A special trip up north {Part 1}

We recently had the chance to travel to Connecticut to help two special people celebrate two very special birthdays.  Just like last year, we wanted to celebrate our niece, Lydia's birthday with her.  We hit the road without any trouble, and our flight was great, unlike last year.

 Since Lydia is in 1st grade now and at school all day, we had a little bit of time to hang out with my sister-in-law, Michele (aka Aunt Chele) and mother-in-law Barbara (aka Bammy) before she came home. Madeline LOVED playing with Lydia's toys, especially her ponies.

Before the birthday girl returned home from school, my brother-in-law John made it home from work, as well has his parents, Bill and Elaine, and his sister, Grace.  Lydia was surprised to see us all there.

And the cousins couldn't wait for a big group hug.  (Yep, that's Madeline between Lydia and Caleb.)

Lydia's Cake Boss cake was absolutely delicious.

And in case you're wondering what that is to the left of the cake...well, it's a hamster!

He goes by the name of Buttercup Peaches.

Lydia was absolutely thrilled.

And Madeline? She also loved Buttercup.  But just as much, she loved wearing Lydia's old dance recital costumes.  She is all girl, indeed!

Well, we truly had a great vacation.  And helping Lydia to celebrate her 6th birthday was just the beginning.  I took a ton of photos that I am working through and will be sure to share in the next few days.

The one thing I learned on this trip is that I desperately need to dust off my old (5yo) laptop and find some space to put my photo editing software on it.  It would've been nice to download my images while still away, instead of having to wait until we returned home.  As soon as we got home, I caught a rotten cold and didn't feel like doing much of anything.  So, I'm working to fix that workflow problem.

Anyway, stay tuned for more photos and other exiting news.