NY trip

At the end of November, I braved it with two boys and traveled alone to NY to visit my family. I was there for two weeks before Jared joined us and then we stayed another week before flying back home. I have to say I was quite nervous to fly alone with both boys, but we survived and the boys did pretty good.

Here are some things we did in NY:
 - Christmas shopping (obviously)
 - Laken enjoyed chasing our cat Chico around. He called him Chico-cat. Thankfully Chico was such a good boy and tolerated Laken doing lots to him. He also loved going onto Grandma's bed to see Topaz and pet her. Although she was a little less tolerable of Laken, she still let him touch her (big deal if you know Topaz).
 - Laken became buddies with Grandpa. He followed him all over and helped him do things.
 - Laken also loved going downstairs to be with the dogs. His job was feeding them at night.
 - Laken spent lots of time outside exploring things.
 - Steven and I took Laken out to play in the only snowfall they had while we were out there.
 - Grandma had surgery on her ankle a couple weeks before we went out so she took it easy the first little while we were out there. Laken enjoyed riding on her scooter with her.
 - Laken helped Grandma in the kitchen - picking things up for her, helping to empty the dishwasher, helping make lasagna and other food
 - The boys enjoyed playing with all of Grandma and Grandpas toys
 - Carter enjoyed following me around and was always trying to get me.
 - Carter spent lots of quality time with Grandma since she fed him his bottle a lot.
 - Carter was also very interested in the animals and would watch them whenever they were around.
 - Carter started eating finger foods a lot more.
 - Laken found a new favorite tv show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Unfortunately for him, we don't have it at home.
 - Funny story: Grandpa was trying to teach Laken to say some words correctly and it turned into Laken quickly repeating all the words Grandpa said. When Grandpa pointed to his cheek and said cheek, Laken did the same. But then grandpa pointed at his bottom and said cheek and Laken looked at him puzzled, pointed at his bottom and said bum! It made us all laugh!
 - Grandma and Laken decorated a gingerbread house. Grandma said she was amazed at how patiently he waited for her to put the frosting on and how careful he was at putting the candy on.
 - Spent time with Uncle Steven (when he was home).
 - Had dinner with Michelle at her house.

When Jared came out we:
 - cut down a Christmas tree and put it up
 - put up more Christmas decorations
 - went to a hibachi grill for dinner
 - celebrated an early Christmas for us and the boys
 - went on a "wagon/tractor" ride with grandpa

I think that pretty much sums up our trip to NY. We had a great time and like always, it went by too quickly. It's hard leaving not knowing exactly when we'll all be together again. Here are some pictures:

Watching the airplanes & waiting for our next flight

Laken enjoying his time with the cats

Eating snacks, playing with original little people, hitching a ride with grandma, playing on the tractor with grandpa, and Carter in his classic pose.

Having a good time with grandpa, baking with grandma, and enjoying a tractor ride

Getting a Christmas tree (that's Laken cutting it down) and having quality time with grandma

At Simons (the hibachi grill restaurant)

Always hard saying good bye at the airport.