Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We had a very, very, very fun and tiring (see below) trip to the east coast to catch up with a lot of our crew (we were bummed that we couldn't see everyone). We were able to celebrate birthdays, weddings, new homes, and jet lag... who could ask for anything more? I was absolutely horrendous at taking pictures so I'm hoping that anyone who might have snuck in a shot or two will be kind enough to send some my way.

The kids did well traveling, although I remembered on our return flight that I had officially pronounced one year olds as the worst traveling companions when Molly was that age. Jack, and all the wiggles he snuck on the flight, reminded me of that. Thankfully, my mom was crazy nice enough to fly with us so we had an extra set of hands. John had returned west earlier and I don't think wrangling these two on my own sounded like the best idea in the world.

We're still trying to adjust back to life in the west (since some people think waking up in the 5am range is a ball of laughs) and hope to be settled just in time to return for turkey day in a couple of months. For the time being, we'll just commit to starting school, a little sports class, and swimming lessons (and maybe gymnastics if I feel the need to be especially overcommitted and/or Molly is hanging from the rafters here at home).

Here are pics from part one of our trip -- to Block Island and beyond...

I'm either the world's most boring companion or we were all just having too much darn fun and we tuckered Mr. Excitement right out. Remind you of anyone??

Who doesn't love being reunited with Super Cousin? 

Is this friendship or what? We love when the Owens family comes to play. 

Jack started clapping one day... and hasn't stopped. He's also perfecting his "what happened?" look... I'm pretty sure that will be a useful tool as he goes older and battles with the blonde tornado. 

Apparently, there are also lots of interesting things happening on the other side of the door on Block Island too. 

You can never be too safe when waving at the ferry passengers... notwithstanding where the car seat is, of course.

Week number one ended with a trip to the Children's Museum for a kid exchange with my parents so that we could celebrate our hearts out at Sarah's gorgeous wedding for the weekend. Not before, of course, the safety animals played long and hard. I see OSHA in her future.