Cousins

This past weekend we flew up to Connecticut for 4 days to visit Chad's brother (Brian) and sister-in-law (Sue) and their kiddos (Grant and Lily).  Grant and Lily are 18 months apart and Eli is smack dab in the middle of them, being 9 months apart from both of them!  (Bet you couldn't have done that math!)  Ha!  The close age makes for fun playmates!  This was the first time I had ever met Lily and I haven't seen Grant in about a year.  Eli was too young to remember Grant the last time he visited. 

The kids had nonstop fun the entire trip!  They got along very well and played together like they had always been friends.  We had a great time just watching them interact.  It was great seeing Brian and Sue too!  We ate a lot of wonderful food and drank maragaritas (which by the way were the best ones I had ever had)!  Sue made homemade chocolate blueberry ice cream (yum!) and a chocolate cake that tasted like heaven!  Seriously, I could have eaten the entire cake!

It made us sad to leave them yesterday.  We all were wishing we lived closer so the kids could grow up together and we could all hang out more.  Maybe one day?

The last time Eli flew on a plane he was 6 months old.  He did fabulous back then!  I was a little worried how he would do this time.  Planes are loud and kinda scary if you don't know what to expect.  He's pretty scared of anything loud so I tried to prepare him.  Well he wasn't scared a bit but he was very excited!  He was interested in pushing every button and wanted nothing to do with sitting in his seat and fastening the seatbelt.  The trip there wasn't the best and we were so glad to finally be off the plane.  He had quite a few breakdowns and fits.  One particular older woman was obviously bothered by the way Eli was acting... huffing, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.  Chad wanted so badly to say something to her but I wouldn't let him.  Who cares if she's annoyed?!  She will get over it!  Hey lady!  HE'S TWO!!!!!

Here are a couple of pictures from the plane ride there.

What a set up?!  He wasn't impressed though.

The Hartford, CT airport has the neatest interactive wall ever!  Eli thoroughly enjoyed it!  It's an ad for Traveler's Insurance (which is a great company and who we use by the way!).  I should have gotten paid for that.  Anyway, the red umbrellas are projected on the wall.  As you walk by and hit at them the little tiny umbrellas scatter and move around!  I think Eli could have stayed here all day!

Now on to the fun pictures of the kids!

The boys hard at work at the tool bench.

Showing Chad how it works

I think the boys could have done this all day!  They loved jumping from the ottaman to the couch.

Cousin love :)

Imagine a high-pitched squeal coming from his mouth

Funny faces!

Two little booties up in the air.  We saw this view a lot!

Eli and Lily swinging at the park

Enjoying lunch and a book after a fun time at the park

One of the cutest girls ever, Lily!  Don't you love those pigtails?!

 Can you see Lily trying to be in the picture!  Poor Lily, I almost cut her out!

Having fun in the car

We went to a really neat park on the beach.  They had the coolest sand digging toys!  Eli wasn't quite big enough but he still loved them!

Who doesn't love a see saw?!

Picnic in the kitchen!

Remember that yummy cake I told you about?  This is it!  Such a terrible picture I took.  Sue took much better pictures.  Maybe I will steal one later and show you again.  That cake is worth blogging about again!  Eli enjoyed it!

Of course we had to put them all in the tub and take pictures!  What kind of parents would we be without taking the naked tub pictures?

I have to say, they are some of the funniest pictures from the weekend.  I still laugh when I look at them!  We have some funny kids for sure!

Poor Lily was such a sport!  She got water dumped on her head multiple times!  Love that cute little face!

Sunday was Father's Day (as I'm sure everyone reading this was aware of).  Brian and Chad spent the day fishing and having some brotherly time together.  Eli was so excited when we met them at the boat after they got back.

Afterwards we went to eat dinner at a little place and I can't remember the name of it.  Chad and I were wanting to have a lobster roll.  If you've never experienced a lobster roll I'm sorry.  It's so yummy!  Think steamed lobster drenched in butter and piled high on a buttery roll.  Is your mouth watering yet?  Mine is just from typing that!  They are so yummy!  I took a picture of it and uploaded it to blogger but for some reason it's sideways.  I'm too tired to figure out how to fix it.  You get the point though, right?

We were really dreading the plane ride home because of how Eli acted on the way there.  I have to say, he was much better on the way back.  Yes, he had his moments of crying and screaming but not near as many as the trip up!  We bribed him with Sprite and ice.  At this point I would have given him pretty much anything to keep him quiet!

Getting a little roudy!

Benadryl worked wonders too :)  He fell asleep sitting up and looking out of the window as we were landing in Atlanta.  Why couldn't he have fallen asleep when the plane was taking off?

We will definitely have to make a trip up to CT more often than once every couple of years!  The kids have a great time together and we have a wonderful time hanging out with Brian and Sue!  Hopefully we will see them again soon!