The Great Travel Adventure of 2012

Whew! We just got back in town from what I have dubbed "The Great Travel Adventure of 2012", a week long trip during which our family of 5 experienced our own version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. All in all, we took three plane flights, multiple airport train rides, and one 5 hour car trip to go from Richmond to Atlanta to Nashville to Atlanta and then back to Richmond. We could have also called the trip Cribs, Pack n Plays, and Air Mattresses with all the different types of beds we slept in over the last week!

The last leg of our travel adventure involved me flying from Atlanta to Richmond solo with all three of my kiddos. To say I was concerned that this was not a good idea would be an understatement. And I'm pretty sure my fellow passengers were thinking the same thing as it was easily evident by the looks on their faces as I tromped down the aisle with a toddler, ten month old twins, an infant car seat, and a carry on bag that tested the measurement constraints set forth by Delta down to the millimeter. 

Thankfully, the girls were amazing. Seriously, not a tear was shed, not a temper tantrum was thrown, and not a nasty glance was thrown our way by our surrounding passengers.

The purpose of all this travelling was to attend Aunt Erin and Uncle Chris' much anticipated wedding in Nashville last weekend. Caroline was the star flower girl of the wedding and the twins were adorable guests. Aunt Erin looked stunning and Uncle Chris cleaned up pretty nicely as well :) It was great to see all our extended family on Paul's side and Paul and I enjoyed a fun night together at the wedding reception (open bar + delicious food + babysitter = guaranteed good time)

After the wedding weekend and a couple extra days in Nashville visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Hepper, us girls headed to Atlanta for a quick visit with Marmee and Grampy before heading back home to good old Richmond, VA.

 I am thrilled that our trip was a success, especially the last leg of it, but now I'm exhausted and ready to stay home for the foreseeable future!

Check out all the fun we had at...

....Friday's afternoon get-together and the rehearsal...

Grandpa and Margaret

Great-Grandma Hepper and the girls

Margaret playing peek-a-boo

Caroline making us all a little nervous that she would run down the aisle at the wedding.

Silly girl

Daddy and Caroline managed to squeeze in some play time after the rehearsal

...on Saturday at the wedding day brunch, ceremony, and reception...

Margaret peeking out the window at the guests

Julia looking pretty in her flower headband

Mommy and Caroline

Julia and Daddy

Margaret gets acquainted with Uncle Tate as Lilly looks nervous

Beautiful Aunt Erin and Caroline before the big walk down the aisle

Caroline looking a tad nervous...but she was a perfect flower girl!

Mommy and the girls

The happy couple right after the ceremony

Mr. and Mrs. Burrell with Caroline

Proud of sweet Caroline!

Mommy and Daddy ready to party at the reception: kids with a sitter, comfy shoes on, and a roadie to go!!

...and just hanging out!

Buddies Margaret and Julia

Grandma and Grandpa admire one of Caroline's many painting creations

Playing dress-up at Marmee's house

All this travelling made for one tuckered out princess!

That's all for now! We'll post more pictures from the wedding once we gain access to them from Aunt Erin and Uncle Chris' amazing photographer!!

Easter 2012

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter weekend with Marmee and Grampy, who came in town to celebrate with us. The weather was nice, our days were filled with fun Easter preparations and activities, and the twins seemed to enjoy their very first Easter. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

Sweet Caroline on Easter morning.

Marmee and Caroline decorating our Easter cookies.

Mommy and Caroline dyeing the eggs.

Caroline discovered that she loves hard boiled eggs!

Our completed traditional bunny cake. 

Caroline ready for the Easter egg hunt at Westwood.

Princess Bunny

J and M looking not so jazzed to be meeting the Easter bunny.

Mommy, Margaret and Julia

Julia and Margaret looking unsure as the Easter egg hunt happened around them.

Daddy and J

Daddy and Caroline hunting eggs.

We enjoyed a tasty lunch after the egg hunt. J happily wore her flower headband the whole time.

Grampy entertaining Margaret at lunch.

The Easter bunny was good to our sweet girls.

Mommy and Caroline

Marmee and Margaret

My darling Easter babies. M/J

A trio of beauties

Grampy and Marmee and the girls. C/M/J

Our family

Double Trouble

I'm sure there will be countless future posts entitled "Double Trouble" and maybe even a few "Triple Trouble" posts too, so we'll just plan on this one being the first in a series.
Now that both twins are fully crawling, there is no resting for this already tired Mommy. It seems I spend all my time at home taking the twins from where they are not to supposed to be and putting them back where they should be. And of course it's rare that the girls find the same areas of the house interesting at the same time. Instead, it's often that I see two little behinds headed in two different directions. Each twin causes chaos in her own special way...
Margaret is a speedy, noisy crawler who you can hear coming from a mile away. She has a great affinity for seeking out and chewing on shoes, loves to pull up on just about anything, and will follow big sister Caroline around just about anywhere.
Julia is a stealthy little bugger who has been known to sneak away without anyone noticing she's gone. She loves to crawl under tables, hang out in the kitchen and open and close the cabinet doors, and has a particular interest in spilling the dogs' food and water bowls.

Here is double trouble in action...

Contained and cute, Margaret and Julia

Julia explores the dishwasher.

Margaret is tempted by Caroline's milk cup.

Mmmmm...shoes.

Hello, safety hazard! Julia shakes the tall lamp.

Margaret attempts to pet Isabel. Generally a very bad idea.

Oh hey, Mom. I'm just dipping my fingers in the water...

...and maybe spilling a little bit of it.

Mommy likes it when we're in our high chairs because it means she gets to take a break from chasing us! M/J

For some reason, the twins are content to sit nicely on a blanket at the playground. For now anyways. J/M

Here are a few pictures of Caroline, who is generally not causing chaos these days, thank goodness!

The Richmond Bag Lady

Planting a mini flower garden.

Rocking some great dance moves.

Exhausted after a park play date.

Run, Mommy, Run!

Yesterday I completed the Monument 10K race, an event for which I trained only moderately and was a little skeptical that I could complete without having to walk the majority of the time. Lucky for me, the course was flat, the weather was decent, and chatting the whole time with my buddy Annie made the run a piece of cake! We finished in about an hour and are looking forward to signing up for another race soon. I can actually say in all honesty that I enjoyed the run, and I'm pretty darn proud of how I did too! I was hoping to post a picture of me crossing the finish line, but it looks like it will be several days before the race photographer makes it available. Here's what I have instead...

Annie and me at the start line before the race.

Post race with the Harris Williams wives enjoying a celebratory mimosa!

In other news, we are gearing up for Easter! I took the girls outside last week in an effort to get a decent group shot of them in spring dresses, but as you can see below I struck out on the group pic and had to settle for individual ones. 

Margaret

Julia

The best shot of the twins I could get.

Caroline

And a couple other pictures...

J and M after a big and yummy dinner.

Happy girl feeding the ducks at the University of Richmond.