Connecticut Bridal Shower and.... Snow???

Brock and I took the nonstop to JFK from Seattle and oh my goodness what a difference flying is now! He can entertain himself with the tablet - watch a show or play a game, read books or color pictures! I was actually able to flip through an entire magazine while he watched part of his show! How nice!

My lovely cousin Katherin picked us up and brought us back to her home in White Plains so we could visit with her family a bit before making the big trip to Fairfield the following day. So nice to visit with her girls and watch Brock play with his big cousins!

Back in Fairfield we made plans to visit Stew Leonard's Friday morning because another storm was expected to arrive around noon with another 3 to 5 inches of snow! Going to Stew Leonard's was a favorite activity for me growing up (Brent - perhaps this was the start of my love for grocery stores??).

This place is an experience. Shoppers must follow a particular path (similar to Ikea where you have to visit all parts of the store), but it is fun - random kiosks to taste food, singing animatronic fruits and veggies or milk cartons, and a person dressed up as a cow walking around to say hello to the kiddies. You can also stop at certain places and see how things are made - the bakery, filling of milk cartons, handmade mozzarella, etc. In the summer, children can visit the petting zoo right outside the grocery store.

After lunch at Duchess and a nice nap (for Brock), we got ready to head outside to play in the fresh snow!!

Brock was a little skeptical at first, but quickly loved it!! Yes, those are plastic bags on his feet - we did not pack for this kind of weather!!

Brock had fun watching Mia play in the snow, then throwing a baseball or just watching it roll.

He had so much fun, even on Sunday after most of it melted, we went back out and played in it again! He loved stomping his feet to get the snow off after stepping in the white stuff!

Finally, it was the day we had all waited for!! The day of Nancy's first Bridal Shower!

It was so nice to get together with so many family members - and some of Nancy's family too that live in nearby CT towns!

And so much food!! We like to eat - we especially love cake. :)

So nice for us all to get together - wonderful to have Katherin so close again - we had to take a picture with the three girl cousins! And the Michon ladies!!

Finally a picture with Brock and a little cousin - Charlie Hanna (19 months).

Last note, I want to say a special thank you to a few people. First, my fabulous aunt and godmother, Aunt Marsha, who opened her home to us all not only on the day of the shower, but for the entire weekend and worked so hard making sure everything was organized and ready for the big day - even waking up extra early to get the turkey in the oven and on time! Aunt Marsha, we know you're not feeling your best, but you outdid yourself once again. Aunt Beverly made some wonderfully delicious dishes as well and helped make sure everyone felt welcome in the home. Uncle Mike and Christine worked behind the scenes picking up all the ingredients needed for such an event!! We truly appreciate all the hard work everyone did to make my future sister-in-law's bridal shower a success. Thank you!

Museum of Flight Free Night!

The first Thursday of every month the Museum of Flight has a free evening from 5pm - 9pm. (Otherwise the admission is $20 per adult!!) I figured since the lady I babysit for just recently had her third baby and doesn't need me to babysit this week, what better time to check out this very popular and highly recommended museum! We met Brent for an early dinner after work and then headed down to the museum.

The museum was amazing. So many airplanes! I realized very quickly that bringing a toddler to a museum is not the same experience I'm familiar with - no time to read the information about each display!

McDonnell F-4C Phantom II

I think Brent enjoyed the museum. The first section we entered had the history of aviation - all different planes ranging from the early Wright Brothers, mail carrier planes, bomber planes from the World Wars, up to modern day passenger planes. The museum also housed the fastest airplane in the world, technically the prototype for the fastest (fastest = SR-71); as only two were built and this is the sole surviving plane, the M-21 Blackbird.

Brock loved it too - he got to sit in a few airplane cockpits and run all around pointing at the big airplanes. He named all the colors and pointed out the two helicopters.

After exploring the Great Gallery, we crossed to the other side to explore the WWI and WWII planes. This was a pretty cool section because of all the history behind each of these planes. Brent spotted a P-38L Lightning that impressed him - he said he's never seen one before.

Brock liked this area because they had an entire wall section devoted to small airplane models.

Unfortunately we only made it to 7:30 until Brock decided he had enough - yet another day where "no nap Brock". (Due to transition of big boy bed) So..... we ended our visit a little short. That's okay, perhaps we'll be back next month - starting in April through October the free museum night will also include the Airpark - the outdoor section of the museum that showcases a Concorde, "Air Force One" from 1959, and a brand new Boeing 787!!