Saturday, December 10, 2016

A Week with the Cady Bunch

The past few weeks we've been so busy that I still haven't had a chance to catch my breath!  But, before too much time passed, I wanted to recount our Thanksgiving week with Eliot's sisters!!!  We were so excited to have Sara come out to join Eliot, Elissa and me in Maine for the week!  Here's a recap of a week with the Cady Bunch:


Saturday November 19th
Sara arrived in Portland later in the day on Saturday November 19th.  Eliot and I picked Elissa up from UNE before heading to the airport to get her.  After the group was complete, we went to the mall since we were hungry and we figured we'd all find something we'd like at the food court.  Of course, we got distracted by Hot Topic... what else is new.  I bought the Moana bow that I was looking for, then we went to eat.


Instead of taking Elissa back to school, we decided to go to the UNE hockey game (as planned), and then pick up her stuff from her dorm room so she could spend the night with us at our house.  Then, we all piled in the car and went to our house.

Sunday November 20th
The next day was my 32nd birthday.  I won't go into too many details since I've already recapped our day here.  I did have a wonderful birthday and I'm so happy to have been able to celebrate with these ladies for the first time!


Monday November 21st
On Monday, Eliot and I had to go to work.  The girls hung out at our house to study and do their homework.  After work, we all hung out and watched Hart of Dixie on Netflix.

Tuesday November 22nd
Tuesday Eliot took the girls into school first thing in the morning, while I headed to work.  After I was done, I went to run a few errands (craft store and Chipotle!) before Eliot called me and asked me to pick them up from school.  I got the girls and we returned home to watch more Hart of Dixie while waiting for Eliot to return.


Wednesday November 23rd
On Wednesday, the girls stayed home while Eliot and I both went to work.  When I returned home that evening, I was entering a dark house.  For a few minutes, I thought Eliot had been home and taken the girls out.  Then, I opened the front door to find a giant blanket fort in the middle of our living room.  (I should have taken a picture.)

Elissa and Sara and built it and were underneath it watching Hart of Dixie.  The three of us girls had dinner and watched a few more episodes before Eliot got home.  Then, we disassembled the blanket fort since there wasn't any room for him.  Jeremy arrived later that night to stay over for Thanksgiving.

Thursday November 24th
Of course, Thursday was Thanksgiving Day.  We all got up early to shower and get ready.  Then, we packed all five of us into the car.  Jeremy was driving back to our house with my parents, so it worked.  Eliot and the girls sat in the back while Jeremy sat in the front and I drove up to my aunt and uncle's house.  Thankfully, their house is only about 1.5 hours away so we weren't squished in the car for too long!


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my Mom's family.  I've had Thanksgiving with them every year that I can remember.  It's so much fun to see the next generation of kids growing up.  The kids loved hanging out with Sara and Elissa.  (My cousin's oldest remembered playing with Elissa a few other times.)  The girls showed them Snapchat and the boys liked playing with the filters.


The meal was delicious.  Everyone loved the place cards I made.  Half of the group got generic ones, but I made Disney ones for those of us who love Mickey.  I was also pretty excited that I found an image that matched my outfit!


After eating, everyone hung out for quite a while.  Emery got his new Pie in the Face game out and a few brave souls played it with him.  There was a lot of whipped cream everywhere, but it was hilarious.  Slowly, one by one everyone left.  However, we weren't in any hurry to get home.  In fact, we were the last ones to leave.  The boys were enjoying playing with us so much that we stayed so my cousin and her husband could pack the car without worrying about the kids.


Eventually, it was time to go.  We gave my aunt, uncle and Nana hugs and we headed out.  We decided to go straight to the movie theater since we stayed later.  I originally planned to wear my shirt and bow to see Moana, but this worked too!  We arrived at the perfect time.  We got good seats, snacks, and were ready to rock and roll.  We all really enjoyed the movie.  (You can read my review of Moana here.)

Friday November 25th
On Friday, Sara really wanted to watch the Gilmore Girls on Netflix.  We were planning to leave for Boston earlier in the day, but it ended up working out perfectly.  I had a million things to do, so I worked on stuff while she watched the show.  Eliot and Elissa got to sleep in a little.  Then, we all got ready for our overnight trip down to Boston.


We checked into our hotel and dropped our luggage off in our room.  Then, we drove over to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  I was dying for some so that was my post-birthday dinner!  I got my favorites: stuffed mushrooms and Thai lettuce wraps!  Yum!

Afterwards, we walked around the Burlington Mall for a bit.  We spent most of our time in the Disney Store.  I really miss having one nearby.  I behaved myself and didn't get anything, but I did take pictures of a few things that caught my eye.  I'm really glad I saw this Tinker Bell pillow in person. I might end up getting one for my office!


When the mall finally closed, we headed over to Barnes and Noble since it stayed open later.  We spent about an hour in there.  I wasn't going to buy anything, but one book caught my eye from the sale table and I ended up getting that last minute.  Elissa and Sara also found a few books.

After that, Elissa wanted to go to Target since she does every Black Friday.  We still had about one hour before Target closed at midnight, so we went for it.  Thankfully, it was only down the street from our hotel!  I'm glad we went; Eliot and I found a few Black Friday deals on DVDs.  Elissa and I also both bought the Moana soundtrack, which we put in the car as soon as we got back in it.  Then, we went to bed so we'd be up and ready to catch our train to Boston the next morning.

Saturday November 26th
Don't even get me started talking about the train.  Long story short, our commuter rail train was cancelled.  When the bus showed up about an hour later, it was completely packed.  We abandoned that and ended up driving into Boston- which I should have done to start with... anyways.

We parked at Eliot's and my alma mater: Wentworth Institute of Technology.  We walked around the campus for a little bit, checking out the new additions.  Then, we hoped on the subway, or T, and went to the New England Aquarium.


We know how much both Elissa and Sara love animals, so we thought this might be something new and different that we could do.  We had a ton of fun.  We must have watched the penguins for at least 20 minutes.


There were plenty of Finding Nemo and Dory jokes.  I couldn't help myself with a few mentions of "Gerald, get off our rock."  We also enjoyed watching the tropical fish swim around.  And, the girls saw how the New England Aquarium was one of the places that inspired Finding Dory.  (The giant tank in the center reminded me of the NEA as soon as I saw the movie!)


Before leaving the aquarium, the girls got a few souvenirs and we bought the photo they took of us when we entered.  Then, we bundled up and walked over to Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall.  We were planning to see if the Newbury Comic store had the Gilmore Girls coffee mug Sara was looking for.  (The store in the Burlington Mall had said they had it there.)


Along the way, we came across a giant Christmas tree filled with lights.  Apparently, there's a light show called BLINK Boston that they've added since Eliot and I moved to Maine.  We stayed to watch since we arrived about 20 minutes before it started.


BLINK reminded me of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, and my heart dropped a little bit.  I will miss those lights.  I'm also incredibly homesick for Disney at Christmas.  But, this was a nice alternative.  And I really did enjoy the show.


Then, we headed towards the Newbury Comics store.  We weren't sure what we'd find, but luckily for us, they still had the mug, even a whole day later!  We got the mug, and then we hopped back on the T, got off at Wentworth, and drove out of the city.


On the way home, we stopped at Jordan's Furniture.  There's a store in Reading that has a giant jelly bean "city", ice cream store, movie theater and more.  First, we got in line for ice cream.  I grabbed a seat near the water show so we'd be able to watch.  It's like an indoor, non-Disney themed World of Color.  Not the same, but still fun!


Then, we ate our ice cream and enjoyed the atmosphere.  (I had bubblegum and it was delicious!)  After eating our ice cream, we went to the candy store and each promptly bought a ton of Jelly Belly jelly beans.  (Mine were mostly bubble gum and tutti fruity... yum.)  Then, after that, we called it a night and piled back into the car.  Elissa and I listened to (and occasionally sang) the Moana soundtrack the entire ride home.

Sunday November 27th
Sunday, we all slept in since it had been a late night.  Once we got up, we all hung out at the house and watched a few more Hart of Dixie episodes.  Then, it was finally time to pack everything up and get ready to say goodbye.  I took a shower and changed into my new Stitch "O'Hana" shirt because I thought it was appropriate for the occasion.


Sara's flight was scheduled mid-afternoon, so when we left the house, we had all of her stuff as well as Elissa's.  We took Sara to the airport, got her checked in and said goodbye outside of the security entrance.  Then, after making sure she got through ok, we ran a few quick errands in Portland before taking Elissa back to UNE.

Then, it was a little bit of a let down.  Eliot and I had a wonderful time with both his sisters here.  We don't get to see them both at the same time very often.  I'm so grateful for this fun week together, and we're already looking forward to our next Cady kid gathering at the Tinker Bell Half Marathon weekend at Disneyland!  °o°

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