Update Overload

I am well aware of my blog delinquency, and I apologize to those who say you keep checking and are disappointed with the same picture of Zachary's saggy diaper. Well...things have been a bit wild, but I'm starting to catch my breath, so I thought I'd take a minute and give a brief update on what's going on with us.
Shortly after the last post, we went away with the kids up north and took them to Story Land, the Hobo Railroad, the beach and all the things in between. We had a great time as a family and the kids were great. They actually both had some kind of virus where they had fevers and stuffy noses, but they still managed to hold up great as we gallavanted about. Poor things, we actually stopped at CVS to get some medicine for them on the way to Story Land. We had planned this for a while, and no virus was stopping us!

Shortly after we returned from our vacation, we thought we had a rental possibility on our house, which is for sale and will be for the next 10 years. The individual said they wanted to move in the following week, so we packed up and moved our entire house in a day and a half. The night our move was complete, we had Alexa's 4th birthday party, and yes, in the midst of the chaos of moving, a homemade Cinderella cake complete with Cinderella themed decorations were made and displayed. Don't ask me how.

After getting through that, Dan and I went away for a glorious weekend alone to celebrate our 8th anniversary. We booked a plush room in Boston and had an awesome time shopping, seeing a show, eating out, getting massages, and just relaxing. Did I mention it was glorious??
We got back on a Sunday, and I left the following Wednesday for a conference in Greensboro, NC planned for Weds-Sunday. The conference was awesome, and I even got to visit with Dan's sister Julie, and our nephew Kayleb. It was really good to see them and made us wish we didn't live so far away.
Well, we were done with our conference and ready to head home, but fierce storms of hail and lightning in the northeast stranded us in the airport for an extra day and a half. We finally made it home safe and sound after countless hours of negotiating flights and sitting in an airport. I should also mention we had a really good time the night before our canceled flight, and were running on about 3-4 hours of sleep. Not a good mixture when you're stuck in an airport. I started talking to all kinds of strangers in my punchy mood. Here, we even got a picture with the pilot of our plane. Good times.
Then it, was back to unpacking, and getting ready for our long awaited visit from the Robert's family from PA. They were able to come stay with us and we had a great time visiting and catching up, and chasing after all our kids!! Maggie and I have been friends since the 5th grade. No one could have ever told us that one day we would be visiting each other and chasing our kids around! We miss them already...(2 of the boys are my nephews in this picture)
Then it was on to getting ready for the school year. This year, Alexa starts preschool 3 days a week. She was VERY excited, as was I. So after visiting her new school so she could check it out, and a parent meeting 2 nights before school, she attended her first 2 days of preschool this week. She was a star. No issues at all, and came home the first day singing a song to the tune of "Where is Thumbkin" bu with the words of "Please and Thank You, Be Polite." When I heard that, it helped me justify the money we are paying to send her there, and huge burden was lifted off my shoulders of feeling like I am the only "Manners Police" out there. I have to say, it was cute that as we drove away after dropping her off on her first day, Zachary began crying saying, "Where's sissy going?" He had the hardest time with it out of all of us...
And so, here we are, Labor Day weekend. The mark of the end of the summer and beginning of a more "normal" routine. For me, it means my birthday, and hopefully a Carvel Ice Cream cake!