A special weekend for everyone!

This year, we have two tickets to the NC State football games so we were trying to decide who would go to the first game this past Saturday with Waylon.  He really wanted to take Noah, so I decided it might be fun to split up and have a girls and a guys weekend.  It was a very last minute decision and it took some planning but it really worked out well for everyone!

Kylie and I went up to MD to stay with my parents and hang with them, my sister and good friend Julie.  I was having a some issues with the decision for a little bit last week.  I was very concerned that Noah was going to be really upset about us leaving him at home, so I made sure to have some fun plans for him.

First, a quick picture from last week.  While I was making dinner one night, I gave the kids each a printout of the same picture and put a basket of crayons in the middle of the table.  Noah chose green yellow, orange, and black and Kylie chose pink, purple, and green.  How strange is that?!  It was like a psychology experiment.  Kylie is pretty consistent in telling me that her favorite color is purple and likes to choose it whenever she has a choice.  Makes me wonder if we pushed the 'girl colors' on her or if it's just natural.  Strange....

Anyway, Grammy came back to our house last Tuesday night after returning from my Gramma's house (and the lake - she went up to clean out the fridge since the house had been without power for several days after Hurricane Irene).  When we decided to make the trip, we decided that Kylie and I would ride up with her on Friday and then fly home on Monday.  

Since we wanted to make sure Noah had lots of fun plans, my mom kept him home from school on Thursday and took him to the Durham Life and Science Museum.  They stayed all day and had a blast! He really enjoyed it and it worked well to help tell him that he had his special time with Grammy and then that weekend Kylie would have hers!  :-)  Pics from the museum compliments of Grammy....

Climbing a rock wall

Playing with the clouds

Riding the train

The dinosaur walk

They saw some black bears.   My mom told me there was a camera and she didn't think he'd be able to actually find the bear using it but he did!

Popcicle treat

On Friday, we packed up and got ready to leave.  Daycare was closed for a 'teacher workday' so we made more special plans for Noah to spend the day with Grandaddy!  

First I'll go through Noah's weekend - no pictures from his since he was with Waylon.  :-)

Another super fun day for him on Friday!!  We dropped him off around 8:30 and he was so excited - not sad about us leaving at all!  They went to Marbles - two museums in two days (and no naps each day either!) - and also went to the imax show there.  They had a blast.  Then they met Nana and Savannah at the mall to play there for a bit.  Waylon met them there later that afternoon for dinner and the hand off.  I talked to them around 7:30 - they were just getting home and Noah was asleep in the car - a big day for him!

Saturday morning, they went out to breakfast for pancakes and went to get an NC State t-shirt for the game that afternoon.  Noah got a nap that day and then they took off for the game.  I was told he did great and was really well behaved.  They stayed pretty late (the game didn't start until 6:00) and had a blast!

Sunday morning, they went to play putt putt and ran errands that afternoon.  Monday morning was playtime at home and then they came to pick up me and Kylie at the airport!  It was a great boys weekend and they both had fun bonding.  :-)

Now for the girls weekend with pictures.....

After we dropped off Noah, we got right on the road.  Kylie watched a few Doras on the way and then we were trying to get another 1/2 hour down the road before lunch but she started falling asleep so we went ahead and stopped around 11:15.  After Panera for lunch, Kylie slept a bit - but not really too long.  We decided to stop in DC to visit Leah at her school (this was a weekend of last minute decisions!) so that was fun to have a stretch break and also see her school - I'd never seen it before.

We arrived at Grammy and Papa's house around 3:30 and just played played played!!!  Kylie was beside herself - she was so excited and I think really enjoyed getting all the attention and all the toys!  :-)  It was pretty cute....

Playing piano

Friday night, Roz and Duane came over and we ordered Ledo's Pizza for dinner.  Yum!

On Saturday morning, I had a date with Julie and Ali.  Julie and Peter are getting married next July so we decided to go try on some dresses!  It was so fun to see Julie in all the beautiful dresses!  I wish I could post a few of the shots I got but I wouldn't want to ruin anything if she decided on one of them!  :-)   She also had Ali and I try on bridesmaid dresses just to see the color she wanted so that was fun, too.  After our appointment, we went to a great lunch at the Cheesecake Factory - appetizer, lunch, dessert and coffee.  So nice!!

Back at home, Kylie was still reveling in the attention.  She had a nice morning with Grammy and Papa and then Aunt Leah arrived right around lunchtime to take over babysitting duties since my parents went to the Baltimore Grand Prix that afternoon.

Walking with Grammy and Papa (and her baby doll!)

When we got back, Julie decided to stay and hang out with us for the afternoon.   We were trying to decide what to do when Roz and Duane called and said they had just picked up their grandson, Max, who is just 2 weeks younger than Kylie.  So they came by to play for a bit!  The had fun together and only had a few small issues with sharing - I think Kylie had already gotten used to not having to share!  :-)  (typical for this age of course)

Hugs before leaving!

 After they left, we (Leah, Julie, Kylie and I) took off to Old Navy for some shopping and then we decided to grab dinner at Don Pablos.  Very fun and again, sporatic!  :-)  We got home around 7:30 and Grammy and Papa were there to greet us.  We just relaxed at home after that and then watched a movie.  Julie didn't leave until midnight and Leah spent the night so it was a fun girls day!

Julie caught this shot with her cell phone  :-)

Sunday, my parents were supposed to go back to the race so Leah and I were going to maybe take Kylie to DC but when they decided not to go, we decided to mix up our plans, too (again last minute being the theme!).  Mid-morning, we took off to the park to have more Max time - this time with his parents, Jill and Dan.  We took Kylie a picnic lunch.  Very fun!   We got some great pictures there....

Lunch time!

Steering the ship

Me and my girl

Look at these flirts!!  :-)

The 'kids'  :-)

Papa and his girl

 After the park, we went to the mall for a while.  We all shopped for a bit and then around 1:30, Papa took Kylie home for her nap and my mom, Leah and I stayed for a shopping spree!  Grammy and Papa bought all of us some great things.  Kylie got a jacket and a few outfits (and got Noah some, too!) and Leah and I got shoes and clothes, too!  WOW!  Thanks Mom and Dad!

When we got back, Kylie and I had some playtime....  :-)

Airplane!!

Leah went home not long after we got back and then Julie and I had talked about getting together again.  I really wanted to pick crabs but we were back and forth about whether or not we should do it.  In the end, we decided to do it and are so glad we did!!  It was so much fun.  We went to a local restaurant and it was awesome.  So yummy and fun.  We got there at 8:15 and didn't leave until almost 11:00!!

YUM!!!

BFFs for almost 20 years!  Hard to believe...

 Monday morning, Grammy and Kylie went to walk around the neighborhood but it was short-lived...

Had to take her babydoll again

Piano with Papa

So we decided to all go down to the elementary/middle school and play on the playground.  Luckily, Papa drove in case it rained (Grammy, Kylie and I walked).  As we were just about to climb in the car, the raindrops started... good call, Papa!

Little Monkey!

She's actually hanging here!

When we got back home, it was time for me to pack up and for us to head to the airport.  Kylie's first plane ride!  I wasn't sure what to expect - especially since it was during naptime - but she did great!  Just ran around the airport before we boarded....

Watching the planes - she insisted on keeping her shades on for at least 30 minutes after we had gotten inside.  :-)

Carrying her purse .  :-)

Waiting for our flight

 Once we got on the plane, I gave her a snack and then when we were about to take off, I asked if she was tired.  She said yes so I gave her her paci and she just laid her head right down and went to sleep.  She slept the whole way back and I rested too!  I had no idea flying with an (almost) 2 year old could be so relaxing!  :-)

Just landed

We were so excited to get home to see our boys!  The kids kept saying hi to each other in the car when Waylon and Noah picked us up from the airport which was so sweet.  And they were actually really nice to each other that night and the next morning, too.  Maybe we need to split them up more often!!  :-)

All in all, it was a great fun weekend for everyone.  We all missed each other but we had some good bonding time also.  Yay!