Down the shore, I go...

Tomorrow I am off the the Jersey shore to hang with some girlfriends. We are friends from all over, brought together by a common bond, having twins. We've made this an annual trip and this is our fifth year. It's something that I look forward to each October. I'll have lots to report when I get back (as well as some secrets!).

Tonight was hard. As the girls get older, it's actually been harder and harder for me to leave. Not to actually leave. I'm still getting on the plane tomorrow morning, but emotionally hard. I think, because, they are so articulate in telling you how much they'll miss you and love you and crying and on and on and on...

I had to spend about an extra 45 minutes with them tonight at bedtime because they just kept telling me over and over about how much they'll miss me. I think we got it worked out though. They just got tired and fell asleep! No, seriously, lots of talking. I told them they can call me when they want to talk to me and that Dad had all sorts of fun things planned (I hope so!). No, they are going to visit his parents and that's always fun! They don't get to see them that often. I told them that it was okay to miss me and that I'd miss them, but we'd all have fun. I told them that when they were missing me, then they should give their sister a hug and kiss. I told them that I was bringing their pictures with me so that I could look at them when I was missing them. We had LOTS of talking. Now they are sleeping, which is where I should be seeing as I have to get up in four hours.

I'll leave you with a couple pics of my lovely girls from the past couple weeks. Lindsey is so proud of her "apple face" and Sydney was having a great time at the orchard!





Goodnight!

Where I have been?

Or maybe I should ask, where do I need to go?



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Very cool map! Gives me a great visual on where I've traveled. It's nice to see at a glance that I've actually gotten around quite a bit. I love traveling; would do it professionally if I could.

Soon, I'll be able to add two more states to my list, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I'll be heading to Cape May, NJ for our annual twin mom get together. I'm very excited!

It's always fun to see friends, but these friends are very special. We have been together for 5+ years now. We've been there from the beginning, supporting one another from afar, some through infertility trials, pregnancies, difficult births, the early months of having twins, miscarriages and losses, deaths of family members, divorces, and everything in between. We're there for each other for big events going on in our lives and we're there for the little things, like when our kids are just on our very last nerve for the day! (Hmmm...maybe that's not so little...but you get my drift.)

I care about these women and I know they care about me and about each other. It's not about who posts a lot or who doesn't so much, but KNOWING that if I did have something important on my mind or something tragic happen in my life, I would just have to tell them and they would be there for me, to give great advice or to surround me with love and support that I would desperately need.

I feel know that we will be friends forever; at least I hope so. We are tied together, brought together because of having twins, but staying together because we care.

Roadtripping...to Michigan!

We left Minnesota on Sat. 7/7, headed to the cities to pick up my friend, Sue and her kids, then we were off. We only drove half way that day. We stopped in a little town, Merrill, WI to have lunch and bopped around town, looking in shops, and antiquing for about 1.5 hours. Then back on the road to Eagle River, WI, where it was Watermelon Days. We hung in town there for the afternoon, shopping, antiquing, and then headed to Brian's brothers house where we were staying the night.

It was a HOT weekend if you remember and we got there and left right away again to the lake. The kids swam with Uncle Jim and us girls chatted. Then it was back to their house for a cook out, hot dogs and brats, and to watch all the deer. WAY cool. You have to check out those pictures. They feed them regularly and they come right in while you sit out there. We saw bucks, does, and fawns, twins even! The kids thought it was pretty cool.



The next day we headed out for our drive through the UP and across the Mackinac Bridge. We enjoyed the drive, stopping here and there. One place we stopped was at one of the National Forest areas where we had access to Lake Michigan. It was our first view and we decided it was a good place to stretch our legs.




We stayed about an hour south in Boyne Falls at Boyne Mountain Resort where our timeshare is located. We went and got a few groceries and then I got the girls to bed, while Sue & the kids took a dip in the pool.

The next day we headed up to the pool in the morning for a swim. We spent a couple hours there and then back to the unit for lunch. Claudia and her kids arrived that afternoon and we had units together. They were in a one bedroom and we were in a two bedroom, all with full kitchen/living areas. It was nice because originally we weren't supposed to be together, but the resort worked it out. We went up to Petoskey to wander around, window shopped, ate ice cream, and then drove to a neighboring town, Bay Harbor, I think, where we looked for Petoskey stones and we found a bunch of them. The kids were having a ball. Then it was back to the resort and off to the pool!

Claudia's girls were quiet at first, Antonia too, but it didn't take long for Antonia to become friends with Madison & Bailey. By the end of the week, they were exchanging email addresses! Carla & Selina are quite quiet too, but on the first night, they came over and saw L & S playing their Leapsters, so they ran back to get theirs and there was a whole lotta sharing of games going on! After we got the girls to bed, Claudia, Sue and I stayed up for a late night of chatting and drinking wine! It was a lot of fun!

The next day we spent at Deer Lake which is right on property. The kids swam and played in the sand. We went out for a paddle boat ride, just relaxed. Then back to our unit for lunch and later in the afternoon/evening, up to the pool again.


Wednesday, we spent the day on Mackinac Island. We were up and gone to catch the 11 a.m. ferry. Windy and rough waves, 4-6'. No sitting on top! It turned out to be a beautiful day though. Claudia and I and the four younger girls took a carriage ride/tour all over the island, while Antonia went with Sue and her kids on an hour & a half horse back ride. As part of our carriage tour, we visited the Wings of Mackinac, a Butterfly Conservatory. It was beautiful, all the butterflies and soft music. The girls saw one butterfly and exclaimed, "LOOK! A Blue Morpho butterfly, mom!"



Afterwards, we met for shopping, fudge and the like. We all sat up top on the ferry on the way back, but several were in the "get very wet" seats, like Claudia and family and Bailey and Madison. The waves must not have been too bad and I wish someone would've gotten a picture, but Lindsey and Sydney fell asleep in mine and Sue's arms. They were OUT COLD! We carried them to the car after we got off the ferry and I did get pics then.

We went out to dinner that evening and played in the park at another neighboring town and then it was back to pack and such. The kids were tired and sad to be leaving and for the last two weeks, all I hear are questions about Carla & Selina and when can we go to their house.



Sue & I decided to drive straight through on the way home. It ended up taking about 12.5 hours. We drove through a LOT of rain and storms and many more stops with tired kids. You can tell we were heading home because we let the kids watch several movies on the way home and eat gobs of crappy snacks; on the way there, nada...healthy snacks and no movies. LOL!

Oh, and I almost forgot! We had some fresh Pasty's too! YUM YUM!

If you'd like to view ALL our vacation photos, please check out our Michigan 2007 Set over at Flickr.

So, how about your summer vacation? Tell me about it! Where did you go? Where are you going? I love hearing about travels!

Tackling Twins Trip 2006

I just returned from a long weekend trip to Phoenix, AZ. This is the fourth year that my online twin mom board has gathered for a "reunion" of sorts. It has certainly evolved from the first year that 18 of us descended upon Las Vegas. That was a fabulous trip, busy, hectic, hard to talk, but still a great experience for me, considering that I had joined the board at the beginning of the trip plans and really didn't "know" anyone. But, I'm an adventurer, so I figured, what the heck! It'll be a great way to "get to know" people!

Since then, we have met in Myrtle Beach, SC, Galveston, TX, and now this year in Phoenix, AZ. I've thoroughly enjoyed every moment of planning this trip each year. I really have fun with it, and no, it doesn't seem like work to me. I have fun imagining how this trip is going to evolve even more as we age, as our kid's get older, into school, and even out of school!

This year, unfortunately, I started coming down with a cold two days before the trip. I was so bummed and I really tried to head it off at the pass, but no luck and I was terribly sick the entire weekend. I seriously even thought about going home on Friday. I know I had a fever that morning. I was in a room with eight others and would find myself coughing as soon as I'd lay down, so I'd head downstairs each night to sleep on the couch. Not a lot of sleep going on! But I stuck it out, stayed up late (no drinks on my part though) and enjoyed myself, even though I was even quieter than normal. LOL!

We had 11 out of 22 newbies this year! I hope that the trip was all that they expected it to be. Of the 22, there were six (including myself) that have made all four trips. We rented a house the past two years and it's worked out better than I hoped it would. I can't wait for next year!

I love these women; those who have come on the trip and those who haven't; those who are a big part of the board and those who aren't around as much, if at all anymore. I love sharing about my girls with them and I love being part of their lives, their families. If they aren't around, I miss them. I wonder how they are doing, how big their kids are; will they ever come back?

With that, here's a tribute to our previous trips...

Phoenix 2006


Galveston 2005


Myrtle Beach 2004


Las Vegas 2003