A Northern Thanksgiving

We are so grateful that we live within 20-30 mins of almost all of our family members - including aunts, uncles, and cousins!  It makes getting together for any celebrations including the holidays very convenient and also very hectic.  It's a good hectic, though, and we wouldn't change it.

Daniel has some family in Pittsburgh-ish, Pennsylvania.  Daniel's dad's sister + immediate family lives there.  Each and every year, his dad would head north to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Miles' clan.  Matthew always joined him, and occasionally Annabeth or Ashley would go, too.  Since his dad's passing in the summer, everyone knew this holiday would be tough on everyone, but especially his aunt.  Daniel steps up for his family at just the right times, and made the decision early on that he thought it would be best to be in PA for Thanksgiving this year.  We both knew it would be tough - taking two 1-year-olds on a road trip that's, at minimum, 5 1/2 hours away isn't a walk in the park.  We also knew it would be tough to be away from our families, and those we spend all holidays with.  But sometimes you've just gotta suck it up buttercup and do the right thing.  Matthew rode with us, and we just love him to pieces... and knew we should be there for not only his aunt, but his brother, too.  So while we are so sad his dad isn't with us anymore, we are so very, very thankful for so many things. 

The good news is we've done a few road trips this year - the beach, Blacksburg, and Massanutten.  I'm a pretty OCD/organized person, so packing wasn't too bad... and this was probably the easiest planned trip thus far.  We planned to drive at night, and prayed to Baby J that Ella would decide she liked to sleep in her car seat again.  (Mom of the year: I had some Benadryl stashed, just in case.)  Jarrett passed through PA on his way to the Notre Dame/VT game the week before (Hokies won, by the way), so he dropped off the pack 'n plays and they were set-up for {hopefully} an easy transition from car to crib.  I sent his aunt a small grocery list, so we wouldn't have to pack a cooler.  She's VERY southern and is an amazing hostess, and I knew she wouldn't mind helping us out.  It all seemed too easy, right?  Right.  The weekend before we left, the girls thought it was the perfect time to catch a stomach bug.  Impeccable timing, ladies.  In a 24-hour time span, we did 9 loads of laundry.  It really was a fun time.  Really.

Anyway, fast forward to Tuesday evening.  We leave Chester around 5pm.  Daniel rigged up the tablet to the back of the tv screens so the girls could watch their coveted Minions and mind-numbing Little Baby Bum.  And guess what?  They did great!  I sat in the third row with them (Matthew rode shotgun), and they whined a little at first, but fell asleep and transitioned to their pack 'n plays awesome when we arrived at almost midnight. 

The way home sucked.  I mean, the girls did great, but when you're strapped into your car seat for over 7 hours, you are just over it.  Bless their sweet little hearts.  I didn't know that Sydney knew the word "out" until she started pulling at her straps and saying "out, out, out!" around hour #6.  I'd never been so happy to be out of the car and at home, as I'm sure they were too.

So anyway, I'm not entirely sure why I've rambled so much.  Maybe because I'm effing proud that we made this trip, and it was a success?  Yeah, that's it.  It was tough to be in a house that wasn't baby-proof, but it was nice to have someone else cook and clean up (because they're Southern and awesome like that... won't let us help at all).  I know you're tired of reading my mess, so here are some cute little turkey pictures!

silly girls

casually hanging out in a toy crate, watching our favorite show and playing with Sydney's hair

When we taught the girls how to play Ring Around the Rosie, we stumbled upon a YouTube channel called "Little Baby Bum" - it's just a ton of nursery rhymes.  For some reason, the girls were hooked.  They love the bright colors, weird animations, and enjoy singing and dancing.  Move over Minions, Little Baby Bum is the new kid in town.

Ella, Sydney, and Little Baby Bum

Kinsey and Nicholas came over to hang out, and Kinsey was the BEST baby sitter.  The girls adored her, she really enjoyed playing with them, and this momma got a break!

Kinsey pouring Sydney some tea.  Kinsey gave the girls this little tea set, since she's outgrown, and it even makes a "pouring" noise, adorable!

snack time

two cute little turkeys <3

perusing Black Friday ads and coloring

I just can't even stand how cute these girls are

just another day with the Sink Circus... hanging out in dog crates

nap time ;)

someone woke up from their nap way too early!  so this momma got some extra snuggles, and I'm extra thankful

Ella was fascinated with Sydneys' foot??

Heavy weight champ, Sydney, trying to crack Uncle Mop's back

the gang

Brothers holding sisters

we have the BEST uncle!

Aunt Ann is reading us an intriguing book

Aunt Ann and Uncle Donald wanted to take the girls to ride the train at the mall - so glad they did, it was such a hit.

waiting for our ride to show up

<3

even though they don't look it, they squealed with delight!

After the train ride, we went to a toy store - that was a fun/interesting/exhausting experience... and way too close to bed time, ha!

 Then it was time to head home.  We packed all of our things back up and headed South.

Our set-up: Daniel and Matthew in the front, two babies in the middle, Momma in the back

beautiful sleeping Ella-Bear

Sweet snoozing Sydney

I can't even begin to put into words how immeasurably thankful we are.  I don't think Daniel or I ever expected this would be our life - and what a wonderful one it is.  We have two beautiful girls - they light up our entire world.  We are better people because of them.  We never let a day go by that we don't count our lucky stars that we are all HEALTHY.  I'm not sure how we got here, but I love it - every single crazy minute of it. 

our beautiful little Turkeys - Ella Grace & Sydney Ann