O Christmas Tree

Crew's preschool Christmas program was so much fun to attend and watch. Each class learned their own songs, in addition to the songs they sung with the other three classes. Crew's class theme was Christmas trees; so their "costumes" and songs revolved around that theme.

Crew seemed to most enjoy "Jingle Bells" and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer song the teachers had the dads and grandpas sing to the kids. Cole was a great sport about the festive "accessory" the teachers requested each of the men wear.

We were also excited that the program fell within Mimi's trip to Utah to help with the baby. Have I mentioned it is nearly impossible to get my lil guy to look at the camera?

Christopher Columbus

We are still alive. Just suffering from too much to do and a dead desktop housing all of our photos. The hiatus has served as a reminder that as much as these personal blogs are "so five years ago," I still love them and feel such an attachment to this little piece of the Internet that is ours for the updating. 

So....

Monday we were lucky enough to have Cole all to ourselves for the day. We slept in as much as Crew will let us these days, fueled up at our favorite drink stop, paid rock bottoms prices on a fabulous pumpkin family and then headed south to enjoy the Alpine Loop. 

The government shutdown meant that we saved a few dollars at the entrance but it also meant the every pavilion-side restroom or portapotty was on lockdown. Tough news for this pregnant mama. But in happier news, the colors were spectacular and Crew had a blast tromping in the mud and snow.

After a late lunch, we squeezed in some putt putt and games. Such a fun day with my favorite boys!

Adventures in the Treasure State

A couple busy summers have kept us from a visit to the family cabin in Swam Lake, MT. Cole and I were determined to make it happen this year.

The drive is long but the relaxing, fun and family time is always worth it. As an extra bonus, we were joined by several members of the extended family who hadn't seen Crew since he was about 6 months.

Crew was in love with the lake water, catching minnows, "flashing" anything with his mini flashlight, camping in the "little cabin" and of course, "mountain biking." Cole and I got to completely unplug (aided by the limited-to-no-cell-phone-reception situation), play, read and just enjoy each other.

Crew and my Cousin Carson enjoying the fruits of Huckleberry Days

Stand up paddleboarding, while kneeling, proved to be my favorite and my frequent activity of the weekend.

Minnow catching efforts

My dad relaxing with just one of five furry friends who joined us at the cabin

Crew and Cole working to get the loaner boat to work

My mom and Aunt Lori soaking some rays

Mid "mountain bike" ride for Crew

Cousin Caleb catching footballs off the dock

Our only family photo. :)

Late night games

Showing off the weekend project of extending the deck

Goodbyes and final thoughts for the cabin journal

The baseball team

In July, we were able to have an awesome ultrasound and gender reveal for Lansford Baby 2. We were lucky enough to have a lot of our family in town to help us celebrate, along with a few of our favorite neighbors and friends.

To backtrack, I loved our ultrasound. Our tech spent so much time showing each part of our growing baby and it was really amazing to watch him/her move and breathe on the screen.

We decided to be surprised with our friends and family so we had to wait three more days before we knew the gender ourselves.

On Sunday, the gang joined us in a friendly silly string "fight" to reveal the gender of the baby. Verdict: BLUE!

Crew will be a big brother and we are excited to add to our little baseball team.



Lansford Gender Reveal from Maura Lansford on Vimeo.

Blue Silly String, its a Boy!

Really not sure about the whole silly string thing

Crew was terrified of the silly string

Ready to find out the gender

Knox had more fun cleaning the silly string than squirting it. Proof he is Nicole's Child, I guess.

My little sister Anne and I

Love these Ladies so much!

Lansfords Take NYC

So here's how it happens. My sister in law gets awarded a fancy Gracie award for Best Sports Anchor of the year, her school decides to fly her to NYC to receive the award in person and the rest of us Lansford ladies get lucky enough to tag along for an extended girls weekend. Recipe for perfection I say!

We took on the Big Apple for five days so instead of boring you with the details of our daily schedule, the highlights by category are below.

That being said, nothing pictured below will top exploring the outskirts of Times Square four nights in a row to hunt down the Jamaican men selling questionable purses, watches and sunglasses! No pictures cause we clearly didn't want to get caught or impaled.  

Touristy Spots

9/11 Memorial

Brooklyn Bridge against cityscape

"Dog Protection" in the subway

Cityscape on Ferry Ride to Lady Liberty

Taylor enjoying the Pirate ship

Last night hurrah at Newsies

Bike Ride in Central Park

Group Shot in front of Ellington Circle

Singlehandly the most overwhelmingly shopping experience of my life. That is a lot of store...

Tasty Bites
Usually while in New York, I love to shop. Given my growing bump, that was a no-go this time around. I made up for it by researching yummy bites and iconic food spots for us instead. Pretty much every stop was a huge success.

Sunday brunch at Sarahbeths

Getting excited for our "Fat and Fluffy" french toast and pancakes.

My Lemon Ricotta pancakes and as you can see from my bacon, their "sides" are quite generous.

Sampling Hersheys products in Time Square

Quick trip to Harlem for some chickin and waffles

Sylvia's handsqueezed lemonade

Yum!

Shake Shack (of course)

Dragon Fruit on Canal Street while bartering for questionable merchandise.

Juniors Chicken Parm

Juniors Devil's Food Cheesecake

Visiting Buddy's

Black and White cookie, brownie, lobster tail, cannoli, red velvet cupcake- All so good!

We planned to enjoy these after an easy dinner of Grey Papaya hotdogs but the NYC heat got to them for sure.

No muss, no fuss. Just yummy thin crust pizza at Grimaldis in Brooklyn.