by Papa K on November 29, 2016
For only the second time in my life, I didn’t head to Boston for Thanksgiving. After our big trip to Minneapolis a few weeks ago, we decided to stay local and Grandma and Papa Boston along with Auntie Elyssa and Uncle Stephen came to us. We rented a house up in Healdsburg and had a California-style Thanksgiving.
Grandma and Papa with Maile and Lauren on the deck outside our rental house
Mommy had the great idea to kick things off with a full family turkey trot. 1.5 miles and the girls did awesome. Christine and Maile ran ahead. Lauren and I followed behind – and Lauren ran the whole way – didn’t stop once! I was very proud of her.
We're bundled up and ready to trot!
The whole family got involved in the trotting!
Maile Girl at the finish line
Maile came back and ran the last yards with Lauren
Very proud of my little runner!
After that we cooked up a storm at the house – it had a huge kitchen that was perfect! The girls loved having so many people to play with, read books, play games and goof around with.
Cooking with Grandma
All in all, it was a fantastic extended weekend and a nice start to the holiday season. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!
by Papa K on September 28, 2016
Just in time for the debate, Auntie Elyssa sent the girls Hillary t-shirts along with a really sweet note. (Btw – well done Clinton campaign – the t-shirts are ridiculously soft!)
The girls have been wearing them with pride and we are most definitely “with her”!
Maile and Lauren joined us for the first 15 minutes of the debate, but it was still a little over their head. It is interesting what Maile seems to pick up on the playground about Hillary and Trump – I imagine a bit around the house too 🙂
A very sweet note from Auntie Elyssa to her two little nieces...
Proud to be with her!
Once again we headed to Michigan for a family reunion with Grandma Jill’s side of the family. We had an awesome weekend running around and playing with our cousins. We fished (using marshmallows!), went paddle boating, swimming, slip n’ sliding, water ballooning, glitter tattooing (thanks Maile!), we sang and danced, we shared stories, ate s’mores over the fire and, of course, made amazing memories!
Paddle boarding cousins!
Maile doesn't actually like eating the s'mores, but she sure enjoyed roasting the marshmallows 🙂
A rare family picture (Maile 7, Lauren 3.5)
Maile and Aiden _loved_ spending time together!
Auntie Elyssa and the cousins (at least some of them)
(Almost) full family shot!
We had a fun visit with Auntie Elyssa this past weekend. She was in town for work during the week and they she popped on over to stay with us for the weekend. Maile and Lauren loved having her around and they made the most of their few days with her keeping her busy with all types of activities.
One of the highlights was that Auntie got to see the girls at their dance class – they were very proud to show her everything they were learning (including a first pass at their new dance routines). I think its fair to say it brought back memories for Auntie 🙂
On Saturday afternoon, Maile and Auntie made an awesome scrapbook – it was a project that Maile had been looking forward to doing for a few weeks now ever since she got the scrapbook kit for Christmas. She’s very proud of her book and enjoyed the quality time with Auntie.
The girls did a nice job of letting Auntie sleep in a little bit (with the help of the iPad 😉 and all in all, I think Auntie got a good taste of what weekends are like around here. We can’t wait for her to come back and visit us again soon!
All smiles spending time with Auntie Elyssa!
The best part of our vacation to Cape Cod was that we were joined by Grandma Jill and Papa Mike for the first part of the week and Auntie Elyssa for the whole thing!
Only thing better than family time? Family time + ice cream!
And yes, plenty of time playing with Auntie's old dolls with Grandma Jill...
Swinging with Grandma Jill
All the ladies on the see saw...
Selfie time with Auntie Elyssa!
Family Picture (Maile 6, Lauren 2.5)
