The rest of our trip north

We were home for almost two weeks and we did a lot. The snow and the Please Touch Museum were just two things we fit into our schedule that seemed to get really busy, really fast.

Our trip got off to a pretty rocky start. It took us a total of 17 hours to get from Dallas to Philly - via air! And that includes spending a few hours at a hotel just outside the Dulles airport. That's right we couldn't make it all of the way to Philly as planned due to weather so Sam got to pick up another state while we spent 3 hours asleep in a hotel in Northern Virginia.


After a hellish flight the next day (including delays in Dulles before boarding, circling in the air, and over an hour on the ground in Philly AFTER we landed but before we got to a gate) we finally arrived!

We got spoiled by Mom-Mom and Skipper, got to hang out with Christina, Chase (after he recovered from the croup), and Andrew, have lunch with my aunt and uncle, go to music class with Chase (which Sam loved), see Auntie Ande's and Uncle Jay's brand new apartment in Hoboken, go to the zoo, get our picture taken with our future hubby. I even got to catch up with some friends, including a really fun dinner out with the girls! Overall, it was a fabulous trip home. I didn't want it to end. And apparently neither did American Airlines.

I was originally supposed to fly home in Wednesday but pushed my flight back a day with no charge since I was delayed a day coming in. Thursday at 3am I got a call from AA that my flight was cancelled and I rescheduled for the same flight on Friday. No problem, we missed KC a lot but we got the chance to hang out with the Palsky's some more and spend some more time with Mom-Mom and Skipper. Friday we were on the way to the airport and I get another call from AA - our flight is cancelled and we can't get out until the next day again! We finally got home on Saturday. Other than the crazy travels we had there and back we couldn't have asked for a better trip. I am already planning another one for April! We can't wait to go back. And this time we're hoping for warmer weather. (What can I say? I'm a Texan now. My blood's thinner.)

The toy she is riding on was mine when I was little. It's a Little Tikes toy and still in really good shape. She loves it!

We had dinner with Pop before he had to jet off to Phoenix to visit DiDi.

Giving Auntie Ande some love.

She is a shoe fanatic. These were Auntie Anj's cowboy boots. When she saw them in the front hall she HAD to have them. She wasn't to happy with we pried her away from them.

We took a trip to Auntie Ande's new apartment in Hoboken and tried pizza for the first time ever! We have had some food issues off and on since she was born so I am always hesitant to try new things. I working on it though. Back to the pizza....SHE LOVED IT!! It turned her into a monster! Once she tried it she walked around begging everyone for a bite of theirs. I haven't broken the news to her yet that pizza in Dallas is nothing like pizza in Hoboken.

This was the Mad Dog face when she ran out of pizza (before she realized what we had replaced in front of her).

We took a walk down to the water. Here's Sam's first view of the NYC skyline.

We took a drive to Maryland to have lunch with my aunt and uncle so Sam picked up 2 new states (Delaware and Maryland) and got to meet their dog Rags.

Rags is a Portuguese Water Dog and so good. He was so sweet to Sam and as with all dogs she couldn't get enough of him.

Here's a picture from the Please Touch Museum. I thought it was too cute not to include but I forgot it when I did the post.

Sam and Chase had there picture taken and then spent some time with Chase showing her the ropes. We could tell he'd spent some time behind the wheel before.

And of course, since we were at Grandma's Sam got a little spoiled. She had a fudgesicle. Can you tell by the look on her face how much she hated it?

Boo at the Zoo

When we were in Philly last week we went to Boo at the Zoo at the Philadelphia Zoo. We had a blast even though it rained off and on while we were there. Sam got to wear her costume for the first time. Mom-mom and Grandma made her a Love bug costume. KC has called her his love bug since we found out we were having a girl. Since it was pretty chilly out we were a love bug in a furry coat with dog ears. Hey, whatever works. It's actually the only coat we own. Something I have to rectify at some point in the next few weeks.

All dressed up right after we got out of the car. The head piece didn't last long though.

The girls

Sam got sick of the stroller so we transitioned to the carrier after a while. I love this carrier so much! And so does Sam! What you can't see in this picture are the triplets behind us - dressed up as a lion, a tiger, and a bear. So cute! And creative. We all walked by and said "Lions, Tigers, and Bears. Oh My!" You just couldn't help it!

This was our first trip to the zoo. She loved seeing all of the animals. I just had to make sure that we were looking at animals that moved. She didn't care too much for anything stationary.

Look at the bug eyes! We were at the lion "cage" and the lion came right up to the window and roared. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen at the zoo. He was touching the window. So close his breath was fogging up the window. She was mesmerized. (And no I didn't let her eat the snickers in her hand. I'm not that bad of a mother. She just really liked carrying it around since it was shiny.)

This was the lion roaring at the glass. You can see why she had the bug eyes. Some of the kids loved it and some of them ran screaming to their parents.

My little monkey

Silly, Silly Aunties

I have discovered one of her favorite things - riding a merry go round. She loves it. When we were in Arizona and she got on one for the first time. She was pretty hesitant at first and not really sure about it. This time we had no initial hesitation at all! She wrapped her hands around the pole and off we went. About half way through she started shrieking with delight. We had a blast. Our local mall has a merry go round inside so I am sure I will have to avoid that area unless I am willing to ride.

Happy Halloween!

Sam and Auntie Ande goofing off

For whatever reason Sam was fascinated by the umbrella. Possibly because she has never seen one before???

I Heart NY

I love NYC because that's where Auntie Ande is but I certainly wished she lived a whole lot closer... (like Dallas, maybe? Don't you love guilt by Internet?)

Thanks for the onesie Auntie Ande!

Eagles Weekend 2008

What the heck is Eagles weekend? When KC and I first moved to Dallas 7 years ago we promised among other things to stay in touch with our friends but more importantly to NEVER, EVER become Cowboy fans. Since the Eagles will play a game in Dallas every year (being in the same division) we decided that would be a perfect weekend to schedule a yearly get together. Last year was the first year that we did nothing. Why? Because the Eagles game was scheduled for December 16th and my due date was the 17th.

Here is the email that KC sent out to our friends announcing that for the first time we would not be celebrating Eagles weekend in Dallas (we celebrated the year before it was just a very small celebration since the game was on Christmas Day):

Good afternoon sports fans,

It’s that time again! The schedule for the upcoming NFL season has been released and the planning needs to begin for the migration south to attend this years festivities. As most of you veterans already know, there are only a few things that could cause us to cancel the big weekend. For you rookies that don’t, last year was one of them. The game fell on Christmas and only a few of us could attend. This year’s game will be held on December 16th. What else could cause the 6 time hosts of the biggest pilgrimage south in the history of pilgrimages to cancel the festivities you ask? Well, as luck would have it, Laura and I will be expecting our first child, who has already adopted the nickname “Peanut”, on December 17th, the day after the Eagles/Cowboys game. If all goes as planned the 6 time hosts will be watching the game from the hospital and for the first time since 1984 neither of us will care about the result.

With this news, the landscape of the migration south for the Eagles game has changed forever. With the recent additions to the Marseglia and Gonzales families and the soon to be addition to the Palsky and Chewning families the next generation of Philadelphia Fans will need to be groomed by the “old timers” who came before them. We may be trading in this year’s Eagles weekend and the festivities that go along with it for the little munchkins but next year we will come armed with babysitters and big wheels to keep them under control.

See you guys this summer.

Until next year,

Sincerely,
The Official Chairman of the Annual Migration,

GO BIRDS!!!

I still tear up a little when I read this. I can't help it. We didn't exactly have babysitters and big wheels this year. Maybe in a year or two when the kids are old enough to occupy themselves for at least 15 minutes (wishful thinking?). We did have a few friends come from the north including my sister and her boyfriend. My other sister lives in Houston so she avoided Hurricane Ike and headed to Dallas a day early. And then stayed a few days after for which I was SO very thankful for (right in the middle of KC's business trip and Sam's sickness). But Sam enjoyed her first Eagles weekend. I think our days of sleeping 23 people in our little house might be over. After a night at Pete's Piano Bar you aren't too particular about where you sleep. But with the addition of the kiddos comes a new generation to drill on the importance being a good fan and new traditions. From the pictures below we are off to a good start.

We're thinking about walking at this point (but do so much better with MeMe holding our hands). Ignore the evidence a Target/Old Navy shopping spree in the backgorund. The day after this picture is when she took 3 steps! And last night we had 4! Maybe we'll decide we want to walk after all.

Sam cavorting with the enemy camp made up of Jill, Brooke, and Allison. Darn Cowboys Fans!

Future Cheerleader? The closet thing in our family is Auntie Shannon's drill team experience

Auntie Dev, Auntie Kara, Auntie Ande, and Me (One of my favorite things about Eagles weekend is having a lot of my favorite people in the whole world all together in one place. Such a nice thing to look forward to every year.)

My Dad and some of his girls (where are you Auntie Shannon and MeMe???) With 4 daughters he is used to being surrounded by women.

This was during the game when we still thought we were going to win.

We got to meet Steve Young. It was really cool.

Auntie Ande and Auntie Kara

Sam's new House (we bought it that weekend). It was the best money I have ever spent. She plays with it every single day. Our new fascination is the mailbox. We keep putting things in there for her to find and she loves it. When they made this toy they thought of everything!

At the airport begging Auntie Ande and Uncle Jay to stay (ok, that might have been me not Sam)

The end of Sam's first Eagles weekend - Another awesome year in the books!

To everyone who missed this year - we hope you can join us next year! It wasn't the same without you.

We survived our first road trip!

We survived the drive to Houston and had an awesome weekend with Auntie Kara. It took us a very long 6 hours to get there and we had one or two meltdowns but overall we did very well. I had not been to visit Kara in her new place since she moved in last summer. It is so cute! Sam loved crawling around on the floor. ( I forgot what it was like not to worry about dog hair everywhere.) We even showed Kara our new scooting skills. She was so impressed.

Sam had dinner when we got there and for whatever reason the nail clippers sent her into fits of giggles. Here is the video that I managed to get with my digital camera. (The video camera stayed in Dallas).

Saturday was filled with pool time, eating, shopping, more eating, more shopping, and a trip to our favorite place in the whole world - Target! In all our adventure lasted 9 hours! Thank god Sam is a trooper. Marathon shopping days seem to happen whenever girls together. Auntie Kara even put Sam to sleep. Back tickles and lots of snuggles seemed to do the trick.

On Sunday we got to have brunch (homemade waffles, crispy bacon, fruit, eggs, and all kinds of other yummy breakfast food) at the McCord's and meet Buster. Since Buster weighs in at only 5 pounds Sam wasn't sure what to make of him. Her own pups outweigh Buster by a mere 80 pounds each.

Overall we had a fantastic weekend in Houston and I am sure we will head down at least one more time this summer.

Ready to start our big adventure

Showing Kara our scooting skills (with a little Zoe motivation)

The bathing beauty is ready to hit the pool

Hanging out with Auntie Kara

Lunch at the Black Walnut Cafe (We had salad and pasta. Sam had table and pears.)

Wiped out after lunch and a few stores.

After a nap ready to keep shopping! (Obviously my kid, even if she doesn't look like me.)

Future Mustang? (KC says only if Auntie Kara is footing the bill)

Meeting Buster

On our way home. This is the look of "please, please get me out of this seat. My butt is falling asleep."