To Vermont and back

This past weekend was hugely exciting for Madeleine. She finally got to hang with the REAL UNCLE MIKE!



The girls had an absolute blast in Vermont; so much so that Julia spent a significant part of the drive home lamenting the fact that we had to leave. Not only did we get to take part in the beloved summer activities like riding the boat out on the lake and helping Nana in her garden, but we got to celebrate Gramps's 70th birthday with lots of different relatives. I especially loved seeing the girls play with their cousin Dash and really getting to know him. Even if they didn't want to sit still to pose for a picture documenting our happy family reunion:



And of course, the girls wasted no time showing off their true colors to the rest of the Vermont household. In a performance that perfectly showed off their individual, particular weirdnesses, Julia and Madeleine put together an impromptu interpretive dance to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." While Julia sang and pranced around doing made-up ballet moves in the family room, Madeleine decided to lay herself down in the middle of the living room rug and start fake snoring. As Julia nearly tripped over her sister in her state of dancing and singing oblivion to the world around her, Madeleine requested song after song so that she could continue her snoring performance on the floor. My children aren't weird AT ALL.

Speaking of snoring, during our last night in Vermont, I slept extremely fitfully due to Ethan's grizzly bear snoring and the chilly temperature in the bedroom (thanks, Hurricane Irene, for messing with our summer weather!) I thought I was pretty quiet in my requests for Ethan to a) cuddle up against me to warm me up and b) lay on his side to try and mitigate the snoring. After all, Madeleine was in the pack n play at the foot of our bed so I didn't want to speak too loudly. However, she was quick to prove herself as someone who doesn't miss ANYTHING when, upon waking in the morning, her first comments to Ethan were "A Mommy SNORING! Mommy's really CHILLY! A Mommy's COLD!"

All in all, it was a great trip and a wonderful family reunion. The girls have enjoyed seeing pictures of the trip to reminisce, and if Madeleine starts missing Uncle Mike too much, I'll just have to take her down to the banner at Town Hall so she can look at his picture there.