November: A Quick Recap

We've been busy, somehow even busier than usual, and blogging just hasn't taken a high priority.   Here's a quick recap of all that we were up to last month. 

Lots and lots of family outings - The first weekend in November, we did a family outing to South Jersey. We went to the Garden State Discovery Museum and to the Pop-Shop in Collingswood for lunch.  Natalie joined us as well, and I was very appreciative of the 1-to-1 adult-to-kid ratio.  Oliver was in love with the TV studio and would have spent the better part of the morning there.  Alex really loved the ball pit.  It was fun to see the twins able to really play and enjoy the facilities.  The last time we had been here was with Nicole and Devon and I had brought a non-crawling Alex along.  I left my SD card in my computer, so these are all cell phone photos.  

 

Later in the month, we had another weekend in Philly where we took advantage of our many family memberships.  Friday afternoon I took the kids to Please Touch.  Thankfully, it was getting more and more empty with every passing moment, or I would have never been able to keep tabs on all three.  Then on Saturday, I took the babies to the Nest indoor playgym we are members of, and then on Sunday, we did a family outing to the Franklin Science Center --  a great weekend of city fun!

Please Touch Museum -- Car section, we spent most of our time here

At Nest, both boys can now climb through the house and go down the slide by themselves.  A big milestone which means I don't need to chase after them quite as much when we are here!

Visit to Connecticut - Mid-month we took the kids up to Greenwich, CT to visit with college friends. Oliver & Debbie have two kids, each about 6 months older than ours, and it was nice that the kids all played well together.  They also have a German au pair, so Natalie came along as well.  Natalie & I took the boys up on the train on Friday afternoon, and Adam drove up after work.  Neither baby napped, so we knew we had ticking-time bombs on our hands.  The train ride went pretty well... until the last 20min, which were downright brutal!

On Saturday, we had some fun family time while the au pairs went out and had fun.  In the evening, the au pairs were back on the clock, so the four of us could got out to dinner.  By naptime on Sunday, we were headed back home.  We look forward to them visiting us in Philly soon.

They have a dog, Kaya, and Lukas kept going over to her, pointing, yelling "gud, gud, gud".  It was pretty funny how often he was doing it.  Lukas was smitten!  No, we will not be getting a dog....

On Saturday afternoon, Oliver & I took the big kids for a walk around the neighborhood.  Leaves were being picked up soon, and there were mountains everyone.  Lil' Oliver LOVED getting hurdled into the leaves -- you couldn't even see him after he would land.

Devon's Birthday - Oliver had so much fun at Devon's third birthday party.  Unfortunately, we had uncooperative, over-tired-but-refusing-to-nap babies, so we had to make an early departure.  The party was held in a place very similar to the Garden State Discovery Muesum or Please Touch that had many different sections/rooms with different themes.  Our crew could not be torn away from the trains.  Oliver's posture in this first photo cracks me up - he's such an old man.  He looks like he's leaning up against a bar, all he needs is a drink in his hand!

Oliver and Bentley were the ONLY party goers that were able to sit quietly and eat their pizza lunch - good job boys!

That weekend, we also, finally, closed up the bungalow for the season and raked some leaves. 

Thanksgiving - I got a stomach bug the Monday before Thanksgiving.  I managed to pass it on to Adam & Natalie, who were both sick over the holiday.  Neither of them had a bite to eat of Thanksgiving dinner.  We were at Kristy & Ray's for the holiday and the boys had a blast playing with their cousins.  It felt a bit funny that all the adults couldn't eat dinner simultaneously.  Hopefully, next year the BOND cousins will be able to eat at their own table, while we eat.  

"Men" watching TV

Adam is the clear favorite these days! 

 This photo series cracks me up... it looks like a drunk-montage!  I especially love Oliver's dance moves!

Me, Natalie, and the boys slept over at Kristy & Ray's.  The next morning, clear as day, Alex said "Oliver". It was pretty exciting and amazing how clearly he was able to say it!

Post-Thanksgiving Fun - Saturday morning, we got up and headed to my dad's where we stayed two nights.  We were treated to yummy food all weekend and the babies were spoiled by Mormor.

Maultaschen Making - That Sunday, we made the Maultaschen that would get eaten when the family celebrated Christmas.  We were so happy that Nathan was there to hang out with Oliver.

PHEW!  That ended up being quite a lot of photos!  That'll teach me to keep up with the blog better!