40 years and Counting

We had a great weekend down in NY this past weekend as we helped GG and Grandpa celebrate their 40th anniversary.  We arrived in time on Friday night for a delicious Shabbat dinner with GG, Grandpa, Ellie and Donny.  Finley ate a tiny amount of potatoes, a bunch of challah, and then played with the Fisher-Price garage Grandpa had found up in the attic.  He dragged in into the dining room and entertained himself while we finished eating.  Seeing the garage was a trip down memory lane for all of us!

The next morning, we headed off to temple to see GG and Grandpa say an aliyah and both kids were great! Dagny chilled in her carseat and even slept a little while Finley happily stood up, sat down, and snacked quietly.  Everyone commented to us how well behaved they were and frankly, we were impressed just the same! Then, we all headed home so both kids could have lunch and then nap.  Anytime they both sleep at the same time is pure heaven and we got two hours of dual sleep that day.

By six o'clock, the house was full of family and friends.  Cousins Julie, Matt, Maggie and Harrison came over along with Uncle Carl who kindly drove my sister and her boyfriend, Ben, out from the city.  Caitlin had generously agreed to babysit all the kids while the "grown ups" went out to a special anniversary dinner.  Ben was a good sport to come and even brought his guitar along with him, a sure way into Finley's heart!  They all had pizza and Finley couldn't wait any longer, so he asked Caitlin and Ben to get the guitar and start jamming. Caitlin played a few chords before letting Ben take over.

Finley was thrilled to say the least. 

 I put Dagny down to bed and when I came down Finley was in search of an instrument to join "the band" and thankfully, we had his harmonica in our bag since he had taken to show and tell that morning at school.  Now they could rock!

 I had to work hard to get Finley's attention to say goodnight and goodbye, which was a pleasure compared to what I had prepared myself for.  According to Caitlin, all went smoothly putting Finley to bed and he even let Ben read him a couple of books!  He didn't fall asleep right away and asked when we were coming home, but with a little Aunt Caitlin reassurance, he drifted off successfully.  Meanwhile, our dinner out was DELICIOUS and amazingly filling.  Some nice toasts were given to the happy couple and Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed being out in the world together after 8pm :)

Maggie and Harrison gave Finley an excellent gift, a duplo fire station, that he played with all Sunday morning.

Dagny enjoyed breakfast (like she enjoys EVERY meal these days).

 Then, we headed off to the Westchester Toy and Train show.  Finley loved seeing all the model trains and was very careful to look but not touch all the neat, antique items.  We saw some great stuff and met some interesting characters who were buying and selling all the stuff.

Despite being in a convention center (where Dan's high school graduation took place!) full of toys, trucks, and trains--we managed to only spend $1.75 as Finley chose a little toy Delta airplane and a matching Delta food delivery truck.  What a frugal dude who enjoyed reminiscing about when we took a Delta plane home from Florida in the fall.

We spent some time with GG and Granddad and had lunch before piling back into the car.  A lovely weekend had by all!