vermont trip 2012

elenora and i traveled up to vt to spend some time with a. and family before the twins arrive. the 2 girls were off and running as soon as we got there.  amazing how they can go 8 months without seeing each other and then pick right up as the best of friends.  my coworker said that they are "soul mates passed from generation to generation."  i couldn't have put it into words any better than that.

two little monkeys jumping on the bed...

we tried to let the girls sleep in the same room in naomi's big bed (ella's first sleepover with a friend), but after 40 minutes of shenanigans i was That Mom and separated them.  guess who was up by 5:04 am?  oh, yes, that would be my early bird.

i really got to know little Faith this trip, which was wonderful.

the girls switched dresses for the baby shower, which was their idea, and then they both had pig-tails and matching barrettes and pink sweaters.  

these kids have quite the personalities!

twins?!?  where???!  here is a. at 32 weeks pregnant with identical baby boys!

at the shower i said "ella, would you like to try some punch?" and she said "what is punch?" and i said, "just you wait!" and dished her up a small cup.  she carefully took a sip and then she made the most hilarious face, which i wished i'd caught on camera.  kind of puckered up her mouth and looked shocked and said "woah! that's tart!"  she liked my reaction so much that she tried to replicate it for me:

while a. was opening her gifts, naomi was up helping her mommy, so ella was up helping naomi.  at one point i looked and this is what i saw behind the table:

a. has 2 dogs (and 7 chickens, and almost 6 kids), and these 2 dogs are the sweetest we have met.  elenora just fell in love with little mae.

we couldn't make the trip without going to sugar and spice for a delicious breakfast complete with pumpkin pancakes and maple syrup.  we met up with c. and r. and got to spend time with little Kristin, who is adorable.

on our way home we stopped at the cabot cheese tasting site to sample the goods.  

today as elenora and i were driving home from school, she must have been reflecting on her visit. she told me that she and naomi and noah and luke were "quite a commotion."