Vacation/reunion download

We got back from vacation on Monday night, and I meant to blog yesterday, but I had so much to catch up on both at work and at home, that I didn't even open my laptop.

So I'm a few days late with the update, which means a few days removed from the drama, which means I can talk about the trip without using as many superlatives and exclamation points as I probably would have if I'd blogged any earlier.

But here's the summary:

Twin 14-month-old boys on a plane = AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! to the nth degree.

Twin 14-month-old boys in a strange place sleeping in uncomfortable pack n plays = No naps. Ultra early mornings (before 6 a.m.) and incredibly sleepy, whiny, cranky, unreasonable babies.
Also, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Family reunion = Wonderful.

Lobster with pounds of butter and lemon = Heaven.

Coming back to work and trying to get back into the schedule = A struggle.

So, there you have it in a nutshell.

Highlights, you ask?

Hmmm....well, on the plane headed to Boston, Dean screeched and screamed so much (and his screech is ear-splitting) that one woman began lecturing Lester about what "Dr. Spock" has to say about stopping babies from crying. Lester was really sweet, and even put Dean's 25+-lb. wriggling body on his lap, lying on his big ole belly, because that ole lady suggested he do that to calm him down. Dean. My willful toddler who is not, contrary to that lady's belief, an infant. That lady is lucky she wasn't sitting in the row in front of me, instead of in front of Lester, because I was in no mood to entertain her know-it-all-ness, and I would likely have said some things to her that I would have had to pray about later. Needless to say, lying Dean on his belly made him scream even worse.

Also, headed off the plane, another scrunch-face lady walked by and said to me, "He is a VERY unhappy baby!" in a tone that implied we were VERY bad parents, and Dean was sure to be a serial killer some day. I know my child has a wail on him, and he can keep it up for a reallllly long time if he wants to. But he is NOT unhappy, lady. And if he does become a serial killer, I hope she is his first victim.
(Is that wrong?)

Here we are in the airport, before all you-know-what broke loose. You can tell from the grumpy looks on their faces that it's jusssssst about to happen. This is what plane travel with no morning nap will get you.



Other highlights: Did I mention the pre-6 a.m. morning wake-up calls? Which consisted of Cary yelling, "Dah! Dah! Dah! DAH! DAAAH!" over and over again? I was so happy when he learned to say "down," but how on Earth could I have known that he would torture me so with it?

OK, there were some really good moments, I have to admit:

Cary LOVED seeing the planes in the airport. He now says "penh" for plane, and can spot one in the air when it is just a speck, miles away. He goes CRAZY for planes. And he and Dean also learned to say "buh" for bus, watching all the buses go back and forth in the passenger pick-up section of the airport. They totally heart buses. And trucks.

Dean wandered over to a random couple in the airport, and totally sat on the woman's lap, while munching on a Gerber biscuit. She was in heaven, and he was as content as a lap-cat. It was the funniest thing. It was like she was just a chair to him. When he was finished with his biscuit, he wanted nothing more to do with her.

Dean also met a girl in the airport, who he apparently decided was his girlfriend, because they kept holding hands. It was so cute.



Cary spent countless hours pushing the stroller around all weekend. This brought much enjoyment to people at the airport who found it hysterical that he (slight as he is) was able to walk. Some lady asked me if he was 9 months old! Ha! My sweetie is bony, but he's not that short. Gracious! He was serious about pushing that stroller around, though.

Cary and Dean were the hit of the family reunion. As the only twins for generations (I think there were some waaaay back), people were fascinated with them and so in love. And there were so many children that Cary always had someone to follow around, and Dean always had some willing 10-, 11- or 12-year-old girl to carry him around. They were both as giddy as pigs in dirt.
(And boy was it dirty out there at Houghton Pond. My boys have never been so filthy!)

Seeing all my cousins from my childhood and aunts and uncles was really great. In the spirit of nostalgia, here's a picture of me and my cousin Nikki from sometime around 1981. That's my cousin, Dru, sulking in the background.


Eating lobster was really, really great.

All in all, despite the madness, Lester and I are glad we went on the trip. It's not something we're likely to do again very, very soon. But at least we know we can survive, without killing each other. In fact, that was another good thing about the trip. We did not yell at each other or argue even once, and this was a HIGH-STRESS situation. So, there's more proof that I totally married the right guy.

As if I needed any more proof. :-)

Here's pics from the reunion:

Nana (who is the last remaining sibling of her family, the Wests, and the host of the reunion) with 5 of her 6 children, including my Mom (the shortest one).


Nana, holding her youngest great-grandchildren, Cary and Dean (who had had just about enough of all this picture-taking, thank you very much!)




Cary and Granddad
Dean and Nana and Auntie Pam


The boys and their cousin Sydney (who Dean must've thought was a goddess dipped in chocolate, the way he smiled and lit up every time she came in the room or anywhere near him.)


And, last, but not least, my brother, Rashad, who was the highlight of this family reunion, simply by being alive to be there. Praise God.