Wedding Weekend Extravaganza!

This last weekend there were two important weddings happening on the same day, so Jeff and I decided to divide and conquer.  Jeff went to Oregon to attend a wedding for a friend of the family and I went to my cousin Michael's wedding in Modesto.  I drove up with my parents and the boys for our very first real roadtrip experience.  We loaded up in our relatively new minivan (affectionately dubbed "the Mother Ship" by my nephew Jeremy) and headed out on Friday morningish.  Little did we know it would take a whopping 9 hours to drive to Modesto with two infants!  The boys hardly slept on the way and their bedtime shifted from their usual 7:30 to after 10:00 for the entire weekend.  Needless to say, it was an exhausting trip.  The wedding was beautiful though and it was well worth the work to see Michael get married.  We also got to take a side trip before coming home and visited my aunt and cousins in Half Moon Bay.  Here are some pics from our weekend...

Sammy & Uncle Billy

Mom, Jeremy & Dad

Nanna Carroll & Wesley

I honestly didn't plan for us to match!

Michael with his bride and Dori

Cousin Heather & Aunt Melissa

Lacey & Evan

(the wedding Jeff attended in Oregon)

Catching Up

I'm just going to take this rare opportunity to catch up on all the posting I haven't done for a very long time.  At the moment Wesley is sleeping and Sam is otherwise occupied...so here are some photos to show you what the boys have been up to the last several months...

This was the boys' first time in a restaurant highchair during our stay in Ventura.  They didn't really fit so we tried to prop them up with blankets.  Okay so we ended up holding them while we ate our meals but I think the boys get an "A" for effort!

"Are you my brother?"

Matching outfits for Father's Day

a special visit with Great Grandma Dorothy,

and Great Grandpa Leon

Practicing Parents

Sammy sitting on future friend Josh

this was the day of our huge garage sale

Bring Your Twins To Work Day

Wesley & Debbie

Catherine & Sammy

they look so serious

4th of July

Sam with Grandpa Bill

a talent that runs in the family

visit with Cousin Kym

Snazzy New Ride

A bunch of people from our church family got together and bought us this wonderful new stroller.  We love it!  The boys love it!  It practically pushes itself!  The boys love to see what's in front of them and there are even little sunroofs so they can view the scenery overhead.  Check out how cool they look in it...

Many many thanks to those of you who contributed to this gift!  Thank you notes are in the works!!!

Thing One & Thing Two

I have a very good friend who shares my love for children's books (actually hers goes much deeper but we both collect). Some time after the boys came home from the hospital she came by and brought us what will most certainly become a family heirloom...a beautiful little chest, lovingly finished and decoupaged by Auntie Joy herself.

Joy & Bonnie with the boys

But that's not all! Inside the chest were soooo many lovely children's books, each with fun little goodies to go with them. Today, I highlight the Cat in the Hat. Hat's off to Auntie Joy for finding these adorable little onesies!!!

Don't cry Sam...

books are yummy!

Don't be too serious Wesley...

reading is fun!

and to quote the doctor himself...

"Fun is good."

Bebe Pod

Okay so I had been hearing about these bumbo seats for babies which seem to be all the rage right now but they truly are ridiculously expensive for what they are and the amount of time your child spends in them.  So I found a Bebe Pod (same thing really) through the moms of twins club I belong to for a mere $15.  I am so proud of this purchase.  The mom I bought it from kept it in mint condition with all the parts and in the original box no less!  I hope to pass it on in the same condition.  Meanwhile, the boys are getting a kick out of sitting in it now and then.

Wesley

Samuel

Grandma's House

Back in April, on our way back from Dana Point, we stopped off to visit my grandma Lorraine.  This was her first time meeting the boys.

There's Something About Maui

It all started with a planned trip to St. John with my parents that was supposed to happen in January.  You see, Jeff doesn't fool around when it comes to travelling...all plans are made way in advance.  In fact, usually he's planning the next trip before the current one is over.  Anyway, we bought our tickets and booked the timeshare only to find out a few weeks later that I was pregnant and due in February.  So we switched our trip to Maui in May and planned to take the boys along with us (of course).

view from our room

Our first family vacation turned out rather well.  We all had a great time, the boys did really well on the plane trip both ways (fellow passengers stopped to compliment them on their way out even) and we really took it easy while we were there and didn't try to cram too many activities in.  To sum up, we took a few trips to the pool with the boys, some meals out, a day trip to Hana, and a date night on a sunset cruise while my parents watched the boys for us.  The boys, miraculously, slept 8 hours straight at night while we were there... a feat they have only accomplished once since we've been home.  I guess we all like to sleep in a little on vacation, huh?

precious moments

sunset cruise while my parents babysat

exploring the island

Road to Hana

The one big snafoo was that in all the commotion of getting the boys and all of our luggage loaded on to the shuttle on the morning we left, I managed to leave my bag behind.  I was so consumed with not forgetting anything for the boys and was operating on only 3 hours of sleep (up all night packing last minute items) that I never moved my bag out of the bedroom and into the dining room with the rest of the luggage.  We didn't notice it was missing until we reached the airport and then it was too late.  Jeff  very sweetly arranged for a good friend of ours to have my bag sent UPS.  My luggage arrived three days into the trip and gave me an excuse to do a little shopping in the meantime.  But the first few days in Maui were not my favorite.  I had worn long black pants, a long sleeved blouse and tennis shoes on the plane.  Brilliant!  Had to borrow from Jeff and my mom for the first couple of days until I got a chance to go shopping.  Someday I'll look back and laugh about that.

I look good in my swim trunks!

all decked out for the sun

local wildlife

Yeah, we'd go back to Maui!