Our Trip To PA

Alex and I had originally hoped to come back for the holidays, but a few things prevented that from happening. Instead, I flew back with the kids and we spent 11 days visiting family and friends. While I was sad to not spend the holidays with our families, I’m really glad we traveled when we did. We were able to see so many of our friends and spend a lot of time with them. And, the kids are becoming expert travelers. The flights to and back were easy! I couldn’t believe how well they both did on a 6 hour flight.

One place we had to visit was Johnny’s in North Bethlehem. This has been our go-to place for bagels for the longest time. We even started a little ritual of going one Sunday morning a month. We got into such a routine going there – the kids both knew exactly what they wanted to order, and once we placed our order, they both walked over the table we always use to sit at, climbed up by themselves and just waited for the food. It was really the sweetest thing to see. We walked around a bit after eating to burn off some energy and the kids spotted these cat pillows in a storefront. They. Were. Obsessed.

I had a lot of time during this trip to sit back and watch – really watch – Henry and Jane together. When I think about it, they really do everything together. Jane prefers playing with cars and trucks and trains because that’s what Henry likes to play with. When Jane is upset, Henry is the first one trying to calm her down, and when Jane is upset, she sometimes runs to Henry for a hug before coming to me. It’s sweet to see how close they are and how their sibling bond is growing stronger and stronger.

Henry loves running up this hill. I think we spent more time on this hill than we did eating!

And my little Jane – who admittedly, isn’t so little anymore. She refused to wear her coat, but had a blast making the cheesiest faces for the camera. She used to try to grab the camera from me, but now she smiles so big and screams, honestly SCREAMS “Cheeeeeeeeeeese!”

My last chance to get some nice pictures of the kids was thwarted by Henry who would not stop jumping, and by Jane who saw a dog walking down the sidewalk towards us and decided to make a run for it.

All in all, a great trip back! We haven’t worked out the details yet, but seeing as how well the kids did this time, we are hoping to go back again in the summertime!

Sledding in Snoqualmie

We went sledding this morning at a place not too far from where we live, and it was incredible to see the scenery change as we got further and further away. After just 20 minutes, there was some snow on the ground and on the trees, and after another 20 minutes, this is what it looked like! We made plans to go sledding today, but realized yesterday we didn’t have all the right gear and clothes for the kids, so I ran out to EIGHT different stores before I finally found everything. In the end, it was worth it. We had a blast.

On the right side of this picture you can faintly see a ski lift and skiers coming down the mountain.

All ready to go!

Henry and Jane both loved sledding. Henry would only sit on our laps at first, but after a few times, he was off and on his own. Jane liked it too – after her first trip down the hill, I asked if she wanted to go again and she shouted “YEAH!” After an hour and a half, Jane had had enough with sledding. We sat in the car together and listened to “Let It Go” from Frozen on repeat for a good 20 minutes – because playing the song once is never enough. It started snowing at this point, so everyone took a few more trips down the hill, we de-bundled, and headed home!