Pretzels and Cheesesteaks

We celebrated President's Day Weekend with the Gonzales Family. We packed up the good ol' Altima and drove her the roughly 350 miles from Beantown to Philly in search of the perfect pretzels, cheesesteaks, and company. We did a two hour pitstop at the New Haven Ikea, where Griff literally drooled, and Tom and I figuratively drooled over the amazingly functional kitchens and swedish meatballs plate. (We are planning to put in an Ikea kitchen into 20 Willow sometime this Spring, hopefully.)
Overall, the trip was a blast. Johnny and Griffin lit up when they saw each other and it was just like old times. We laughed extremely hard, relaxed a lot, and each gained approximately 3 pounds. Here are some pics and highlights:

Together again!

"I love you Jawhnny" -Scout

Griff & Johnny with Scout & Scout



On our Philly Bucket List: "Eat Cheesesteaks".  Complete.

We visited the Philly Pretzel Factory...

... and bought 15 pretzels for $5.00!

Took a car tour of the art museum and boathouse row...

and stopped at the Fairmont Park to check out the Smith Playhouse.

Meg & I look so sexy with our tasty cakes covered teeth.

Here's Griffin picking some tasty cakes of his own...

 Gonzales Family- We love you guys and miss you like crazy. Thanks for a great weekend!

Cupid

Happy Valentine's Day!  Love, Cupid's Crazy Mom

The Shift to Grandparenthood

One of the best things about having Griffin, has been watching my Dad transform into the cutest Grandpa ever. 

Like Father Like Son

Here is an excerpt from my text conversation with Tom from a few minutes ago:

At 3:07pm I texted, "On the smelly poop scale, Griff's just scored a 12. Oh my. Love you." 
Tom's response was, "Oh my indeed.  Well, I have some 12's every now and again, too. XOXO"  Then I said, "Like father like son.  Gross, I love you both a little less.  I'm a lady so I don't even poop."

Oh we are such embarrassing parents.  Don't worry Griff, when you're older, we'll tone it down... or won't we..?  Sorry in advance for all of the embarrassing comments/things I will make/do around you and your friends.

P.S. Speaking of poop, here are 3 classic pictures that we currently have hanging in our downstairs bathroom. 

The Past 2 Weeks

Wow, I think the cabin fever has gotten to me as I've forgotten to blog for the past 2 weeks.  You'd think being cooped up with a one year old in an 1200 sq foot house buried beneath the 60+ inches of snow we've gotten in the past month would have me begging for things to do, like blogging.  Alas, Griffin and my job keep me busy, or too tired to remember what things I have to do.  

So, let me fill you in on the last two weeks.  We've had some memorable times to share and document.

1. Griffin got conjunctivitis, or so we thought...

2. Despite the supposed "conjunctivitis", we had a family birthday party for Griff, complete with a Dad-made snow fort/tunnel and a duck shaped cake.

(Griff was NOT a fan of the snow fort, though I think he just got too cold.)

 (Thank you to our wonderful family for making the trip down to celebrate!)

 (Griff's first birthday cake was handmade by Dad, with a tiny bit of icing help from Mom.)

(Duck cake death.. it was a tasty death)

 (Anny was sick so she hugged Harry Bear instead of the baby..)

3. We celebrated Johnny's 1st birthday via breakfast skype.

 

4. Turns out it wasn't conjunctivitis.. Griffin got his first official ear infection.  Here we are at the doctor's office (again).  I think we've spent upwards of $200 in co-pays already this winter.

5. We took a family trip to the Museum of Science to catch the Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show, which totally lived up to its name- it was amazing.

(Griffin measured at just over 700 million nanometers tall!)

6. We caught many sightings of the family of 5 turkeys, or as Griffin calls, them "bahhllls".  They caused a traffic jam at the intersection of Village and West Shore the other day, and 2 nights ago, they slept up in the trees behind Joyce & Paula's house.  Griff and I love watching them fly up to the trees from our front window.  Who knew huge turkeys could fly so well?

7.  We took Griffin sledding on a slightly warmer weekend day.

(This was Griff's reaction to the sledding.. and to the snow in general..)

 (...until he realized he could eat it.)

 (then it wasn't so bad.. mmm..)

8. We got snow/freezing rain/rain/sleet again... (Dear Mother Nature, this is a little ridiculous. 60+" in the month of January? 36 days until Hawaii, 36 days until Hawaii...)