Gardner, Mass

Gardner, Mass... home of the massive chair.

Shawn, Shannon, Colleen, Lynn and Aunt Erna

We had an extra bonus going to MA in March, we got to meet my Mom's older sister's family. Technically I have met them before, when I was about Kiley's age. So really we were meeting again for the second time. I got to meet three of my first cousins, which was really cool. We all came to the conclusion that we just live too far away from one another.

Kalin, Mitchell, Meghan, Dakota, Kiley and Damica

We drove to Gardner, MA, which is about 40 minutes outside of Boston to visit for about a day and a half. Jon and I got such a kick out of hearing their accents- they were wicked awesome. We had a great time touring Gardner, visiting and just relaxing. Kiley and Kalin got to meet the second generation of east coast cousins and loved being the centers of attention.

Erna and Rich treated us like royalty which included fresh lobster for lunch.

We found this area in Gardner, right across from where my aunt lives.We thought it was pretty cool to find a "Kiley's Way" spelled the same way in Gardner!

Bottom line- we want to go back again!

Visiting Grandma

So the whole purpose of our Boston trip was to see my Grandma, who I hadn't seen in about 6 years, since she lived in Chicago. Kiley and Kalin had never met her, and since she was turning 90 I thought it was a perfect time for the Clouse girls to meet their Great-Grandma.

I think we wore grandma out a bit with the crazy energy from the five year old and almost 2 year old. It was worth it, we enjoyed every minute of her. I must have sounded like a broken record telling the girls to "use an inside voice" and "remember your manners" and "no running!" ack, I wasn't sure how the other elderly people at Grandma's retirement home would respond to all their energy!

Grandma said now that she knows Kiley and Kalin she just wants to spend more time with them and wished we lived closer. Oh, me too.

We were so lucky to have the opportunity to stay with my cousin Lisa and her family. Kiley enjoyed meeting and playing with Katie and Nicholas, Kalin liked "Weeeba" aka Reba the family dog. Jon and I couldn't get over how hospitable and just plain awesome Lisa and Jeannie were, we both enjoyed getting to know them and spending time with them too. Our only wish with the whole trip was that we wished we lived closer so we could visit more often! I made sure to tell Lisa at least a dozen times that a visit to Alaska is a must for the family!

Bahston Baby- The Beginning

We made it to the east coast and back again! Phew, lots of hours traveling (round trip about 18 air hours!) but it was so worth it. We decided in October that we would make the trip to Boston to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday. A great opportunity to see her and for her to finally meet Kiley and Kalin. I am so glad we went, it was an amazing trip.

The Clouses did as much as humanly possible with an almost two year old and a five year old in Boston. They were amazing in the airplane and in the car. I was really worried that Kalin would not do so well traveling in the car, and afraid of her screams in the airplane, but she did amazingly well. Kiley is now a seasoned traveller as a five year old- the DS comes out or the DVD player and she is as good as gold.

I am going to break this up a bit and do a few different posts to share all the pictures we took.
First stop, Boston's Children's Museum in the Torrential Rain. More about that later.....