Connecticut sweetness

I am so very relaxed laying on the chaise lounge in the living room of our two bedroom suite this morning. We left Danbury, Connecticut yesterday at about noon after a restful morning of food and swimming. We headed out to West Hartford to spend more time with Uncle Mike and Aunt Nuala. It was such a great day. Jeremy headed out in search of a haircut and found some other things for himself (a pre-birthday spree, since today is his birthday). We just sat around and we talked and the girls played. Mila convinced Nuala to let her do her hair and it is hard to stop that ball once it is rolling, so Nuala had a full days worth of "pampering" or head scraping as I call it. Nuala decided that she wanted to take the girls on a spree at Toys r Us which is such a treat for them. They are never set loose in a store like that. Nuala and Mike spoiled me when I was a child and my girls having a chance to be spoiled by them is like my mom's role being fulfilled. I am sure she was looking down on us with her radiant smile. It warmed my soul really, almost like was on a spree of my own. Mike dropped us off and the girls ran around the store looking at all the different options. Mila wanted a bike, a huge doll house...anything that wouldn't fit in the car! They just dragged Nuala or "Noni" as they kids call her all around that store and settled on a few things each. What fun! We went back to the house and the girls played with their new things and were just giddy. They truly love spending time with their family, old and young, which I think is so wonderful. Jeremy and I did some trip planning back at the house. My cousins Debbie and Chris gave us some great ideas from the trip across country that they took with their girls, so we were looking into some of those ideas. Geraldine and Jen returned from their spree at the local mall. Geraldine was buying some clothes to bring home to Ireland to her family since clothes are so expensive in Ireland. Geraldine is such a love. It was so nice to spend time with her the last few days. Her family showed me around when I was in Ireland at the age of 21, they are so much fun! It has been an extra bonus that she was  visiting the US while we are here. We all went to dinner at an Oyster Bar and had a wonderful time. The girls were so good!! They convinced Nuala and Mike that they could spend the night at their house instead of the hotel and also convinced Geraldine that she could  (haha) take them to see Monsters University today while Jeremy and I go to Mark Twain's house. It was so cute how excited they were for a sleep over. I must admit it was also nice to come back and talk with my dad and Jeremy and just have a relaxing evening. I didn't sleep well, though. I woke up at 4am and just tossed and turned until 7. Maybe a delayed reaction to the time change stuff? I don't know, but I can't stand that. Regardless, this morning is lovely. The boys are still sleeping and I am just soaking up the solo time. Today will be another great day. Celebrating J's birthday, my good friend Allison is coming to visit with us from Mass. and I haven't seen her in so long!  More time with family and a celebratory bbq. It will be so hard to leave them all tonight, I wish we could see them all the time. Tomorrow we head into the city. I just found out that my good friend Lauren will be playing a show tomorrow night, which is one of the things I was hoping for while we are in NYC! I am so excited to be in my favorite city and to see some of my lovely friends there. Super bummed that Kimmy Hall will be in Alaska while I am in New York, I was so looking forward to seeing her. For now, I will just enjoy this day and take it all in and try to forget about the goodbyes until later. So much bittersweet, but overall sweet....xoxo