Boston 3/3

Here we are at the end of our trip. Wednesday was a lazy day. We hung out around the house until people started getting home from work.

We went for an early dinner where my girls were terrors. Then we went over to the local mall so we could get some energy out. Luckily, there happened to be random rides sprinkled around the mall and we happened to have doting grandparents who paid for rides.

Elise absolutely loves Bryce. She most definitely remembered him immediately. She was happy to play whenever he was around.

And I forced him to take this picture with Lou.

This car ride was really just the car making noises and tipping to the left over and over. Elise got somewhat smashed. Oops.

After the mall we headed home and I let other people watch my kids some more.

Sadie called this game on the blanket "camping". Her friend Hyrum went camping with his dad once and she saw an episode of Max & Ruby about camping and she insists she is going to go camping soon.

Elise supervised the camping with Nana.

And later that night we returned to Friendly's for round 2 of Reese's sundaes. They are the best.

 We kicked Thanksgiving off right with some high school football. I layered up the girls with clothes, but it turned out to be almost 60 degrees and sunny. We were all sweating. My girls weren't too interested. They wanted snacks and bottled water. Belmont High School lost by a lot and I felt right at home.

*This pic is for the TAJ family. Something to aspire to, Will! 

Some annoying middle school kids spilled their popcorn and Elise started eating it. Eh, it's good for you to eat other people's food off the ground sometimes.

Sadie was thrilled to find out Alicia was baking a pie. She got right to work bossing Alicia around as much as possible.

We ate dinner mid-afternoon and Sadie was pants-less. She was also pants-less while baking with Alicia (above). She is frequently found without pants when she is inside. Haven't figured out how to make her keep pants on yet.

Elise was being hilarious after dinner. She wrestled with some stuffed animals, got to Papa's reading glasses, and then played in the powder room. 

It's a mini-Doug John!

She loved that bathroom all week.

Thanksgiving was a great day. I was most grateful for my little family and the fact that I got to be in Boston with extended family for the holiday. 

On Friday I slept in (again) while my family watched my kids. Have I mentioned how great that was? I was totally spoiled. And my kids slept really well at night, so I was just getting bonus sleep.

Alicia and Bryce were wonderful with my kids, just like they were when they lived in Utah.

Louie finally started understanding ring around the rosie.

They spent a lot of time in the basement playroom during our trip as well. My mom mentioned that the guest bed was great so in the early morning she could doze off a bit as she was "playing" with my kids.

Where do you think Sadie is hiding?

We walked up to my elementary school playground with 5 adults and 2 kids. Love that ratio. 

Unfortunately all the slides were soaking wet because of the frost from the night before. Sadie happily went down this slide and flew about 3 feet off the end before my dad caught her. Bryce spent a while trying to convince Elise to go down, but she was not having it.

Sadie designated my mom as the mean crocodile and giddily screamed as she was chased. 

Where's Elise? This picture makes it look like the peak of fall. 

On Friday afternoon we boarded the plane to come back to Utah. Unfortunately, we sat on the plane for 2 hours before being cleared for takeoff. The girls were very curious about the planes around us. 

Everything went decently well until the last 90 minutes of the flight. Then all hell broke loose and I tried not to join my children in crying. We were all happy/relieved to see Daniel waiting for us in the airport. 

I am so thankful to have a wonderful family that I love visiting. We had a great time. 

Thanks for making it an awesome week, Mom & Dad, Alicia & Bryce, and Matt. Matt may be the real hero of the trip, as he gave up his room for Elise and slept in the basement, so my kids and I could have the most comfortable sleeping arrangement. And we all know how much my happiness revolves around sleep. 

Until next time, or actually, until February, when my parents will be here next!