Weekend Trip: part 2

On Sunday afternoon, 

we drove over to Houghton, NY to visit with Isaac and Emily.  

It was chilly-willy there, and Meredith and Erik popped off these beautiful icicles for a mid-afternoon snack. :)

Monday (President's Day) we had a leisurely morning filled with a delicious brunch and lively conversation. :) 

Later that afternoon we took a beautiful snow walk just up the road from our friend's home.

Eliza snoozed through the whole walk snuggled up tight against mama.

Meredith had a tough time walking on the ice-covered snow, so she enjoyed riding along with Daddy and Mr. Isaac.

Thanks so much, friends!  

We are so thankful for a wonderful weekend of rest and refreshment!

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.

First Dip

Meredith had her first dip this week at Grandma and Granddaddy McKinzie's pool in North Carolina. :-)

I think she's a bit nervous here...

But, she really loved it once she was splashing around with us.

She had her "first" official swimming lesson too! Kick those legs!!

Cousins at 5 months!

Meredith and Lilia spent some quality time together this week. I love this photo of them chillin' together. Lilia is being such a sweet friend to Meredith here!


Meredith got a new outfit at a baby consignment shop this week - yay for a lemon onesie!!


Lots of giggles and kicking around together. Love this time for the cousins!

Rockin' times in CO

We discovered Uncle Larry's trampoline while we were out in Colorado...




Um...yeah, we really enjoyed ourselves! :-) It's been years since we jumped on a trampoline!!

And, here are more photos of the wedding day. In this photo I believe MJ was well on her way to her nap.

MJ and Grandpa...she drooled carefully on his shirt right before the ceremony. :-/

Aunte Aleksa and Uncle David trying desperately to make her smile! She's on the verge I think...

MJ with the Petersons' family

Meredith spent a lot of time in the arms of different family members this past weekend. She loved seeing all the new faces and flashed smiles to everyone!

Snuggle time with Auntie Lita... :-) It was time for bed...

Here she is with Liz Nizick - Erik's cousin from Boston.

Of course she had some giggles with her Uncle Bruno! And she loved being with her new Aunt Jolyn.
I think her expression shows her confusion at three different people holding her - fingers, toes and torso!
Aunt Aleksa had lots of time with MJ - here she is pretty happy and chillin' with her Auntie on the porch. :-)
And, of course she had time with Grandma Petersons as well. So many willing arms to love and cuddle her!