High Five

I am slacking and do not have any new pictures to post. This is surprising even for me! We had a busy week and were so ready for the weekend. Why is it that the weekends always seem to pass in the blink of an eye?

In all honesty, I can't remember the highlights of Thursday. I guess it was that special :) I do know that the boys and I tried out a new walking route in the morning. It has been so hot lately and the boys napping schedule has been so sporadic that it has been hard to get in one walk, never mind two like we once did. Thursday morning I packed up the boys and drove to East Granby to a bike trail that we had driven by several times but never stopped to investigate. With our traditional walking route still a mess, I decided that I should make the most of it and get out to try something new. The only problem was that I didn't pick the best day to give it a try. The boys woke up super early Thursday morning and had no interest in napping... surprise, surprise! By the time we drove to the bike path and were headed down the trail, the sounds began to emerge from the stroller. It didn't take much for both of them to chip in and being in the middle of the woods, every little sound seemed amplified. I stopped several times within the first few minutes and each time I stopped, I sacrificed my blood for the thirsty mosquitoes. Our walk lasted a total of 15 minutes and about 25 bug bites later we were back in the car and on our way home. The good news was that the boys were asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car. The great news is that the path was a great discovery as it was well paved and super shady which is very enjoyable even in the early mornings of these hot summer days. I am thinking we may brave that walk again this week.

On Friday the boys and I met up with Leeanne and Leora at Robinson State Park in Agawam. We, okay, I got eaten alive again but we had a great visit. We went for a 4 mile walk then found a grassy spot where the boys could roll (and eat grass!) and we could chat and eat our lunches. The weather was hot but perfect and the rain held out for us!

Friday night the rain headed in and our power headed out! Just as Mike and Laura were coming home from work, we lost our power because of the crazy rain! Thankfully dinner had just come out of the oven but the bad news was that I was very much in need of pumping! We called the power company and they had no estimates of when the power would be restored which we knew wasn't a good sign. They recommended calling back every three hours to check on the status as they said that Suffield was hit really hard and most of the town was out of power. We made the most of it.. Laura headed out to the mall and Mike and I rocked the babies on our back porch, enjoying the rain and packed them up and headed out for a road trip just before their bedtime. The boys were asleep within minutes of being in the car and I was able to pump... phew! What a relief. It was also fun to see who the lucky ones were that had power! We headed home after about an hour and later that night I found myself back in the car but this time pumping in the dark, with a head light, on by myself. It was quite a site to be seen! Again this was another moment that I was SO grateful that we don't have neighbors! It's amazing the things you do as a parent! Power was later restored just before 11 pm!

Saturday morning we had the boys 6 month pictures rescheduled from last weekend (when Aiden was backed up....) The boys were good sports and although they weren't willing to give up a ton of smiles, I was pleased with the outcome of the pictures. The boys were funny because they were very interested in the mesh backdrop the photographer had them sitting on and tried with every bone in their body to get it in their mouth! It was quite entertaining and the poor photographer had the patience of a saint. I think it was a good thing we had the first appointment that morning! We get to pick up our order in a week and a half, yippee!

Saturday afternoon we were able to visit briefly with Tommy before he and Laura headed out to a wedding. Later that afternoon, Grammie and Dziadz Pt came over to babysit so that Mike and I could get out for some alone time. We really are spoiled and so are the babies! Mike and I were able to meet up with our friends Adam and Gina for dinner at Panera's. After dinner we ran some errands and came home to both boys sound asleep. What a treat! Good job Grammie and Dziadz!

This morning we headed out to church and left the boys in the nursery for the second time all by themselves. The sitters reported that the boys did great and loved watching all of the other kids! They both fell asleep on the car ride home but typical of their naps, the sleep was short lived and they were awake within 20 minutes.

Laura, Mike and I attempted a walk on the bike trail in East Granby again but the skies opened up as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. Maybe that's a sign? We headed home and decided to take our jogging stroller out seeing as it has a rain hood built in. Since we hadn't been out for a walk in a while we all agreed to go for a longer walk and took the 4 mile route. When we were as far from home as possible, it began to rain cats and dogs. Go figure! We quickly got our butts in gear and ran home. Literall RAN home! I think it was good for all of us... well maybe not for Mike who found his cell phone floating in an inch of water in the bottom of the stroller. The boys managed to stay dry but the water level was so high that it managed to seep in from the ground up. Oops Mike! Tough lesson learned I guess.

As always, we had a great week and great weekend. Our visitors this week were: Grammie Hopkins, GG Mimi, Grammie/Dziadz Pt, Heidi/Jack, Babci, Uncle Mike, Anne & the entire Umass crew, Leeanne, Leora, Tommy & Auntie Laura.