Parlez-vous "no kids!"?

It's really happening. Billy and I are going away. For 3 days. To another country. WITHOUT THE CHILDREN!

Yes, it's just Canada. And yes, its only 2 nights. But still. I am super excited. Billy and I haven't gone on a just-us trip since my friend Lena got married in NOLA when the twins were just 5 months old. And that trip was not so much for us - we were there for a wedding, after all.

Our big getaway is to Montreal. Billy was really pushing for Paris but there was just no way we could find someone(s) willing to watch the kids for long enough to make a transatlantic trip worthwhile. Anyway, neither one of us has been to Montreal and we can drive there - both big bonuses. And I can still learn some French!

Looks promising!

This vaca is happening in just a few weeks. It's a combination my-30th-birthday/our-5th-wedding-anniversary celebration. And I have so much to do before we go. I am pumping every night to build up a stockpile for Matteo but it sucks because you get so little when you pump in the late evening. I have to write a detailed list of instructions for taking care of the kids. My siblings are splitting the responsibilities so its not like I can just explain it to one person. I'm just so hard to replace. :)

Just remind me that the weeks of prep will be worth it for even just a couple nights away!

And, um, while you're at it, why don't you go on ahead, click on this little button down here, and vote for my lil' blog?? You're the best! Thanks!!

Westward Ho!

Sebastian and Collette are headed west through the amazing Gateway Arch!


They were excited to see their flat selves but I'm not sure if they fully understood that Daddy took the picture on his trip. Either way, they were happy and it definitely makes Billy feel more connected to us when he is away.

Flat Twins

While Billy was on his epic Asia Tour, I had the idea to make something he could take with him from the kids when he went on long business trips. I had the idea to blend the Flat Stanley idea with that commercial where the dad takes the little girl's monkey stuffed animal with him and takes pictures of the monkey in all the cities he visits. And that is how Flat Colie and Flat Sebby were born.

Making them was easy enough, if your standards for craftiness are as low as mine. Like the silhouettes I did, I found a nice, smiling picture of each of them, cropped it and pasted it into a powerpoint document. I printed it out in color and cut out the faces.

I wasn't sure what the best size would be so I printed a smaller and bigger one of each

For the body, I went with the Gingerbread man outline. This one is free handed (as you can probably tell) but its very easy to find a nice template online.

To get the kids involved, I cut out the bodies and let them decorate it before I put the faces on. They have been really into stamps lately so that was our medium of choice. Once they finished, I glued on their faces to both sides:


They really loved the finished product, which was laminated for protection. It was actually kind of hard to get them to give them up. They gave them to Billy but then wanted them back about 4 seconds later. He had to tuck them away in his briefcase while they were napping.

Colie, admiring her flat self

Billy just left for St. Louis and will hopefully be getting some good shots of Flat Colie and Flat Sebby at the Gateway Arch. I'll be sure to post 'em when he gets back.

At least there's one thing we can do on the plane...

Our annual pilgrimage to the homeland (El Salvador) is fast approaching and as it does I am getting more and more concerned about how Billy and I will get through two flights (each way) outnumbered by people who still crap in their pants. Our best idea (other than drugging them, which is frowned upon despite its effectiveness) is to set each twin up with a portable DVD player and let them rot their brains for each flight. This plan will only work if they will wear headphones. So, the lovely and generous Mommy Esq. loaned us her pair. And here are the results:





Now I just need 10 hours worth of Elmo and Wiggles DVDs and we'll be all set!



PS - if you have other suggestions for airplane travel entertainment, I'm all ears. We have magna-doodles and tons of books. Coloring has been big lately, too, so we'll take some crayons along. Other ideas?

Back Home

Well, we all survived. I (very easily) made it three whole days without my kids and Billy was SuperDad. But really, did we expect anything less? Of course not.

My weekend in VA was mostly filled with baby shopping, eating, and more baby shopping. Oh, and some nursery organizing. But what else would two pregnant girls do together, honestly? Although, to change things up, we did watch Paranormal Activity which was not nearly as scary as everyone made it out to be. It was a very good time all round. I was even blessed by the cashier at Starbucks - like, the let-me-say-a-long-prayer-with-my-eyes-closed-and-holding-your-hand-amen type of blessing. So, I guess little Tater Tot is all set now. Gotta love spending time below the Mason-Dixon line. :)

Meanwhile, SuperDad took the kids to not one but TWO malls and had them eat out twice. I think it was harder than he thought it would be, but of course it's quite doable. He also nursed Sebastian's cold and sore throat and realized what a "handful" Collette is. (I love that he used that word to describe her. A euphemism if I ever heard one!) They had lots of fun while I was gone but were glad to see me come home. I made it back about 15 minutes before lights out and I have NEVER seen them so excited to see me. That must be how Billy feels when he comes home from work. It was awesome.

Sebastian eating some pasta at Papa Gino's

Billy's text when he sent me this picture:
I think I'm in over my head
Apparently, it was very hard to keep an eye on both kids at the same time. Ya think?! :)

Will Absence Make My Heart Grow Fonder?

This weekend will be my second ever time away from my kids. I'm headed to Richmond, VA, to visit a dear friend who is expecting her first baby at the end of March. I'm so looking forward to catching up with her, helping her get the nursery ready, gabbing about life - all the things close girlfriends do in these situations. It will really be lovely, in that relaxing, do nothing, kind of way.

When I tell people about the upcoming trip, they immediately try to assuage my guilt, saying things like, "Oh, it will be so hard to leave them but you'll have such a good time" or "Don't feel guilty - you deserve it!" Then I try not to make a rude face because all I can think is, "are you on crack?" I never have the chance to miss my children. If anything, I get an overdose! I know they are my children and I love more than words can say, but time apart is a good thing. And I'm being completely honest when I say every last little fiber of me feels that way. There is no little voice making me feel bad for going away. No pangs of guilt. No 1%.

I'm a bit surprised at the reactions I got. Am I the only mom who feels this way? Surely there are other people who don't feel guilty leaving their kids 4 nights (or more, if you're lucky) in 15 months. I understand mommy guilt, especially when you don't spend as much time with your kids as you'd like. I don't think anyone should have to feel guilty for the choices they make when their family's best interest is at heart, but I understand it happens anyway. In this case though, I don't understand why someone would feel guilty. Then again, I'm not winning any awards for sentimentality, so...

Would you feel guilty? Or would you just blow a kiss and be on your merry way?

I'm Back, Biatch!

Yes, I'm back. Back to reality and freezing temperatures and a painful 1:2 adult:child ratio. 15 days in El Salvador truly spoiled all of us. After 2 days there, I was almost in tears at the thought of coming home - sorry Mom!! Life down there is just so much easier. No cooking or cleaning or laundry. All the beans and rice a pregnant girl could want. Beautiful weather. But when the 15 days were up, most of me was ready to come home. I missed Lola. I missed my family. I missed speaking 100% in English. And now that we are back, I realize it's not so bad. We all fell right back into our lovely routine as if we had never left and things just feel right.

I have so much to write about the trip and plenty of pictures to go with it. My new camera is great and I will be able to upload all my photos tonight when I install all the software. Without any pictures for this post, I will just share with some quick highlights/interesting things from our vacation:

• Collette learned to walk. I know I said she has been taking steps but by Christmas, she was walking full time. Sebastian is just now showing signs that he is ready, taking more steps by himself to get to his favorite toys.
• In Spanish, they have a special word for "to hold" when you are talking about holding a baby/person. I think it's because they do it so often. Seriously, it's amazing Collette learned to walk considering how much time she spent in someone's arms.
• I found out that kids in El Salvador start preschool (they call it "kinder") at about 18 months old, some even younger! And its 5 days a week, 8-12!! I won't even tell you how little it costs. Lucky bastards.
• In El Salvador, it seems that they don't know what ear infections are. I was quite worried Collette had an ear infection because she had a very bad runny nose, fever and was just so cranky - very unlike her. When I mentioned my hypothesis to Billy, he thought it was his fault because she dunked her head underwater in the bath while he was washing her. When I mentioned it to someone else, they looked at me strangely and asked when Collette had gone swimming. The only ear infection they are familiar with is "swimmers ear", not the inner ear infection I was referring to. Weird, right?
• The beach was a complete disaster. Well, the sand, anyway. How do people take their kids to the beach at this age? The sand-eating and sand-in-the-eyes caused a complete meltdown for poor Sebastian. Collette didn't seemed to mind as she just kept eating the sand, non-stop. She also eats dirt. Is it considered pica when it's a baby doing it?
• My kids are totally bilingual!! Well, you know, in receptive language. They're not talking just yet. But they understand so much in both languages, I was so amazed. I think it really helped to have so many people around them talking and interacting. Another reason I was scared to come home - they are all alone here.

All in all, we had a wonderful time and will probably go back at that time each year. Which means next year we will have 2 two-year olds and a 5 month old. Yikes!

We Made It!

After 13 hours, door to door, we finally made it to my in-laws home in San Salvador. That was on Friday so this post is obviously a bit late, but I´m on vacation so...oh well. Here is a quick overview of our travels, which went very well:

430am - snacks for the plane rides, times 2

520am - Checking in. I didn´t know it yet but Billy had upgraded us to first class for our Boston Miami flight. Merry Christmas indeed :) Also, I highly reccommend the GoGoKidz travelmate. It really amde getting through the airport a breeze.


600am - Chillin´in the first class lounge before boarding

700am - Sleepy but happy in first class

Our flight to Miami went well, although there were some storms so we were a bit delayed. But that didn´t matter too much because our flight from Miami to San Salvador was delayed an hour and a half. Then it was delayed another half hour because they were still loading bags. Thank goodness for Goldfish crackers.

300pm - Up from our naps and ready to play on the plane

430pm - Our final descent

We got home at 545pm (Boston time) to make our day a whopping 13 hours. The twins did great. They had tons of fun on the plane and were in good spirits the whole trip. Hopefully things will go just as smoothly on the way back.

El Salvador or Bust!

We are leaving in less than 20 hours for the airport to get on a flight to Miami, to then get on another flight to San Salvador. And, even though I started packing over the weekend, there is still so much to do. Mostly we are worried about how to keep the twins entertained and well fed on the flights. We get to the airport so early that I'm not sure any shops will be open to buy last minute snacks. And even if they were, I doubt we would have time. Also, our Miami layover is only 90 minutes so if we are late getting in, we won't have much time to stop and eat either. I guess I should ask if a mini-fridge is allowed as a carry-on.

But in all honesty, I'm very excited for our trip - definitely more excited than worried. Once you are on the plane, there is no turning back, no matter how bad it gets. So, if/when it does get bad, you just grin and bear it and think about how sweet it will be to have doting family and friends for two whole weeks. With 80 degree temperatures. And beach houses. And lake houses. And mountain houses. Have I mentioned that I love El Salvador?

Also, Billy got me a new camera for Christmas. Its a Nikon Coolpix and I think will be able to get some better shots of my ever-moving targets (Sebastian, Collette) than my Sony Cybershot. I will try and post as much as I can from El Salvador. Especially pictures of their insane birthday party and of Christmas. And of them in the swimming pool, because who doesn't like to see a baby in a pool?

So, I'm off to pack and pack some more and run errands and try not to pass out from exhaustion (thanks baby #3). Wish us luck!!

Way Back When-esday: Memorial Day Weekend

Ok, so Memorial Day was only two days ago but that counts, right? I didn't have my act together enough to post about this on Monday or Tuesday so here it is, along with pics I high jacked from FavAuntie's Facebook page. Thanks FavAuntie!!

We stayed put for holiday weekend and put up FavAuntie at our house - she was in for the weekend from San Diego. Again. She just can't get enough of these babies! Our big plan for the weekend was to attend my aunt's annual Memorial Day cookout on Sunday. Usually, this cookout lasts well past dinnertime and turns into a family game night. Of course we could not stay long because the twins have bedtime and I would never disturb their bedtime for ANYTHING!! Not a holiday, not a vacation, not the Pope. Nothing.

So, we figured we could get their early and spend a decent amount of time with the fam and eat lots and lots of meat. This meant that nap #2 was in the car. That was mistake #1. We brought the travel cribs thinking they would need a nap while we were there. Mistake #2. Needless to say, the outing was something between a complete disaster and a partial failure. I was a bit embarrassed at how badly they "behaved" because I kept getting looks from well-meaning family members like "What the hell is wrong with you? Why are your kids crying non-stop??" If nothing else, it was a learning experience. Take-aways:

1. NEVER skip nap #2. Ever. Dumbass.
2. When not at home, babies will nap better in the car seat than in the pack'n'play. For now, at least.
3. Instead of pack'n'play, bring "toys" like bouncy chairs, bumbo seats, boppies, etc. Of course, not sure how long they will be using these either but they are easier to bring than the pack'n'plays.

Next time, we might also try to do their "dinner" there so we can stay a bit longer but still be home for bedtime. That'll be for the 4th of July so we'll see how cookout #2 goes. Better, I hope!

The long weekend wasn't a total loss, though. It was so great to have FavAuntie here and Billy was home, too, so I had LOTS of extra help. Hallelujah!

FavAuntie with Sebastian, wearing his very fisrt baseball cap.

Colie (post-meltdown) giving Grammy and the camera a little smile!

Lola, begging Grampa for Cheetos. Bad pug!

Check out Twinfatuation for more blasts from the past on this Way Back When-esday.

Twins Do Grand Cayman: Part 2

Obviously, I'm not going to give a blow-by-blow of our whole time in the Cayman Islands. However, to help others and myself (for future trips) I will just recount what did and didn't work for us. So, without further ado, here are the highlights, good and bad...

What went well:

1. The location of our room. Originally, we had a "suite" (just one big room) because we thought the extra space would be necessary. When we went to the pool the first day, we realized that they had ground level rooms with a patio door so you could walk right out into the courtyard. This was sooooo much easier that going into the hotel, up an elevator and down three hallways to reach our suite. We checked out one of the available courtyard rooms and realized that it would still be big enough for two cribs. The switch made things so much easier. And at night, we could sit in the courtyard and order dinner/drink/talk/relax and still hear the babies, just in case. This will now be a "must-have" for us in the future because I am a big believer in early bedtimes, even for toddlers, and don't want to be trapped in silence after 7pm on my "vacation." If anyone has any recommendations of other hotels like this in the Caribbean, I'm open to suggestions!

2. We cheated and hired a babysitter. Everyone warned me that vacations are no longer vacations; they're trips. This is oh-so-true. However, having a babysitter made some parts of the trip vacation-like. We had the same woman, Sandra (in the pic with Billy and Collette), the whole time and she got very good at handling the twins by the end of our trip. The company came highly recommended by the hotel so we were very comfortable working with her. She could watch the babies during their naps or walk them around in the stroller while Billy and I could go for a swim in the ocean, eat lunch, dip in the pool, do a little sunbathing, etc. And it was cheap!! For a 7 hour day, it cost us less than $80! And I'm sure it would be even cheaper in less expensive countries like Dominican Republic or Jamaica.

3. Get a spot at the pool early! The first day, we scoped out the pool and decided where the best spot would be for us and the babies. We needed shade and extra space, and an easy get-away is always nice, too. So, each morning, we brought our stuff down to the spot to stake our claim and went back and forth throughout the day. We set up the sundome next to our chairs and there was still room for the double snap'n'go.




What did not go well:

1. Sleep. Well, I should have known that they would not sleep as well as they do at home. Naps were abbreviated and nighttime sleep was, in a word, awful. I think we had to get up to pacify a baby every other hour. And they woke up very early. Sometimes before 5am. And they were just so restless which means they were loud, even while sleeping. So, in that respect, the trip was not so relaxing. I can imagine that a 2-room suite would be great, but they didn't have any. Our friends suggested using the bathroom (that's what they do) but, alas, they have one baby, one crib. I think if we had brought their crib bumpers, that may have helped but who knows.

2. The heat. Ya, the Caribbean is hot. Duh. And we have winter babies so they just were not accustomed to all that heat and sunshine and it made them fussy. Also, it was very hard to find shade during the afternoon, so our time outside was often cut short. Thankfully, no one got heat rash or sunburned. Just cranky...


All in all, the good outweighed the bad. I would say it was definitely worth it - you just have to lower your expectations a bit and prepare for everything! We are going to El Salvador for Christmas so I'm glad that we already have one trip under our belts - lots of valuable lessons learned.

Twins Do Grand Cayman: Part 1

One of the biggest challenges was what to bring on our trip, so I will start there. This was an issue, of course, but for me especially. I am a super-procrastinator when it comes to packing, much to my Grandmother's dismay, and because of that, I tend to over-pack. I don't put a lot of thought into what I should bring, so I just bring tons and tons of stuff. For this trip, we obviously needed the basics and plenty of things for the babies. What that meant for us was:

Clothes for me and Billy (duh)
Toiletries
Every single baby short-sleeved or sleeveless shirt/outfit
100 diapers (5days X 5 diapers per day X two babies X 2 for good measure = 100 diapers)
All "good" bibs (about 15-20?)
Approx. 10 burp cloths
2 sleep sacks
Sebastian's swaddle
Baby swimsuits
Sun Hats
Baby Bjorn
Baby sling carrier
Approx. 20 small toys (small for carry-on, other packed)
2 Boppies (for the plane ride)
Activity with all the fixin's
2 floaties for the pool
6 blankets
Stuffed Diaper bag (diapers, emergency clothes, baby toiletries, bibs, burp cloths, baby Tylenol, bottles for the plane)
6 pacifiers
12 cans of Nestle Good Start
Breast pump
24 extra oz. of breast milk in Medela cooler pack
3 sets of pump parts
6 sets of nipples and bottles
100 bottle liners

So, maybe I have a packing problem. But in all seriousness, we used 97% of the things we brought and needed about 90% of it. For such small people, they require a lot of crap!

As for the actual travel, our flight was at 6am (I just threw up in my mouth a little bit, remembering that...) so we woke up at 330am, got the babies up and in the car seats at 415am and started loading the taxi (a minivan one) about 3 minutes after that.

At that time, there is no traffic so the ride was about 20 minutes. We were flying first class, so check in was quick, too. We got 8 boarding passes (4 people, 2 flights), checked two enormous suitcases and had four carry-ons: my purse, my pump, the diaper bag and an extra bag with randomness. And the boppies on top of the twins in their car seats in the double snap'n'go.



As you can see, this is A LOT to get through security. This was the worst part because TSA employees all get mandatory frontal lobotomies before beginning work at Logan airport. Since both babies were awake, we had to take them out of the car seats and send the seats through the x-ray machine. Why it's ok to wand a sleeping baby in the car seat but an enormous security risk to do so with an awake baby makes no sense to me at all. Thanks TSA. We put all our bags on the belt, and then unloaded the babies. We forgot about the stroller. Oops. Its not very easy to fold a double stroller while a holding a 5-month old baby. Even harder to get said stroller onto the belt while still holding baby. Do you think any of the TSA people helped us? No. Of course not. They simply stared at Billy who was willing his body to grow extra limbs so he could pick up the stroller without dropping Colie. Finally, the guy behind him helped get the stroller on the security belt and we were on our way. A few seconds later, I saw another couple coming through security with a baby, a single stroller and a toddler (walking) and they had their own security guy escorting them through!! WTF!!!! I hate you, TSA.

Anyway, we made it through, headed to the gate, changed the babies diapers and boarded the plane. The flight was fine - we gave them some baby Tylenol and their morning bottles on the way up. Collette slept the whole way after that and Sebastian took a 45 minute nap. I had to walk the aisle with him a lot to keep him from fussing, but that was no big deal overall.

Our layover in Charlotte was no problem either. We had plenty of time to eat, change the babies and play a little. Luckily, Sebastian used this time to have a diaper blowout and we used our second emergency outfit (Collette used the first one in Boston - pee leakage). While this was gross, it was sooooooo much better dealing with it on the plane.

The second flight was pretty much the same as the first, except we had an hour delay, on the runway (grrr). So, what should have been a 2 hour trip ended up being 3. But the babies did fine, much to the amazement of the first class passengers who were sure they were doomed to hours of infant crying.

We landed with two happy babies, in 85 degree Grand Cayman. They had our stroller and carseats waiting for us outside (no walkway, you just deplane directly outside) and we headed to customs. They let us cut the line (sweet!) but we still ended up being the last ones to leave. Why? you ask - because of my illegal immigrant husband. (JK - he's not illegal, just foreign). Apparently, Salvadorans need visas to enter the Cayman Islands. After 20 minutes of back office hoopla, Billy offered his Mexican passport (ya, he's Mexican, too) and that did the trick. Whew - that was a close one!


And so, we successfully got there. Being there was almost as challenging as getting there - more on that later!!

Makes My Monday: Home Sweet Home

Back again for Twinfatuation's Makes My Monday...

We had a good time on our trip to the Cayman Islands - a good time, not a great time. It was the perfect length and when we left, I was so ready to come back. Today, getting back into our regular routine (mommy and two babies, hanging out at home) is Making My Monday.

I have to say, it was as hard for me as it was for the twins to be out of our regular activities and atmosphere. I will write some posts about our trip (getting there and being there) but that will take me a while. For now, I will just use this little post to say this: as much as I think I am not, I am a creature of habit. When it comes to this new life I have, I am a bit inflexible. I never thought I would be this way - I was always a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of person. I'm not (wasn't??) a planner or a scheduler. I like to procrastinate and improvise. And in some ways, this hasn't changed. But with the twins, I have found what works and am loathe (scared?) to stray from that. And that's ok. We have a whole lifetime to improvise. For now, we are happy to live in our predictable, routine world and enjoy the little moments of spontaneity as they may come.

While I work on my vacation posts, here is a picture of the babies (and us!) from our trip:

Big Easy Wedding

A friend of mine congratulated me on dealing so well with being away from the twins for the first time. She hasn't seen them in a few months which explains why she thinks it might be difficult. But it wasn't. It was EASY!! Well, it was easy once we were gone and I couldn't worry about preparing my two sisters and mother for the task of caring for my little babes.

It turned out that preparing them wasn't so difficult - they were excellent students! I had been using frozen milk so that the mini-fridge was packed with the fresh stuff for the weekend. This would make it easier for them to prepare bottles because unfreezing milk is a pain in the ass. I had prepared 24 hours worth of bottles before I left so my sister had a nice head start. Also, I wrote down our routine to give her an idea of how the day should look, when to feed them and how to do naps and bedtime. Of course, as I was writing it, the twins were throwing me curve ball after curve ball and I wasn't sure how relevant the "routine" would be by the next day! I warned by sister about as much but she was a trooper - she would just roll with the punches.

Other than that, I didn't do too much to prepare. I had my sister with me the day before so I got to show her where things are and how I do certain things and that was really all she needed. My other sister and mom are here most every week so they already knew the drill and would be helping her out. So, between the three of them, I was pretty sure they could handle it. And it was nice to think that it takes 3 people to replace me. Hehe.

***

The trip was short but fun and so needed! I was at my wits end with baby tantrums and craved a day off. And New Orleans was a great place to do it, seeing the city and celebrating my friend's wedding.

When we got on the plane going from Newark to New Orleans, Billy commented on how bigger it was than our first plane (BOS - EWR) because the first class had twice as many rows (he was hoping to get upgraded...). So, we are checking out how full first class was as we're walking to our coach seats and YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO WAS THERE!!

The drummer, bassist and keyboardist for BON JOVI!!!!

And they were waiting for their bags right next to me at baggage claim but I was too chicken shit to ask for a picture with them. I'm so mad now because that would have been blog-perfect stuff!! Oh well. You'll just have to take my word for it.

The first night, we had the rehearsal dinner and after that we were too tired to do anything else so back to our Heavenly Beds we went. We woke up early-ish that morning and had plenty of time to get showered, get "pumped" and get to the infamous Cafe Du Monde by 9am. The line was long but worth the wait. We gorged on Cafe Au Lait and Beignets while we people-watched on Decatur Street. We also bought some Cafe Du Monde swag as thank-you gifts.

We spent the rest of the morning wandering through the French Market, French Quarter (Bourbon Street is very yucky and disappointing in the daytime - far too much sobriety and clarity...) and Jackson Square (see picture to the left). Then we headed to the river to find a nice outdoor restaurant and get our fix of traditional New Orleans cuisine. Billy and I had some Cajun shrimp, po' boy sandwiches and steamed crawfish, complete with Cajun spices. Finger lickin' good, in my opinion.

In the afternoon, we relaxed a bit on the rooftop pool and napped. Because when am I ever going to get to nap again??

That night was the wedding - the ceremony and reception were both beautiful. I cried my eyes out as soon as I saw her. She wore her mother's dress and, with a few alterations to make it a little less covered up, it was perfect. Here is the best picture I could get of the bride and groom, exchanging their vows:

They had their reception at the Elms Mansion, which had a gorgeous outdoor space complete with magnolia trees, gazebo and Brass Band. Here I am, with the beautiful Bride. I couldn't be more happy for her - it was like seeing a little sister get married.

It was too bad we couldn't stay longer but all in all, it was a great trip. Great to see Lena, great to be away from home and see a new city, great to spend some quality time with Billy, sans twins.

Now...packing for our next trip. Leaving at 430am tomorrow - sheesh. Will post more on that later.