Quick trip to Buffalo

Mark ran his 18th marathon this weekend in Atlantic City.  While he didn't have the best experience - not loving the race or Atlantic City itself, he finished and added another marathon to his goal of completing one in all 50 states.  Because I knew he'd be gone part of the weekend it seemed like the perfect opportunity to head back to Buffalo for a quick visit with family and to get some quality time with the cousins.

We don't have plans to head home for the holidays, and are planning on visiting Grandma and Grandpa in Florida at the end of winter, so I knew there wasn't a trip to Buffalo in our immediate future.  While it was just a quick visit, we had a great time seeing everyone.

Trip started out with lunch at Ted's with some sisters, some aunts, and some of my cousins but I had some fussy, tired kids so wasn't the most enjoyable lunch I've ever had.  We made it back to Aunt Katie's to get the girls down for a nap and rested up before the next party where we got the rest of the sisters/brothers and cousins together, plus a few Saxe's which always adds fun.

Saturday ended up being pretty relaxing with a stop to the cider mill and pumpkin patch before just spending the rest of the day playing.  Maeve, Sawyer, and Isla played so well together all day.  I wish I could say Sunday went just as swimmingly but Isla decided to wake up at 3am and proceeded to cry to go downstairs, and woke Sawyer up in the process.  So, the three of us headed downstairs at 3am.  Sawyer went back to sleep on the couch, waking up only when she rolled off the couch and face planted.  Isla watched videos on the iPad for 4 hours, but wasn't kind in letting me get much sleep on the couch, continuing to whine/cry if the iPad fell from its upright position, or if her show ended, or she wanted a different show.  Needless to say, when Kate, Ryan, and Maeve came down at 7 I wasn't in the best mood.  I put Isla up to bed, letting her cry for 20 minutes or so until she finally fell back asleep, and left Sawyer with Kate while I grabbed a bit more sleep.  I wish I could say I caught up, but not so much.

We still made it to Mark and Jennifer's for breakfast and playing with Luke and Aidan, albeit a little late.  I love how well Aidan and Sawyer get along.  They are best buds, and every time I think what a shame it is we don't live closer.  After some more playing at Kate and Ryan's it was time to head back to the airport to make our way home.  It was a long journey - flying through O'Hare is a lot harder than Midway - and while our girls were good on the airplane, they went a little wild on me in the time it took to get from the gate to our bag to the tram to the car....and then they fell asleep exhausted in the car, both sleeping 12-13 hours that night.  All in all a great trip so I began planning our summer trip today at work.

This week has started out relatively uneventful, but a few random thoughts:

• I have trouble understanding all of Isla's speaking.  One minute she's totally clear but then other times I just have no idea, and I can tell it frustrates her.  One area she's totally clear though, she counts like a champ.  Girl can count to 10 all on her own!
• Sawyer is now taking a Spanish class at daycare.  She took the introductory class today and seemed to enjoy herself so we've signed her up for the once a week class.  It's meant to teach mainly through songs and games so will be interesting to see if she learns anything other than vocabulary - she can already count to 10 in Spanish and knows some colors.  
• Sawyer has become quite a fun little dancer.  Girl has got some serious swagger, and rocks some hysterical faces when she dances.  She knows she's performing when she's doing it.