A Road Trip; Asheville, NC.

driving toward those mountains!!!

A couple weeks ago, my friend Katrina and I took the boys on a trip to Asheville, NC.  Katrina is my travel buddy.  We took trips together often before I had the boys, and now we just take them with us!  I've always heard how cool of a city Asheville is.  We thought we'd go for a few days, to see the city as well as the mountains surrounding it.  

The first full day we were there, it was rainy and chilly.  We decided to brave the mountains for a hike despite the weather.  We traveled a couple of miles uphill, in the rain and fog to get the the top of Mt. Pisgah.  The drive was a little scary.  As the picture shows above, that's as far ahead of us that we could see.

The view from the top of the mountain was pretty awesome!

The boys weren't huge fans of this hike, so it didn't last quite as long as we had planned, but we hiked a couple of miles anyway.

These are a fwe before and after pictures:  We're all a little wetter and colder than prior to the hike, and our kiddos got switched half way through the trek. 

We had lunch in the back of the car.

This is where the boys slept for naps and at night.  I decided to not bring our pack and play and just put them on the extra bed.  They were so cute!  They would always stay pretty close to each other.  We covered the floors around the bed with pillows and thick blankets.  We only had 1 roll off!  Little Judah hit the pillowed floor one night.  He just cried for a few seconds and then went right back to sleep.

Our second hiking day was much better liked by all.  It was still pretty chilly, but the bright sunshine made up for it.  This area that we hiked in were some of the same spots where they filmed the movie HUNGER GAMES.  The whole movie was actually filmed in and around Ashville.  We saw the hotel where the actors stayed and ate at some of the same places they did.

The boys were such good little hikers!  They walked a whole lot more of the trail than I was expecting them to, even uphill in some parts.  They were pretty impressive!

We took a snack break on some rocks near the river. (Don't worry-we found Foxx's missing shoe in this photo!)

At the Early Girl Eatery (delicious, by the way), they had a bucket of toys ready for the boys to play with while we waited for our food!

These are some photos of the foods we ate.  Food is Asheville was pretty awesome.  They had a lot of different types of little restaurants.  Pictured above:  Breakfast from our Bed & Breakfast//Chips & Roasted Tomatillo Salsa//Tofu & Veggie Pom Pom Pom//Tofu Quesadillas//Sweet Potato & Black Bean cakes with Cucumber Salad.

We saw this in downtown Asheville.  Katrina ran behind it with the boys and held them up for a photo.

This was also downtown.  It's a coffee shop inside of this double decker bus!  The coffee making was on the first floor and all the bus seats were made into little tables.  It was awesome!

A lot of people stopped and talked to us, the same that always happens when I take the boys out, but I think that most people thought that Katrina and I were lesbians and the boys were our children.  haha!

We had lots of fun!

Traveling Alone With Twins (After)

You guys.  I DID IT!

ok. so maybe I'm being a little dramatic.  but I just got back from a round trip of flying solo, with two toddlers.  We had just one little incident, and no major hold ups or tantrums.  I'd say that's pretty good.  And I'm glad it's over.  

If you didn't read the "before" post, you can read it here.

The night before our plane ride out, I felt like I was pretty prepared.  I had everything packed, a plan for the airport, security, flight and luggage.  We were leaving plenty early enough to give enough time for long lines and such.  I had plenty of things to keep the boys occupied on the plane instead of crying. 

On the way up there, the Nashville airport was easier to get through, but the flight was tougher.  On the way home, the Detroit airport was the tough part, and the flight was easy.  

So, the morning of:  We woke the boys about 2 hours earlier than they normally wake up.  They were fine.  We loaded up the last of our things and headed to the airport.  Got there and checked our bags no problem.  The lady who checked our bags even allowed Jeremy to go through security with us, even though he wasn't flying.  Yay!  This was a huge help, especially since the security line at Nashville was really long that morning.  We each had a kid and easily maneuvered the stroller and seat through the lines.  It took us a minute to actually get through security though...we had to fold up and put both our car seat and stroller through the xray scanner thing, then I had to take my sling off and put it through since it had a metal ring (totally forgot about that being metal).  But even with all that, it went quickly and we grabbed all our things and headed to the gate.  Since the security line was so long, we didn't have but just a few minutes at the gate before we boarded.  I got to be one of the firsts to board since I was traveling with 2 small children.  One of the flight stewardesses grabbed my carseat and put it in our seat, we all gave Jeremy a kiss and headed out.  

The majority of the flight was fine.  We were in a 3 row seat, with no one occupying the third seat.  This was nice since it gave us a little extra room.  I didn't have to worry about the person next to me getting annoyed or hit or kicked by one of my kids.  The boys did great during take off.  Slept for about 15 minutes during the flight, but then were pretty easily entertained for the remainder.  Foxx loved when the plane would go really fast during take off and landing.  He just laughed and smiled while looking out the window.  So finally landed in Detroit, and all was well. until right when we pull up to the gate, I hear a large blegh!!

I look over to find that Judah (who was sitting in the car seat next to me) had just vomited everywhere.  It was all over him, all over the car seat, all over the floor and on the plane seat.  I quickly grabbed the wipes that I had brought for diaper changes and cleaned up what I could of the giant mess while we were waiting to get off the plane.  The lady sitting behind us offered to help carry out our car seat.  I grabbed both the boys (one in a sling, and just carrying the other one), grabbed our bag, and then handed the car seat to the nice lady (warning her of the vomit, of course).  On our way out, I told one of the stewardesses what had happened and that I cleaned up what I could, but that they probably want to go back over our seats with some disinfectant wipes.  She kinda gave me a dirty look.  Really?!

Got to the luggage claim quickly and saw my parents right away.  We then had an hour and a half ride home, all smelling awful. 

The 15 minutes of flight time (out of both flights) that they slept.

On our way back to Nashville, I was for sure that the boys would sleep the whole way, since we were traveling during their typical nap time.  Well, I was not taking into account the hour and a half car drive that it takes to get from my house in Michigan to the Detroit airport.  I tried my best to keep them awake during the car ride, but that is when they slept, and therefore wouldn't sleep once we got on the plane.  But it was fine.

Checked our bags fine, but this time, there was no offer to allow one of my family members to go through security with me like they did in Nashville.  And I didn't ask.  I guess I could have, I just figured I'd be fine to do it by myself since the line wasn't that long anyway.  I went through security fine, it just took me a minute.  I had to set Foxx down next to me, with Judah still in the sling (hoping that he wouldn't wander too far-which he didn't).  Folded up the stroller and put the car seat and our bag through the scanner, took my sling off, grabbed both boys and walked through the scanner.  Grabbed our things out of the scanner, herded the boys back up-one in the sling, one in the stroller, and then we were off to our gate.

We had quite a bit of time before we boarded, so we got some lunch, and hung out at our gate.  The boys were so good here.  We sat down in a row of chairs and ate.  The boys ran around a little bit, but never wandered too far.  They were happy as could be.  After we finished lunch,  there was a lot of trash that I needed to get rid of before we got on the plane.  The trash can was just a little too far away for me to be comfortable enough to walk over to with out the boys.  So I called them and they followed me across the big walkway,  to the trashcan.  I felt a little like I was herding cattle.  I was really thankful that they were so well behaved there.  There were a lot of people, and they easily could have wandered off while I was changing or distracted with the other one.  There was another kid there with her mom.  She was probably a little older than the boys, about 2 or so.  She just screamed and screamed and kept running away from her mom and wouldn't cooperate at all.  I felt so bad for her.  Here she had one screaming kid that she can barely control, and I had 2 little boys who were being perfect.

When it was time to board, there were no stewardesses there to help me carry on my car seat, so I just took it myself.  This part was hard.  I had Judah in the sling, Foxx in my other arm, and I was carrying our bag on my shoulder and the carseat in my hand.  I'm pretty sure I knocked that car seat on every plane seat that we passed, including a first-class passenger's knee, but we made it.  Unlike the first flight, this one was very uneventful.  The boys were good, and no one threw up.  When getting off the plane, someone offered again to carry our car seat.  We met Jeremy at baggage claim with lots of hugs and kisses.

So it wasn't all that bad.  Multiple people have told me before that when they see me with the twins, a "force" comes out of me when dealing with them.  A force that allows me to do what needs to be done to 2 toddlers at once.  I feel like that "force" was on all the time during our travel.  There were so many people that said, "Wow, you're brave." or "How do you do this?" or "I'm impressed."  I never have answers for these comments...I just do what I have to do to get things done and stay sane!

We had a great trip!

Traveling Alone With Twins (Before)

This was almost exactly a year ago.  Jeremy and I (still fat in this picture) flew to Michigan with our 5 or 6 month old twins.  We had a very smooth travel day.  We checked our bags, wore the kiddos through security, and just had a small carry on bag.  We had no poop blowouts, and no screaming breakdowns.  We had no major turbulence, no flight delays and no ear popping issues.  The boys slept or were content the whole day.  

Tomorrow,  we are flying to Michigan again, but it won't be the 4 of us.  It will only be me and the boys.  Yes, that's right, me + 2 crazy toddlers, with no other help except the (hopefully) nice people who work at the airport or other passengers who offer their assistance if they feel bad enough for me.  

I think I have it pretty well planned out.  But I also know that whenever I make plans, things usually happen the opposite way.  But here's my (tentative) plan anyway...

 Our flight leaves at 630 tomorrow morning.  I put the boys to bed an hour and a half early tonight so that they would get more sleep and be rested for tomorrow.  Waking the boys up at 4.  Feeding, changing, and heading out the door.  Jeremy will help me check my bags.  I'll carry one boy in my sling, and one boy in the double stroller.  The other seat of the double stroller will hold the car seat.  I have a small carry on bag that I can carry on my shoulder.  We'll hopefully get through security pretty easily...last year they did not make us take the babies out of carriers...hoping for the same this time.   Find our gate, grab some food for the littles, and chill till we get on the flight.  I can check in our stroller right before we board, and I'll get to be one of the firsts to board.  Ill carry both boys onto the plane, and find assistance to help carry in the car seat.  We'll get settled with one boy in my lap, and one strapped into his seat.  I have a few new toys packed in our carry on, as well as Despicable Me ready to play on the iPad.  (Have I mentioned how much the boys love the minions?!)  Hopefully I can keep them entertained for the hour and a half flight (or they'll sleep...but that's just wishful thinking.)

I'll let you know how it goes! 

The Best of 2011

2011 has been a crazy and exciting year for us, and as we near the new year, I can't help but think that every year from here on out will be so different and crazier than any of our past years.   We have made so many changes in our lives, including a new house and 2 precious little additions to our family!  Here are a few things from each month this past year that were especially memorable for us:

January:

We found out we were having twins!!  That early ultrasound had both our jaws to the floor.  Tears and laughter filled the room.  Never would either of us had expected that we would get pregnant with twins!  I often think back to my high school or younger self years and try to picture that girl, all grown up, and now with twins.  It completely blows my mind.  

February:

The month that I started this blog.  I wanted to start writing.  To somehow keep track of important events in our life, with words and not just pictures.  I wanted to write also about the emotions of all of it, which aren't always seen through pictures.  I wanted a "journal" so to speak, that others who were interested could share in with our lives.  It's been fun to blog so far, and I see it continuing for as long as my fingers have we have the means and my fingers have the dexterity to do so.  

March:

We bought our first house.  It turned out to be a lot better than we had hoped.  It was a fairly quick and painful process, surprisingly.  I love how we have made this house our home, and how it will turn into the comforting place where our kids will call home one day also.  

April:

As soon as we found out we were having boys at our Gender Reveal Party, we started working on the nursery.  We went with the theme from the book, The Giving Tree.  I painted murals and got tree/apple accents.  I'm very pleased with how it all came out, and love that it wasn't a theme that you could just easily buy stuff for.  It was original, and that made us have to be creative.  

May:

My belly keeps on growing and growing (and this pic is around 24/26 weeks I believe...it got much bigger!).  I never thought my belly would get as big as it did, and every week I would be amazed by how much it grew.  I just kept thinking, "I don't know how I can get much bigger", but it kept happening.  Big belly housed 2 little boys for 9 whole months!  

June:

All my sweet friends threw us a baby shower!  We were given lots and lots of neat and useful gifts for the boys!

July:

The most anticipated day of 2011:  the day our boys arrived!  Although the delivery was entirely disappointing, my boys were completely healthy and I could not have been more excited about their arrival out of my belly and into my arms.

August:

Our boys' first photo shoot at one week old.  A huge thanks goes out to Marissa French of Rylan's Riches Photography for photographing our precious little dudes.  She has also done their 3 month pics, and will also do 6, 9 and 12 month photo shoots!

September:

We took our boys on their firsts outdoor adventures, to both Percy Warner Park and Radnor Lake.  They very much enjoyed the gorgeous Tennessee fall weather, as did we, while toting them around in our carriers.

October:

The boys' first halloween!  They went as Thing 1 and Thing 2.

November:

We had some more photos done...the boys' 3 month pics and also some family photos!  3 month photos done by Rylan's Riches Photography, and family photos done by my talented friend, Lane.  This month was also the boys' first trip to Michigan, and first plane ride, which they did awesome with.

December:

The boys had their 1st Christmas, and we sent out our 1st Christmas card!  The boys had no idea that it was even Christmas, but we had fun with them, dressing them in little elf outfits, opening presents to each other and then taking them for a cold tour of Nashville's ICE! exhibit.  1st Christmas success for sure.  Man o' man do I feel old now, sending out Christmas cards and all!  

This year has been beyond amazing, and we are so unbelievably blessed to have these magical little boys in our lives.  Here's to many more great years full of bliss and excitement ahead.

Peace & Love to you in the new year!

Thanks² Day 09 & 10

#9-I'm thankful that our boys did awesome traveling through the airport, on the plane and in the car on our trip up to Michigan! 

They boys did absolutely amazing and gave us no trouble at all!  

#10-  I'm thankful for little moments like this in life.  Foxx taking a bath in a bucket.

*pictures to show the girlfriend when he's older!