Adventures with Grandma

Grandma came to visit!  To keep both our Mother's Day and Grandma's birthday celebrations going, Grandma flew out to Philly for a week of fun and adventures.  We all loved our special time together.  

The week kicked off with Liam's t-ball game.  He was so excited to have Grandma there to cheer him on, and even Joergen wanted to show off for her on the sidelines!

That evening we had a backyard BBQ with Aunt Jackie, Colin, and Genevieve.  I mentioned before that Liam has been really fascinated by my camera lately, and I love seeing things from his perspective!  Like these fun shots he took of the group:

I love, love, love this next shot.  If you look closely, you can even see Liam taking this picture!

He also snapped this one of me and my sister from another mister :)  Could we have a budding photographer on our hands?

Colin stayed for a sleepover that night.  The next morning, I happened to walk by as the boys were holding hands to say grace before breakfast... completely unprompted.  I couldn't imagine anything sweeter. I just adore these three!

After breakfast and church, the boys suited up for a day at the zoo with Grandma and Dad.  I stayed behind to run my first 5K!

I think there are some boys under those hats... somewhere!

Everyone had a blast together at the zoo.  It's funny to think that Liam's first trip to the zoo was with Uncle Tim and Aunt Jackie when he was just a year old, and now here he is with Colin!

Later that week, Dad took a day off to take Grandma, Liam, and Joergen on a day trip to New York City.  On the top of their list was a visit to Ellis Island, where Grandma got to see the name of her father, who had immigrated to America from Denmark, on the wall.  I bet her dad was looking down from heaven with such joy seeing three generations of his descendants there!

What made that visit to Ellis Island even more special was that Grandma got to see it with Joergen, his namesake, who is the same age now as his great grandfather was when he came to America!

After visiting Ellis Island, they took the ferry over to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty.  I gave Liam my old point-and-shoot camera so he could have free reign to photograph whatever he wanted on the trip.  He came home with some cool shots!

He obviously didn't take this one- but I thought it was great!

The rest of the week flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to take Grandma back to the airport for her trip back to Illinois.  We can't thank her enough for making the trip-- it was definitely one we will not forget!

Mother's Day

We were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather this Mother's Day, made even better by time spent with some of our favorite mothers.

Nana, me, and GG

Aunt Jayne had some of her own children there to celebrate the holiday, including Jay, who always has something fun to show off to the boys... and this visit was no exception!

When not chasing around that R/C monster truck, Liam and Joergen had lots of fun in the backyard playing ball.  This was one of those moments when it just hit me that they are definitely not babies anymore.

Meanwhile, we enjoyed a fantastic cook-out on the deck followed by some gifts.

GG and Grandpa

GG hugging Liam after opening our card

We also got a chance to Face Time with our favorite maman and her enfants (who we can't wait to see this summer!).

And this.  My favorite Mother's Day gift of all time, no doubt about it.

Liam has been getting really interested in my camera lately, and asked if he could take a few photos of his own.  I absolutely love his first shot, which he composed all on his own (nothing like taking kissing orders from your 5-year-old)!

Liam also took this one of me with Nana and Grandpa:

As well as this one of me and GG (I just adore Joergen's little photobomb!):

It was such a fantastic and relaxing day!  And to keep the Mother's Day celebration going, Grandma flew in for a visit less than a week later.  More to follow...

The World's Largest Model Railroad

Ok, folks-- I am not exactly a train aficionado, but visiting the home of the Guinness World Record holder for the world's largest model railroad back in April was nothing short of amazing.  My dear friend from college, Carly, and her family had recently moved from NYC to NJ, and we had been looking for an excuse to get together... and this, my friends, was it.  Housed in maybe the most random-looking building along a highway in Flemington, NJ, this place did not disappoint.  I don't think any of my photos could do it justice!

Carly and Murph have two adorable boys, James who is 4 and Nate who is just over 1.  As we walked through the entrance, James bounded up to Liam and Joergen, grabbed them by the hands, and off they all ran in excitement to check out the incredible displays.  They were like long-lost buds, even though they had never met before!

After spending a couple of hours immersed in the trains, we had some lunch and then went outside to take a ride on a real train around the property.

Me, Liam, Carly, and Nate

When it was time to say goodbye, we attempted to get a shot of the four future Domers all together. (You should see the out-takes!)

Looking forward to finding more little day trips with this crew in the future!  Go Irish!

River Cats

This spring marked a big milestone in Liam's life as he joined his first sports team!  He was beyond excited to sign up for t-ball and even more excited to receive his uniform as a loud-and-proud River Cat.

After a couple of muddy weeks of practice, their first game of the season finally arrived.  I guess I'd never really been to a t-ball game before, but let me tell you--they are seriously fun to watch!  Kids running all over the place, picking daisies, making wonky throws, hitting the tee (over and over and over again)... and having the time of their little lives.  

League rules stated that each game is 2 innings, with every player batting each inning.  No outs, no score-keeping, and every hit is an automatic single.  This means that the last batter up hits an unqualified Grand Slam, and Coach Dennis decided to set up a simple rotation in alphabetical order so that each kid on the team would have the chance to experience the fame and glory of being that last batter.  There were 13 kids on the team, and as luck would have it, "D" was first on the roster-- so Liam was the first last batter!  Little did he know the surprise that awaited him at the end of the game... but I'll get to that in a moment.

Between being at the softball fields with us since he was an infant and the hours and hours of practice time he gets at Aunt Doreen's, Liam was no stranger to the diamond.  He took his game quite seriously!

When it was the River Cats' turn to bat, Liam patiently waited at the end of the line for his turn.

And here we go: batter up!!

It was a solid whack to the shortstop, and Liam took off at full tilt.

Surprise, surprise-- it was a grand slam!!

After the game, Coach Dennis surprised him with the game ball and had all of his teammates sign it.

He was So. Proud.  I loved that Coach Dennis did this for each of the "last batters" all season long until every kid had that experience.  It was awesome!

Some of our other favorite moments of t-ball season:

Picture Day.  You should have seen the outtakes!!  

Neil, who is one of Liam's buddies from preschool, was also on his team.  They had so much fun together!

Grandma, Nana, Grandpa, and Aunt Doreen all came out to see Liam's games this season.  Here he is cheesing for Grandma before his at-bat.

As the season went on, when Liam would come up to bat, his coaches would yell, "Big Hitter!  Move Back!!"

Last but not least, throughout the season we enjoyed a post-game dinner or two at Chipotle :)

A post about Bateman Day, which is UMBA's celebration for the last game of the season, is coming soon!

Springing Into Action

Hooray for spring!!  I don't think we could have possibly been more excited to leave this past winter and start enjoying the new season and all that comes with it.  Such as... 

Opening Day at Petrucci's!  We had to eat our ice cream in the car to stay warm, but it was worth it :)

Playing outside!  So many uses for sticks!

Riding bikes to the park!

Conquering the Rock!

And yes, Spring Cleaning!

(I almost died when I saw Liam on the roof, power washing with Dad!)

POTTY TRAINING!!!  Yeah Joergen!!  (Peeing outside may just be the single greatest motivator to a little boy who is potty training...)

Sidewalk chalkin'! (And tons more laundry!)

Motorcycles!  Don't worry, they didn't actually get to go for a ride :)

Next stop, summer!