Boston for Easter

Give me an inch, and I take a mile. It feels like I haven't posted in months!

So, Boston was great. We saw MetaDaddy's sister, her husband, their 5 year old daughter (Cousin L), 18 month old son (Cousin E), and feisty pug. Unfortunately, Cousin L was a bit under the weather with pink eye. She got better, but was pretty miserable until the day we left. Sucks for a 5 year old who wants nothing more than to run around and play. The 18 month old had a runny nose, but that's hardly enough to keep a kid strapped down. With MetaToddler there, they were quite the pair. Running around the house, sharing sippy cups (yes, he has a runny nose now), chatting to each other, "sharing" toys, and so on. Sharing toys was entertaining because Cousin E is really easy going, while MetaToddler is rather grabby. So, MetaToddler kept taking cousin E's stuff. I say stuff because it was toys, sippy cups, food, everything. He did it innocently enough, and Cousin E didn't resist. But upon realizing he'd been duped, MetaToddler was halfway down the hall, and the tears would start to roll. Not every time, mind you, but enough.

And then we had an Easter egg hunt. Who knew kids could get so excited over chocolate?!? Personally, I didn't know about putting stuff like toys and chocolate in plastic eggs. When I was a kid, we actually looked for hard boiled eggs. Aw well, at least MetaToddler won't be deprived. My sister-in-law did a great job. She "invited" the Easter Bunny over so it could "hide" eggs everywhere. Then the kids just started hunting. Cousin L was a pro, but the boys were just wandering around amusing themselves until someone said "look, an egg. Let's open it and see what's inside!" The hiding part was hilarious. Apparently at that age, hiding means leaving the egg on the windowsill, in the corner of a sofa, or under a table. It's a good thing the Easter Bunny was managing this instead of me. Otherwise, we might still be looking for the last few eggs.

Overall, he had a marvelous time, so the trip was well worth the inconvenience of travel and jet lag. However, traveling with one toddler is tough. Between having to entertain, feed, and distract him, there was no time to rest. Maybe I've said it before, but I couldn't imagine doing the trip without MetaDaddy. And I say that because his sister has traveled many times with her toddler to Ireland from their former home in San Jose, California. And now, she's traveling from Boston to Ireland (shorter flight), but with a toddler and a 5 year old. OMG!!! I don't know how she does it. Just...OMG!!

We were also lucky enough to get to see our friends. We haven't seen them in ages, and it was wonderful catching up with them and getting to see Ellie. She's grown so much since we last saw her. All three are doing so well, it's inspiring. Dave forged a garden out of nothing in their backyard, and has managed to keep them eating well all winter (salads included!). He's also become quite the handyman doing some truly impressive projects around their house. And Kathryn wrote a book, all the while maintaining her always beautiful flowing locks. (I've actually forgotten to brush my hair before going out some mornings. Seriously.) Oh, and they maintain careers while working with Ellie non-stop. Need I say more? They make me feel like I'm moving in slow motion. In fact, I could take a nap right now.

Ellie's gorgeous, and you just can't help was stare at that beautiful little ponytail. It's just perfectly bouncy, just like her. A happy little girl :-)

So we're back. I hope you had a lovely holiday, if you celebrated. And if you didn't, I hope you had a lovely weekend. Either works ;-)