Our month of fun continued on well into September! We had several visitors come to stay with us, and then the kids and I were off to spend another week in Virginia at my mom's house. This was only possible because of some seriously amazing family members volunteering to help get us there! There was no way I could do the 8 hour car trip by myself, so the trip was made possible by my cousin Elizabeth and her friend Alexa, and my mom (we'll just refer to her as super Mimi).
On Friday morning, Elizabeth and Alexa flew into Hilton Head airport via private plane (rough way to travel, I know!). They spent the weekend here visiting, and then we got up before the sun on Sunday morning and made the trip back to Virginia together. I drove for all of 30 minutes, and Aunt Liz drove the rest. The first half of the trip was pretty miserable for Layla, but from then on it was up hill.
The kids loved having built in playmates for the weekend! I, too, enjoyed the extra helping hands! Aunt Liz was definitely a second mother to my kids for the week plus that we were together.
Our time in Virginia was great, though I really missed having my hubby there. Thankfully I had many willing to help out with the kids when needed. Layla was having a bit of an off week, and really just wanted to be in my arms most of the time. I think it was a combination of teething and just being away from home, because she's been back to her happy self since then.
We spent most of our time just hanging out with family. We had 4 big family meals/get togethers and that was just what I needed! Missing all of the family functions is still hard, so it was good to catch a few birthday and 'just because' dinners.
Sunday night my mom had everyone over for dinner and to see us.
My mom picked up this Dora kitchen at a yard sale, and it was/still is a huge hit for my kiddos! Eli insisted that Uncle Bob play kitchen with him.
These two are like two peas in a pod. Showing off their firefly catches of the night. Uncle Patrick is constant entertainment, and comes up with the best stuff for them to 'play.' Needless to say, the first words out of Eli's mouth every morning where, "is Uncle Patrick here yet?!"
Ohh the thing's Eli gets away with at Mimi's house...like puddle jumping!
Spent an afternoon at a really cool park. Eli was in heaven, and Layla enjoyed lots of swing time.
Eli still loves to 'help' in the kitchen. Especially with his Mimi who lets him help a little more than his mommy does :).
We celebrated Uncle Bob's birthday with dinner at my Grandparent's house, and the best carrot cake EVER!
On Friday, we left sister at home with Mimi and took Eli to the zoo. It was a pretty hot day, so we went early and tried to beat the Labor Day crowd. We hadn't been to the zoo since Eli was 18 months old, so he really enjoyed it!
Taking a rest with Aunt Liz in the butterfly garden.
We remembered to take Eli's swimsuit for the large splash park this time. It was a great way to cool off on the way out. After he slipped and fell about 5 times, we decided to leave before any bones were broken :).
On Saturday night we had one last get together at my Aunt's house, and it was a big seafood dinner!
I've noticed that I'm in WAY more pictures when Liz is around. She is always good about grabbing the camera and making me stop for pictures.
My grandad is always so full of joy when we're in town. I love how excited he gets over his great grandchildren!
And then it was back in the car for another 8 hours...yuck! Layla did much better on the way home, thankfully! She's just like her brother though, in that she isn't much of a car sleeper. She took 3 cat naps and that was enough to get her by. Eli is a great little traveler, except for the fact that he HATED to leave VA, and fussed about it every 10 minutes the whole car ride home. He forgot about it once he got back home to his toys. :)
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