Happy Halloween and a Hurricane Update!

Happy Halloween!

The past three days have been one BIG whirlwind.  

Monday:  The day was just like any other normal Monday except we were under a hurricane warning.  We spent the day inside playing lots of toys, play dough, crafts, etc. while Chris was working away at home.  It was rainy and it was windy---but it wasn't anything that we couldn't handle.  Right around dinnertime, my friend texted me to check in and as we were texting back and forth---she said that she thought it would get much worse.  And boy, was she right...  The storm kicked in quickly after dinner time.  Winds picked up like crazy and as bedtime approached, we decided to sleep everyone on the main floor in fear of trees falling down around us.  We set up camp in the living room just in time before the power went out.  We finally managed to get the boys to sleep and fall asleep ourselves to the sound of winds howling and transformers popping and unknown to what may happen next...

Tuesday:  We woke up to the aftermath---it was relatively calm outside, but everything was a mess.  Our trees (which hadn't even started to change colors) have very little leaves left, branches down everywhere, and one of our trees was down in the backyard.  Thankfully, we were all safe and it looked like our immediate neighbors were doing fine as well.  The house was starting to lose it's heat and the boys' (and our) cabin fever started to set in quickly.  Knowing that the power was out throughout the town (thanks to Facebook updates) and reading the news of the disaster, I had a feeling that power may take quite awhile to turn back on.  We also had a trip planned south on Friday to see my family since Aiden has no school next week, so as we were sitting in our chilly house, Chris unable to work with no Internet/no transit, and all of us going stir crazy---we made the big decision to head south early.  So I packed as quick as I could pack all of us up and we hit the road a little after one with our two dogs in tow!  We drove straight through with one stop for a quick run to pick up dinner and arrived right around 9 pm.  Finally, the kids were asleep by 11 with parents collapsing soon after in their own beds (but don't worry, if you have little ones like mine, I ended up moving to their room due to them waking up in fear of the unfamiliar surroundings!).

Wednesday:  MeMe headed off to work bright and early, Chris ended up working remotely, and I spent the day with the kids around here.  We headed over to my Grandma Snow's for a Fresh Market lunch and morning entertainment (where Chris did join in for the fun), fit in some afternoon naps, and waited for MeMe to arrive home in the late afternoon.  We were excited that we would at least get to do some trick-or-treating since we were here for Halloween.  The boys had a BLAST and let's just say it is past 11:00 tonight and they are still awake with a sugar high and a thrill of MeMe's new toddler Thomas air beds that arrived today.  PLEASE go to bed soon my sweet little buggers...

Tomorrow, we are heading to my dad's in the mountains to spend the weekend there, hopefully with no sight of snow:)  And Chris leaves early next week to head back to work while I will spend some more time with my mom before heading back north.  It should be some crazy days ahead...

In other news, the news and sights that have come out of the hurricane are just devastating.  Places that we have grown to love (and let me tell you that I never thought I would say that I love the Northeast Corridor of the US) have been thrown into ruins.  NYC is a complete disaster---I just can not believe the sights of many places that we have frequented, including right where Chris works.  NJ is a total mess.  Thankfully, our town had zero flooding but trees and power lines are down EVERYWHERE.  We had a hard time driving the five minutes to the parkway to get of town because there are so many road closures.  The island where I headed down with the kids early on this summer with friends will not even be open until this weekend.  Shore towns are completely devastated, the town where I used to work is still over half flooded (Hoboken), or neighborhood in Jersey City was completely undertaken with water.  Seriously a mess... And even our beautiful coastal town that we lived in for three years in CT has turned into another disaster---the Long Island Sound had record flooding and people aren't even sure how to respond.  Schools have been closed for at least this week, for now they say our power won't be on until November 5th (hoping earlier, especially with friends sticking around in the cold nights!), and so much more.  So as we are savoring our time with my family down here...our thoughts and prayers are with so many up north.

Hunkering Down for the Hurricane...

It's time for us to put on our "Super Hero" faces as brave the massive hurricane coming our way!!!!  Of course, since we have moved to the area this is the third storm that has been CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!  So we are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.  

We have moved all patio furniture and outdoor toys in the garage.  We secured our cars as safely as we could.  We finally found a flashlight from one of our gracious neighbors (since no store in 100 miles is selling them now!).  We stocked up on bread, cereal, bottled water, peanut butter, crackers, and any other item that we could survive on.  Candles are ready to be burned.  Laundry is done and put away.  And now we are just in the waiting game.

75% of our town is under a mandatory evacuation due the massive flooding that occurred last year.  Thankfully, we are in the 25% that can stay home---which is great since we don't really have anywhere to go.  We are a bit nervous that if the power goes out, our sump pump is done and there may end up being some water coming into our house, but we will keep ourselves, children, and dogs safe!  

Prayers for all in the line of this massive storm!  

We are hoping to survive several days of cabin fever inside the house with minimal flooding!!!!!!!!!!

Unsupervised...

This is what happens if you leave these two alone for two minutes on the back porch..

A Weekend Away Continued...

After we left A Day out With Thomas, we headed to some lunch in the Amish countryside:)  I think my boys have been way more into this train than Thomas---oh the simple things of life.  And I think my boys may have exhausted my sister, Jill, at lunch---they were wild and we were reminded why we never head for meals out!

 The next day, we woke up and in my head, I was thinking we may visit a little Amish farm to gather apples/pumpkins, see animals, etc...but quickly realized that most things were closed on Sunday.  But we headed somewhere even more exciting that I haven't been back too since the boys were born---Hershey World!  Some boys were very excited to see the land of chocolate...

And so were Jill and Jack...

We took a tour of how chocolate was made!  It's really cute and FREE and short---perfect for little ones...

 And then we did a little shopping...

 And lots of eating...

It was a fun morning out before we had to head home!  Next time, we will have to hit up Hershey Park with the kiddos;)  What a fun weekend we had and we loved spending some extra time with Jill and Jack!

A Weekend Away...

We headed south one weekend and spent some time in Lancaster, PA!  My sister actually lives really close to the area so she met us there for a fun weekend with three kiddos in tow.  

If you haven't been to Lancaster, I highly recommend!  It's right in the middle of Amish Country, a far cry from the NYC suburbs.  I don't know why but I just love looking out the windows and watching all the farms, people working in their yards, and taking in the much slower pace of life.  

Now, there was a reason we headed this way...what were these boys looking forward to?!?!?!

Yes...we were here to see Thomas the Train!!!!!!!!!  I really think Andrew was in his little piece of heaven---he is my choo-choo loving boy.  We headed down this way to spend some time at A Day Out With Thomas.  

 

The boys even got to be pulled on real coach cars by Thomas right through the middle of the Amish countryside...

 When we were all done, there were several train-related activities, toys, puzzles, and much more to keep these boys busy!

We finally headed out, grabbed some lunch, and headed to the hotel for some swimming!  No pictures here as I was too busy corralling these two in the pool since Chris "accidentally" forgot his swimsuit:)  Instead of heading out with three tired boys, we ordered pizza in at the hotel with no plates or silverware.  But it beat taking an exhausted 22 month old out for a late dinner!  Finally, we ventured out for some fresh homemade ice cream before the six of us (Jill, Chris, Jack, Aiden, Andrew, and I) all crashed in ONE room.  Somehow we survived the night and ventured off for another adventure.  More to come...

Thank You!

Thanks MeMe---no more purse for this tote loving boy:)  (Don't even ask if you don't know what this one wanted to carry everywhere?!?!)  Now he has a stylish boy bag to carry around!

Haircut...

Someone's mane was tamed again.  These boys have some MAJOR hair!

Park Time...

I have to admit---we may have some serious love for our neighborhood park.  It is nothing fancy or special---it has been around for ages and there is really no great attraction to keep us coming back.  But we do day after day because we love playing outside, we love all our great neighborhood friends, and we love having fun!  

These pictures just show a peek into one of our adventures into our little park...

Preschool!

You know I'm behind on this blog when Aiden started preschool over a month ago and I haven't even had a moment to blog about it!  

Someone was very excited about their first day of preschool this year!

Aiden was dressed and ready before Mommy and Daddy even woke up!  Quick breakfast and we loaded in the stroller to walk to school---how amazing is that?!?!  His school is right downtown so it is less than a 20 minute walk!  

We arrived early and as soon as we got there, we ran into one of his best buddies, Bobby and Bobby's sister, Brooke!  Of course, us mamas had to get pictures of our kids together.  (And Aiden even had a more special day because G and G Rogers were here and kept Andrew at home so Chris and I could spend this little time with him alone!)

All ready for the big day---doesn't he look like such a big boy?!?!

It was time to line up and head in---someone got a little nervous---

But then quickly got excited and was ready to head in!

So far, preschool has been either "great" or "awesome" if you ask Aiden.  He LOVES it so far and it makes this school loving mommy SO happy!  The teachers say he is doing great and he is already keeping them entertained with his VERY big imagination and his love for telling stories.  If I only knew what was going on there...

What does a 21 month old sleep with?

EVERYTHING!

MeMe in NJ!

Towards the end of August, Meme Ruff came to visit!  We LOVE when she comes because it is so RARE and so WONDERFUL:)  We cherished every minute and I love it even more as I was in the middle of first trimester exhaustion, so there's nothing better than having your mom around to help out!

We really didn't do anything too crazy---play time around the house, visited some parks in town, went out to lunch---but it was the perfect week for us!  The boys just LOVED having their Meme around:)

Of course, we had to hit Rockin Joe's for some much-needed caffeine for Meme...

And of course, we took a stop by the children's consignment store at home and we ended up bringing this beauty home...let's just Andrew is in LOVE! 

 

Daddy was off one day, so we headed to the zoo.  Train rides, animals, and family:  another wonderful day!

We headed down to PA to sadly drop off Meme, but thankfully we got to spend time with my sister Jill and nephew Jack!  I'm pretty sure we bring a LOT more chaos to her house, but the boys have so much fun there!

Every trip is a little sweeter when you get ice cream, right?!

 And Aiden finally conked out in the arms of his Meme for our last night with her!

 Thanks Mom for such a great visit!  We can't wait to see you again!