July 20-25, 2017
We left early in the morning for our flight from PDX. We connected through Minneapolis, no problems, no delays (thank goodness.) It was pretty easy! Mara did great, as long as she had movies to watch and snacks to eat. She's a really amazing traveler, a theme which will reappear many times throughout the next few posts.
This was on our second flight from MSP to BDL.
We arrived relatively on-time at Bradley, despite having to hold for a while over the airport to avoid a thunderstorm. Better to be late than dead! We had a small snafu with the rental car and almost had to try to cram 2 adults (one pregnant), a toddler, a carseat, a stroller and three suitcases into a VW bug, but ultimately we ended up with a 4-door Ford Focus hatchback that worked like a charm.
Mara and Corky at BDL.
After we got our rental car, I plugged the address for my cousin's house into our GPS and off we went. Upon our arrival, Mara immediately got down to business playing with her cousin Brady. They were soon snuggled up together on the giant recliner, munching on popcorn and watching Book of Life. Adorable!
Brady was so sweet and Mara absolutely adores her. She still talks about her often and wants to go to Brady's house and play with her. Brady read Mara bedtime stories at night. It was the sweetest thing!
We took the girls to the Hartford Children's Museum one day. They had been playing dress-up at home and they wanted to wear their costumes to the museum. So we packed up Elena of Avalor and Cinderella and took them to the Children's Museum where they had a blast playing hard. First, we posed for pictures on the dinosaurs out front.
Then the girls got to pet a tortoise:
After a visit through the butterfly garden, everyone was a little tired. Corky makes a great resting spot! Two happy girls and one happy Corky.
For dinner that night, we decided keeping the girls entertained was a good idea. So we all went to Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale where they have a giant carousel. The girls enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches and ice cream and many, MANY rides around on the carousel. The adults enjoyed seafood (except for me, because I hate seafood! Lol) and conversation.
My cousin Bekah and I sent the girls home with their dads and we stayed out and hung out for a while. We needed to go to the grocery store and get stuff for the birthday get-together the following day, and we took our sweet time. I love my cousin like a sister and I don't get to hang out with her one-on-one very often, especially now that we both have families, so it was nice to just spend some down time with her and just talk.
sister-cousins for life!
The next day was Saturday and unfortunately I don't have any pictures from this, but there was a party at Bekah's house for her birthday (which was Sunday). People came over, there was a BBQ and it was a blast. People brought their kids and they had a water balloon fight and played in the sprinkler. Mara went to bed happy and exhausted. Nobody throws a party like Bekah! ;)
The next day, the 23rd, was Bex's actual birthday. We took the girls to the mall for some shopping and then went home and had a "lobster-fest." I couldn't watch the part where they steamed the lobsters live but after that it was awesome. I even tried some lobster dipped in butter and liked it!
Mara and Papa having lunch at the mall.
Cousins! Look at how Mara looks at Brady with
utter adoration! She loves her so.
We finished out the night getting ice cream. Best. Day. EVER!
In line for ice cream!
Our last full day in CT was July 24, my 30th birthday. Bekah took me out for a mani/pedi and lunch, and then we went with everyone to visit our grandparents' gravestone in Moodus, CT.
Mara didn't understand the pebble concept and kept trying to
"clean off" the headstone. She meant well!
After the cemetery, we went to a hibachi grill for dinner. The girls entertained themselves playing underneath the table in the tea room. So funny! The food was great and the girls were relatively well-behaved (it had been a long day!) Loved it.
The only not-so-fun thing that happened was that Corky misplaced the car key for the rental car. We searched high and low, tore Bekah and Art's house apart and never found it. So late on the evening of my birthday, Corky had to get a tow truck to come and tow the rental car back to the agency, rent a new one, and come back. He got back at about 1:00am, which made for a very long day for him the next day. But at least we made it.
Next post... Amsterdam! Stay tuned!
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