Blessings and Raindrops: remember these moments...

i spent today packing up all of the clothes and toys and books and sippy cups and toothbrushes and blankets that have settled into my parent's house over the past thirty-one days. i still can't believe it's almost time to go back home. we have created our little routines and have kept so busy that the time has really flown by. in some ways, time went very slowly and i ached for home and for dave and for our lives to get back to normal. in other ways, i wished that time would stop and we would be able to stay here and soak in the moments and memories we were creating with loved ones for just a little while longer.

it has been so very hard to be apart from dave for the past few weeks. for me and for the boys. we all miss him like crazy. yet, as thrilled as i am to get back home, i'm equally heartbroken to leave my mom and my dad and my sisters and my nephews and my grandmas and my aunts and my cousins. my heart feels so torn and there's always a part of me that wishes I could be in two places at once. particularly after a long visit.

the crazy long drive ahead of us tomorrow is not making this whole leaving gig any easier. we'll head out after my parents finish up work for the day and we may or may not drive overnight depending on how we all feel. my mom and dad are squeezing in the car with the boys and i and all of our stuff. and, let me be clear, we have a lot of stuff. we've accumulated way too much during our time here. we have Christmas presents galore .... including gifts for our S. i really have no idea how we are all going to fit into my car. i'm sort of dreading the drive...smashed into a tight space for 18+ hours is not exactly my idea of fun. but, we'll make the most of it just like we did when i was a kid and the six of us would road trip across the country squeezed into the family minivan. on a side note, did anyone else's parents make "pallets" on the floor for sleeping during road trips? there were no car seats or portable tv's back then. we fought it out for the prime spot on the floor and entertained ourselves with the "ABC sign game" during our awake hours. oh, how things have changed. :)

there is so much to catch up on here...i still have a lot to share about my weekend at created for care and my time in atlanta and how the boys spent the weekend {they had such a fun weekend being spoiled!}. and, i want to share about the past few days since i returned. they have been just sweet, slow days of enjoying time together and catching up with old friends and spending the last moments before we leave with family.

before i can do share any of that, i just had to share some of my favorite highlights from last week. i had hoped to post all of these photos before i left for atlanta but i just didn't get a chance.

these memories make me smile. big time.

1. a picnic at the park. give my boys a swing and snacks and they are happy campers.

guess who bought these shirts. hint: she taught them to tell anyone who asks {which she prompts everyone to do, of course} that the shirts say, "i love my aunt lori." :)

truly. these boys love to snack. and they love to swing. they could alternate between snacking and swinging for an entire day and be perfectly content.

bella wanted in on the snacking. :)

we had such a fun afternoon with the boys' cousins, noah & landon.

i had mentioned that i used to put ben & nate in the same swing when they were babies because they just loved being close and it was the easiest way to push the two of them together without either one flopping around. someone {i'm not naming names here} thought it would be fun for landon & noah to try it out. landon did not agree. he did not consider it "fun." noah, as always, was a laid-back good sport. this didn't last long but it was entertaining.

2. shared meals and laughter with treasured friends that i've known my entire life. lunches and dinners shared together reminiscing and catching up with girls that i have known, well, forever.

the boys and debbie's adorable daughter. yes, they're in a pink wagon. yes, nathan is on a pink phone. BUT, they did insist on bringing along the firetruck for the ride to the park.

i may have promised elise that i wouldn't post this on FB. and, i didn't. this blog doesn't count, right? i had to include this photo of my favorite girl's night in orlando. what can i say? i just LOVE this girl. she made me this ridiculously delicious dinner and spoiled me with yummy food, wine and fun conversation. it felt like we were college roomies again laughing late into the night on the floor in good ole' room 12.

i can't believe that carrie and i were in the same brownie troop as kiddos. amazing to look back on all we've been through together. this was such a fun night with my girls.

3. i broke down. we went to disney.

my mom's sweet, sweet friend was able to get us in for free. how could i pass that up? we weren't able to go to the magic kingdom with the pass but we had such a blast at Epcot and ~~MGM~~ {it will always be MGM to me...i grew up going there every week to sit in the audience of the mickey mouse club. my sister and i were slightly obsessed...another story for another time} a-hem, Hollywood Studios.

the boys absolutely LOVED the characters. they were in complete awe. mickey and minnie and goofy and pluto and donald and daisy had jumped off the tv screen and were right there in front of them. it was just too much. such joy.

and, the funniest thing happened. as we walked around this magical place, i was reminded of how many wonderful memories i had spent walking these very sidewalks as a child. i was so fortunate to have spent a lot of time at the parks growing up and this day with the boys reminded me of how much fun it is to be a carefree kiddo in a land of make-believe.

we did experience a couple of the obligatory exhaustion-and-over-stimulation-induced tantrums. luckily, they were overshadowed by sheer fun and delight.

i love traveling the world in a day at Epcot.
chances are, this is the only time i'll be in front of a roman fountain with my boys and my favorite nephews.
never say never.
but, still. thought i'd capture a photo just in case.