Ringing in the New Years...

We were lucky enough to spend a few days in the city, between Christmas and New Years, with Mitch's sister Danielle and her family!  They drove up from Virginia to explore the city and we had a blast.  We went non-stop and the kids were great sports.  We hit Central Park, Rockefeller, Times Square, Bryant Park, Madison Square, and even made it down to Chelsea Market and the Highline.  We loved spending a bit of the holidays with family, and are so glad it worked out!

Remi all bundled up / Skating in Bryant Park with Jackson

Mitch's parents knew we were going to be in the city after the holidays, so they sent each grand-kid a Toys-R-Us gift card so they could pick something out at the big Times Square store.  It was fun to see what each kid chose, and how each picked something totally different!  

More skating at Bryant Park...and some falling.

You can't do New York City during the holidays without a carriage ride around Central Park! We were lucky enough to have Jayden ride with us.

We may have hit up Waffles & Dinges more than once!  It was just too good, and with their pop-up location just around the corner at Bryant Park, we decided to make it breakfast.  We may have indulged at Dylan's Candy Store and the Donut Plant too. Shhh!

Our weekend ended too soon, but we were happy to have at least a little Brown Family time!

Happy New Year!

Timpanogos Cave

On our last day in Utah, we met up with Grandma Diane, Dayna and kids, and Danielle and kids, to hike up to Timpanogos Cave.  I hadn't been in yeeears and thought my kids would love it.  It turned out that Dieter is scared of dark, tight places, and Finnley reeealy had to go to the bathroom in the caves and just wanted to get out.  I won't tell you whether or not she made it to the bathroom. At least the hike up and down was fun! 

Remi really wanted to get down and walk, so I let her.  Unfortunately, she fell forward and landed on her face and ended up with a nice big road-rash on her forehead.  That is the story of her life these days.  She always has some sort of scrape or bump on that cute little face of hers.

This picture sums up our time in Utah.  This boy was wiped every. single. day.  He'd nap in the car and then fall into bed at night.  We had a blast, and soaked up every minute we were able to spend with our family and friends.  Until next time....

Virginia Holiday...

We had the best Thanksgiving holdiay in Virginia with Mitch's family.  After being locked out of our car (such a mess) we were on our way. Our kids were great travelers.  They all fell asleep, except Dieter, who was happy as clam, and the cutest traveler ever.  

Our first morning there was Thanksgiving Day.  Danielle took us to an awesome park along the Potomac river.  We played and rode bikes and scooters until it was time to get back and start the feast preparations.

What a feast!  I'm serious when I say it was one of the best Thanksgiving meals I've ever had.  Everything was so gourmet, and I was especially impressed with Dave's cooking.  Who knew!?

The next day we drove up to Longwood Gardens, as I stated in a previous post.  What a fun way to kick of the Christmas season, and work off a few of our Thanksgiving pounds.

Beautiful morning run.

Saturday we celebrated Diane's 60th birthday!  What a great lady to celebrate.  I really did snag a great mother-in-law.  Happy Birthday Diane!!

Longwood Gardens, PA...

We spent Thanksgiving weekend down in Virginia at Mitch's oldest sister's, Danielle.  Our kids had a blast playing with their cousins, and there wasn't a dull moment.  Whether it was the yummy Thanksgiving feast, the tennis match, celebrating Mitch's mom's 60th birthday, or discovering Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, there was always something fun going on.  A big thank you to the Brown's for hosting our family and filling our bellies with delicious meals.

The day after Thanksgiving, we drove up to PA to Longwood Gardens.  It was a beautiful place that got us all in the Christmas spirit.  The highlight for the kids were the three tree houses they were able to explore.  These weren't your ordinary tree houses...they were huge and left me living my own childhood fantasy.

The original Duckworth family - minus Dayna who stayed in Utah

Jackson, Finnley and Mason

Finners, D-man, Jackson, Jayden, and Mason 

Remmy was her usual happy self.  I couldn't choose just one picture from the series of her smiling, so I put a few up.  She still doesn't have even one tooth but, I can't say I'm sad about it.  Her gummy smile is the best thing you'll ever see. 

My favorite part was walking through the conservatory.  Pictures don't even do it justice.  They had plants from almost every environment on the planet, and the flowers and landscaping was amazing.

We finished off the night viewing the fountain show and walking through the Christmas lights.  It was the perfect kick start to the Christmas season.  Thank you Dave and Danielle for your hospitality!