Visit with Granna, Grandaddy and Uncle Will

Over these last few days of May we had a wonderful time having Jane's family with us.  These photos are from an evening spent at the Curtis Arboretum near by.

Around here...

We've had lots of home time these days with Mama still struggling with constant nausea.  Meredith on the other hand, is living it up in her toddler world...as you can see below!

green boots go with any and all outfits (or lack thereof) in Meredith's mind  ;)

I finally felt up to getting out the paints again for this little creative girl.  She loves to paint!

And...this week I taught Meredith to use her very own pair of scissors.  She loved this activity and diligently practiced until she had mastered the skill before nap time.

Hutchinson's visit

Last week we had our dear friends, Ted and Jane Hutchinson visit with us from Seattle.  We had a wonderful time of fellowship and relaxing together.  Jane and I did some thrift shopping together (a shared love!) and Erik and Ted spent time in downtown Philadelphia enjoying large hoagies.  Meredith loved having new playmates for a few days and fresh laps for story reading.

 Madeleine joined us for dinner one evening, and Dan Hutchinson and his girlfriend, Cynthia popped up from Princeton another evening for dinner, games and smokes (just the guys).  Fun times all around!

Traveling Treats

Traveling to and from Chicago had us stopping often for snacks and outside breaks.  Meredith had many special treats that aren't the usual around home.  Her favorite treat was getting juice and the added fun part was having it served in special cups.  Each sip produced these series of faces. :)

We stopped in Pittsburgh with friends overnight before heading home on the final 6 hour stretch.  Meredith was delighted to be able to play with their sweet 3 year old daughter, Colette.  They became fast friends, and when we had to head back on the road Meredith made her first attempt at her new friend's name saying,  "Bye, bye Co..."  :)

Chicago: #5 - Park Day!

Our favorite day in Chicago was the park day.  It was gorgeous weather, we packed a huge picnic and went to an awesome park filled many fun places to play!  

Meredith had her first try at the money bars - woot!

David's girlfriend, Carmen, and Aunt Aleksa :)

game rules...

Erik lovin' the sun, siblings and play time!

                                                

 Cheerleaders have arrived!  

Auntie Lita and Meredith came over to check out the rousing basketball game.

Meredith found a special new lap to sit on while cheering on the sidelines. :)

A very fun day in the sunshine!

Chicago Trip: #4 - Puppy!

We stayed with our dear friends, Andy and Lydia while we were in the suburbs visiting family.  Since we had been there last, Meredith has grown from a little baby into a toddler...and....Andy and Lydia got a puppy!  We all fell in love with Bixby and this video gives a glimpse into Meredith's daily (hourly?) excitement with this sweet pup. :)

Chicago Trip: #3 - family time!!

We had lots of time to hang out with family during the 5 days we were in the Chicago suburbs.  Meredith played with all her aunts and uncles, grandparents, two great aunts and a great uncle.  

It was a full week!

Aunt Aleksa and Meredith made up a super fun and energetic peek-a-boo ball game

One....Two...Three with Grandma and Daddy!

Lots of special snuggles with Auntie Lita and the perk of viewing photos of her cat Max on her phone whenever Meredith said, "Kiiiittttttyyyyy?"

Erik and David had an arm wrestling contest.  I had to take Meredith out of the room because she thought her Daddy was in pain and she began wailing! :(

Special back rubs and snuggles from Uncle Bruno

Jane was able to squeeze in a girlie afternoon for chocolate milkshakes and pedicures! ooooo-la-la!

Chicago trip: #2 (days 3-4)

On Saturday afternoon, May 5th we drove through Indiana and saw this sight.  These wind turbines were everywhere as far as the eye could see in the flatlands of Indiana!!  It was absolutely amazing and dazzling to see their immense size AND to drive by literally hundreds of them.  Erik guesstimated that we drove around 15-20 miles through fields of these powerful giants.

We stopped in Crown Point, Indiana and had a lovely visit with the Mininger family Saturday evening and stayed through Sunday lunch with them.  We hadn't seen them since they moved from the Philadelphia area in January 2011, so it was a wonderful time to re-connect and catch up with each other's lives.

Chicago Trip: #1 (traveling out)

Please excuse our blogging silence this month.  I can't believe it's already passed mid-May and this is our first post of the month! :-p  We have been on the road for much of this month, so our computer access has been very limited. 

On May 3rd we set off on a 10 day trip in a large loop to Chicago land and back again.  Of course with a toddler and sick pregnant lady traveling was S-L-O-W, so we made the best of it and broke up the traveling days by stopping and visiting lots of friends and family. :)

Thursday, May 3rd we stopped by Jonny, Bria and Lila's home in Mechanicsburg, PA.  Lila had just gotten a sweet new playhouse, so she and Meredith had a blast romping around together that evening.

 They also "shared" the kid-sized piano for a few tunes together (in between lessons from the adults about not pushing!)

                                     

 The next day, May 4th was our longest driving day (8.5 hours driving + extra time for lots of stops) - treking out to Oxford, Ohio.  We visited with Jane's sister, Amy and her husband, Sam who are both graduate students at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  We had a wonderful time visiting and seeing their beautiful campus.

 Their sweet kitties Gingko and Bamboo were less than thrilled (terrified?) with us invading their home.  Meredith on the other hand was beside herself with joy with two kitties in the house and trekked around faithfully finding their whereabouts every moment. :)