Christmas in Boston - Last Day

This was Grammy and Grandpa's house before Christmas. By the time we got there, a lot of the snow had disappeared.

Ben and Andrew playing with the Cars GeoTrax while Jonathan reads books.

Cate and Dave reading some books.

Jonathan and Andrew in the airport in Chicago during our layover. Thank God for portable DVD players! Look how tired these poor kids are! We woke them very early that morning to catch our 7 am flight. And they did great on the flight home! Such good little travelers.

Jaffrey, New Hampshire

Waiting patiently for our crew to arrive so we could board the plane.

Andrew played his Leapster as soon as electronics were allowed on the plane!

Jonathan following in Andrew and Keith's footsteps playing with the ITouch.

Dave captured this amazing photo of the lake one EARLY morning.

We were near Mt. Monadnack

The house came with all these amazing toys. The boys were in heaven!

Andrew and Ben spending some quality screen time together.

Jonathan was like a turtle with the life vest on and instead of helping him, I took a picture.

On Sunday, extended family and friends made the drive up to see us. It was great to see everyone!
This was the sun porch where we ate all our meals.

Keith and Jonathan on the kayak

water time

Andrew, Dave, Cate, Keith and Jonathan

Dave and Andrew having a splashing contest

Jonathan in the kayak

Keith and Andrew out in the water. Andrew quickly got over his fear of water and we had trouble keeping the boys out of the water. They didn't seem to care that the water was freezing either!

Last Saturday, in the early morning hours, we boarded a plane for Boston and then rented a car and drove to beautiful Jaffrey, NH. And there we met up with Grammy, Grandpa, Dave, Audra, Ben and Cate. We stayed at a beautiful house for a week, and I forgot to take a picture of the house, so you'll just have to believe me that it was GREAT!

The house was on a lake with the clearest water I've seen in a LONG time. The water was a little chilly for my taste, but the boys had no trouble getting in!

The night before we left, Andrew woke us up around 1:30 puking and then again at 2. We called the airline to see how much it would cost to change our tickets to Sunday - $1200. We decided that was a bit expensive and to take a chance that he wasn't really sick. And we are so glad we went with that choice. We think he had a reaction to the ear drops we gave him that night as a precaution for a possible ear/tube infection. We stopped giving the drops, and he didn't throw up anymore and he didn't have any trouble with his ears. Neither Keith or I slept that night as we lied awake praying for healing and direction. Thank God, he provided both! And everyone stayed healthy the entire trip!

But the fun didn't stop there. On our flight, Jonathan was playing with my cell phone and put it in a paper bag with our bagels. I remember thinking at the time that we need to watch so we don't accidentally throw away my cell phone. Unfortunately, in my extremely tired state, I failed to remember that thought until several hours later when I couldn't find my phone. We had just landed in Boston and had exited the plane when I realized it was missing. I ran back onto the plane and made the poor flight attendants help me locate the phone. Fortunately the bag was on top of the second trash bin we looked in! My phone was a little nasty, but it still worked!

I kept my phone safe until the way home. Once again, Jonathan was playing with it when we landed in Wichita, and sadly that was the last I saw of my pretty red phone with all of its wonderful contacts. And now that I have a new phone with very few contacts, I think I've learned my lesson: Jonathan cannot play with cell phones anymore!

All in all, we had a great trip. The boys slept OK. Keith shared a room with Andrew and I slept with Jonathan. Not ideal, but we got adequate sleep and the boys took naps in the car when we went sight seeing.

And did I mention the weather?! It was fabulous. Mid-70s most of the time. Can't beat that for August!

First flight for Jonathan

Andrew checking out the safety information.


Jonathan and I were lucky enough to have an empty seat beside us on the first flight!

Jonathan crashed on the first flight of the morning. Sadly this was the only real nap he took on any of the flights.

We left last Wednesday for a trip to Boston to visit Keith's family and celebrate his parent's 40th Anniversary. It was Jonathan's first flight and the trip there was much easier than the trip back. I strongly recommend flying early in the morning rather than late afternoon, which we did on the way home. No one napped and Jonathan was teething, but we survived. All I have to say is Thank You God for portable DVD players! We had a great time and stay tuned for more great pictures of fall in New England...