Mothers' Day

I had a great mothers' day this year! It started with my kids ever so gently waking me up at the side of my bed whispering "happy mothers day." They had helped Tyler make breakfast for me and led me downstairs. Tyler didn't have to go to his early meetings so that was a present by itself :)

At church the Young Men & Youth took over the Primary & Nursery so the leaders could go to Sunday School and Relief Society for a change. It was supposed to make a stress-free mothers day but as primary president it stressed me out quite a bit haha! Well especially at first, walking in and hearing that about 5 youth were gone that were supposed to teach classes and the nursery was total chaos (including my own crying Abbie) but after the first 20 minutes or so I think we got it all put together and it was fun to go to Sunday School where Tyler just happened to be teaching that day and RS.

Tyler made my favorite Greek food for dinner and the kids and he made milkshakes for dessert! Jackson had made me some presents at preschool that he was excited to give to me and my present from Tyler was a new Petunia Pickle-bottom Diaper Bag. I had hinted a bit since my old one's zipper was broken and just getting a little grimy after 4 plus years!

My milkshake makers!

 The main event I guess you could say was the following weekend when I went on a girls trip to NYC - or as my kids liked to call it, "A Mama's Trip." I went with Alarie, Emily and Jeanette and it was a mothers' day present for us all. Tyler actually organized it and we were able to use a free night hotel he had earned from work traveling :) We drove down Friday afternoon and stayed at the Marriott Marquis Hotel right in Times Square Friday night. It was a trip all about food and relaxing :) We had dinner at a Bobby Flay place Friday night then went to Matilda on Broadway that night!

The view from our room

Fancy Fried Chicken :)

The girls at the play

 The next morning we ate at Norma's Cafe and spent probably 30 minutes trying to figure out what we wanted to order, it all looked so good. We were trying to figure out what to share and kept going back and forth and ended up getting things we wanted. Probably the best thing was Emily's fruity french toast but I was pretty fond of my savory choice too :)

Heuvos Rancheros

While it had been raining all of Friday, we had woken up to beautiful weather on Saturday so straight from breakfast we walked through Central Park and made our way to the Met.

My tiny friends and my huge tummy at the Met

Afternoon in Central park

We had a picnic in the park for a late lunch and then headed over to my favorite cookie place at Levain Bakery. Tyler's only request for the trip was that I brought him home a chocolate cookie from here, so he was anxious to see the picture I sent him.

We ended the day doing a little shopping and trying BabyCakes Bakery and then got stuck in really bad traffic trying to leave the city. As soon as we got on the freeway we were fine, but as the navigator for the whole weekend, I felt bad for being slightly responsible. 

All in all it was a quick but great weekend, Tyler and the kids had fun at home hanging out with the other motherless families :) I think it also gave him a new appreciation of what I do each day :)

Home again

After an amazing cruise, our time away came to an end when we got to Puerto Rico. Our flight didn't actually leave until the late afternoon so we had all day to hang out. We chilled on the boat for a few hours and then stored our luggage at a hotel and wandered around Old San Juan for a bit. We had been to Puerto Rico together back in November, 2010 when we went with 8 month old Jackson. We finally did a little shopping and got presents for the kids, the highlight being a cute dress for Abbie. We attempted to eat at our favorite sandwich place, St. Germain - but sadly they were only serving a Sunday Brunch so we decided not to go. We ended up at another favorite of Tyler's that he tried on a work trip - the Parrot Club. The Plantain Nachos were amazing, originally recommended by Jamie & Nick.

Windy afternoon at El Morro

Then we got to the airport and at that point was super anxious to just get home and see my babies. But they really had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa. It was great to see pictures throughout the week of our kids having so much fun with Grandma! And Grandpa got to Connecticut on Friday which just doubled the fun for them over the weekend.

Showing off his new Superman Shirt!

Abbie flirting with Grandpa before Stake Conference

This boy is obsessed with his Grandpa

These two love each other

Three Generations of Jennings men :)

While it was overwhelming to think about leaving my kids for a week, it all ended up being such a great experience. Tyler and I had such a great week and I know the kids had so much fun bonding with their grandparents. Thanks so much to Vicki and Terry for coming out and making it all possible :)