You're Welcome!

The day after Fun Aunt Cathy left, Brian's parents came for a visit. They left 90 degree temps and warm sunshine and arrived in 40 degrees and rain for four days straight - uh, you're welcome!

I thought it would be fun to escape the rain and go underground to the Luray Caverns. Stalactites! Stalagmites! What's not to love? Apparently the anticipation of it all was too much because James got sick on the way there and we had to make a pit stop to clean the car seat, clean James and change clothes all in a cool 40 degree WINDY parking lot.

You're welcome!

We took James to some other caverns once and we were turned away at the door because we didn't have jackets. "It's freezing!" they said. Brian's parents were already cold from the shocking change in temperature so I went ON and ON about how cold the caverns were and encouraged everyone to dress in every single jacket they could find. "Bundle up!" I said.

We arrived at the Luray Caverns, zipped up our jackets, pulled down our hats and descended the stairs... to a balmy 70 degree cavern. I asked the guide if it gets colder - NOPE! 1 1/2 miles of caverns in a tropical setting and we're dressed like Eskimos.

You're welcome!

Oma gave James some coins to throw in the "donation pool" and this is, verbatim, what he wished for:

"I wish, I wish, I wish we could go home."

Hey kiddo..... you're welcome.

And then to really seal our "what a great trip" fate, we went out to dinner.... with a baby and a toddler.

You're welcome!

When he wasn't climbing under the table, James was doing a lot of this:

and this:

so we fed him a very large piece of chocolate cake (with ice cream) at 8 o'clock at night.

You're welcome!

Molly mostly did this:

But she also managed to get her death grip on our server's tray that was holding three glasses of wine, causing him to say in the highest voice possible, "Oh no! Oh no! Oh please no!"

Not a drop was spilled - good girl.

Despite the cold and the rain and the vomit, it really was a great visit. James spent A LOT of time trying to "find Oma's button."

Sounds weird at first, but the button is always in a different place and when he finds it....

One VERY happy giggling 3 year old and time with Oma & Opa?

You're welcome.

Visit from Fun Aunt Cathy!

Here's the thing. Fall here is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. GORGEOUS. And it's chock full of festivals and pumpkin patches and leaves changing and I just don't want to miss a minute of it so I have been struggling to find time to post. Alas, here I am - both kids are asleep and I have 30 minutes before we have to go to Arlington for a cookie decorating party.

See? Chock full!

Anyhoo, we had a great visit with Aunt Cathy (Brian's cousin) a couple of weeks ago. James has always adored her...

and now Molly does too.....

A little background: We have become UF Gator fans by default. Brian's brother went there and his sister is there now - graduating December 2009. We all have shirts (even Molly) and we wear them on game days and watch the games on TV. Cathy's visit happened to fall on a game day so she arrived at our house to find a Gator shirt on her bed.

It was a good game...

There were touchdowns....

and fumbles....

and in the end, the Gators won.

Cathy teaches 4th grade and her class is studying rocks and minerals so we took her to find some real examples to take back to her class (not literally, of course).

The Washington Monument:

The World War II Memorial

It was about 30 degrees outside and James (who, I may have mentioned, apparently has no feeling) thought he might like to feel the fountain:

See? Cold.

and the Lincoln Memorial

There was a band from Denmark playing on the steps for what seemed like hours. They had a photographer with them and she kept taking pictures of James while he danced to the music.

Always a good visit Cath! Come back anytime!

I know, I know....

12 days since my last post.... back to back house guests people! I have much to post about all of our adventures, but for now, let me announce that Team Coyne is now flu shot complete. I tried to take James last week and we drove all the way to Andrews AFB and he threw up in the parking lot. I tried again yesterday and they said that while they do have flu shots, they have no one to administer them - they're all out with..... you guessed it - the flu. I was starting to think it was a sign.

But after talking it up all day yesterday and promising to get mine first, off we went for flu shots this morning. James watched me get mine and then gave me a sticker and a high five. Thanks pal.

Then, back down to pediatrics where I am sure they are still telling the story of "the one that laughed." Yeah, James got his shot and immediately laughed (giggled, really) and then said, "thank you!!!" to the tech. Seriously, who laughs? And who says "thank you" after being jabbed with a sharp needle? James.

Molly... that champ. Those chubby thighs are really coming in handy. She didn't even flinch. Not a tear, not a surprised look, nothing.

I, however, have been complaining about my sore arm for the last five hours....

AND...

....whatever animal eats metal.

She's also part that.

BEADOGOAT

That's Molly. Part beaver, part dog, part goat AND she's fast.

The beaver: Molly was playing quietly in her crib the other day and all was well until I heard an odd sound. So odd that I went into her room to check it out. She was chewing the side of the crib with her two teeth! Just scraping up the side of the wood like she's sharpening her teeth for future activities.

The dog: Boy does that girl love to eat a shoe. Nothing is safe. We have to hide our slippers from her.

The goat: Molly can make it across the room in a speedy crawl, pull up on the coffee table and eat a magazine in less than 30 seconds. Her preference is People magazine, but she will consider chewing the pages of a Redbook or National Geographic Adventurer if that's all she can get her hands on.

I have said the words, "I just turned my head for second..." more times than I care to count in the last month.

James was fast too, but LOUD (ha! still is!). I always knew what he was getting into. Molly is stealthy. She just goes about her business, sweetly crawling where she pleases and then before I know it, she's standing at the foot of the stairs, eating the straps of James' backpack.

I am considering re-doing her room into something that resembles a padded cell.

Molly's First Bike "Ride"

sort of..... she didn't really make it very far.

I think it had something to do with her helmet being 10 sizes too big.

Molly: 8 months old

James: March 2007 (9 months old)