, we had a wonderful time, and just really enjoyed being together as a family. There's simply something sweet about being just the five of us in the van for hours and hours and hours....and hours. ;) We were thankful that all in all it went very smoothly.
More pictures to come, but for now, we're home.