We're back! We returned last night from a fabulous trip to NY with young Spencer to introduce him to (among others) his Great Grandma Evelyn. From LaGuardia, we went directly to her place so she could finally hold her great grandson in her arms. The timing of our visit that day could not have been more perfect: a "happy hour" at her independent living facility was just breaking up, and everyone had to file by us in the main lobby as they made their way to dinner. Everyone flocked around to see the baby, and grandma was just as proud as could be! After eating dinner there with her (in order to allow her to show off the baby to as many folks as possible) we walked up to our guest suite so that grandma could enjoy watching Spencer get his evening bath. But the emotional excitement of the day caught up with her, and she headed off to bed. Friday morning we woke up and walked down to her place for breakfast - she was still on cloud nine to be able to spend so much time with Spencer. My aunt (grandma's other daughter) drove down from Vermont with my uncle for a visit. A four hour drive each way just to spend two hours visiting with the baby! On Saturday some of my cousins from Philadelphia drove up for a day trip - nearly a three hour car trip each way for them, with two-year old Ellie! By this point, we were staying at mom's house, and getting ready for Spencer's big party on Sunday. What an event! In honor of our little Texan making the journey, everything was decorated with a cowboy theme and we served Tex-Mex. About 25 people stopped by, and we could not have asked for better weather - it was a spectacular spring day in New York. On Monday we caught up with pop for dinner, and I don't think he stopped smiling the entire time we were with him. Then suddenly it was Tuesday and time to fly home. Here are the pictures from our trip to NY. We had so much to cram in during this visit that Jim and I had to split up for a day and a half in order to accomplish everything. He and Karl flew Karl's plane to Pittsburgh to visit his grandpa and take him up for a spin.

I don't know if they read the blog or not, but I have to say a super special THANK YOU to mom's friend Harriet and her daughter Penny for loaning so much of the baby gear that was required to make the trip possible. Without use of their infant car seat, swing, bouncy seats, exersaucer, pack 'n play, boppy, bath cushion, sheets, towels, etc., I don't know how we would have managed without their help. Penny's son Jake turned one the day Spencer was born, so we were fortunate to have so many toys available. Plus, a huge thanks to mom for making multiple trips to pick up all of their stuff, plus ensuring we had plenty of diapers, wipes, batteries, hand sanitizer, laundry soap, etc., and making an early morning trip to the police station to have the car seat properly installed.

Spencer was an excellent traveller on the ride up, and good on the ride back. Part of that was our fault for leaving too late in the day yesterday. We kept his schedule intact while in NY (adjusting one hour so that he was still operating on Central time) and so far seems to be doing well back at home. When picking him up from school, Ms. Karen did confirm that they can tell when babies have just come back from vacation. After spending six days with his mommy & daddy, not to mention grandparents and other relatives and friends that wanted to hold him all the time, Spencer didn't want to be put down much today! This morning, little Alane was just too excited that Spencer had returned, and she knocked down big ol' Alessandria to get to see him!