A Visit from Claire, Grandmommie, and Papa

My mom has started a tradition of taking each grandchild on a special trip by themselves when they turn 8. Caroline came to Boston when she turned 8, right before Ellie was born. And this last week Claire came on her "8 year old trip." We were so blessed to have her--and Mom and Dad, too of course! We had a blast!!Ellie at the aquarium...not quite sure about touching the starfish!

After the aquarium we went to the famous Quincy Market for lunch...

Sweet Sarah Grace did great in the stroller. We think she must like being all bundled up! It was really cold that day.

Next--the children's museum.

Two granddaughters after Mom's own heart...they LOVED the grocery store!!

Shopping, Watching Movies, and Just Being Home

Claire loves to shop so we got some of that in too...her favorite was the American Girl store!

But she and Ellie even loved Wal-Mart! :)One day it snowed! So we stayed in and snuggled up with hot chocolate, popcorn, homemade cookies, and movies!

Chickens, Turtles, Newlyweds, and Quirkle

What came first the chicken or the egg?Charlotte's Web...Wilbur, Fern, a Chicken, and an egg... Everyone was all dressed up as book characters for Annie Kate Goode's first birthday party. This is the best pic we got of some of them! They were hilarious. The guest of honor was Curious George (Ellie's favorite!). And Ellie won best costume!

A tired chicken and a sad turtle! Ellie was missing her nap and Mary wasn't feeling too good...but they were troopers anyway! (for more happy pics of Mary--http://www.thefamilypierce.blogspot.com/)

Claire couldn't come to Boston and not see Sandra! They came over to hang out with us even though they'd just gotten back from their honeymoon. Claire was SO excited to see her!

Claire reading books to Ellie.

Cookies and Quirkle.

Science Museum and Apple Picking

The Science Museum!

In honor of our friends Dena and Baxter we spent some time in the Mathematics room!

Sleeping in a space ship...

Lunch Break...Chick-fil-A! And on to apple picking...

My friend Lauren was visiting me 8 years ago when I went apple picking for the first time. She got the girls these outfits for our apple picking this year! Thanks, Lauren. Wish you could have been here with us!

It was sad to say good-bye...we had so much fun. When we got home from taking them to the airport Ellie started walking around the house saying, "No Claire. No Claire." Thanks so much for coming to visit us! We love you and miss you! Can't wait to see you again during the holidays!

Sandra's Wedding Weekend Extravaganza!

Last weekend my sweet friend Sandra got married! It was quite a weekend...lots of laughing and tears along the way! The bridesmaid luncheon was at my house... Then we had the rehearsal dinner...And the wedding...have you ever seen a happier bride?!!By the time we got to the reception Ellie was exhausted and not feeling very good. And she didn't recognize Sandra all dressed up in her pretty dress! But all week we've had her dress in our house and she's been walking around saying..."sandra's dress".Travis was a trooper! He helped me so much with the girls all weekend.

Beautiful Sandra!!

The happy couple! :)

Ellie's New Bed

We finally moved Ellie to her new bed. We had lots of company in town last week so we had to get the girls moved into the same room. Our friend Lacey (who lives in the apt below our house) can do it all...she helped us put the bed together--Travis hurt his neck so he was supervising from the couch. And who am I kidding--I supervised from the floor--Lacey did all the work! Ellie was SO excited about it the whole time.

As soon as we got the bed in her room she couldn't wait to "go night night". She layed there for a little bit and then said, "All done!". She thought the whole thing was a new game. We stayed in her room til she fell asleep that first night. She woke up a couple of times in the night and started walking down the hall (she takes after her cousin John David who still "wanders" at night!). We put a gate up every night now!! These are pics from the first night both girls slept in the same room. Sarah Grace loved all the space she had in her crib. It's so nice to have them both in the same room. It gives us more space in the rest of the house. And so far, they haven't woken each other up in the night!