Whew! Even though it wasn’t our normal amount of travel, it was a lot… and we managed to make it without incident. Cole got to meet many of his Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins on both sides of the family and boy were they all excited to see him. He even got to meet one of his Great Grandpas. It’s amazing how a new baby can unite a family 
Hopefully Opa will be feeling better tomorrow so we can see him.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Today’s photos
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Twas the night before Christmas and baby Cole slept while his parents and grandparents got the Christmas tree prepped…
We had a pretty good day. The only real downer of the day was that we didn’t get to spend time with Grandma and Opa because Opa is sick. Hopefully it will pass quickly and we can see them again before the end of our trip. We spent the early part of the day hanging out at Nonni and Pappi’s where Cole got to read with Pappi, play on his new play mat, and do some tummy time with Nonni. This evening we had our traditional dinner with family in Hershey. Cole got to meet his Great Great Aunts Laura, Thalia, and Betty as well as his Great Great Uncle Paul. It was very cool seeing all of the generations together
Tomorrow should be a great day… Cole will get to meet lots of family and should enjoy all of the attention. Merry Christmas everyone!
Today’s Photos
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Today was quite a busy day and Cole did pretty well overall. The next 3 days are going to be busy as well as we visit with family and friends. Melanie and I spent the night at the Marriott again last night while Cole spent the night at Nonni and Pappi’s. We picked him up this morning and then went to Alison’s for lunch where Megan swung by and visited us. Then we headed over to Grandma and Opa’s to visit with them for a bit (Cole was being a cranky pants there). We ended our day at Ommie and Jodie’s visiting with a bunch of friends. It’s always nice seeing everyone and it’s great having them meet Cole . Surprisingly Cole was a champ and made it to near 10pm before calling it a night. We’ll see how the next few days go.
Today’s photos
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So last night Melanie and I stayed at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Lancaster… without Cole *sniffle*. Aside from a quick trip to Grandma and Opa’s place around 11:30 to calm him down the night away was a success. Fingers crossed that tonight he does well too (Nonni and Pappi have him).
Today’s photos
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Not much going on today. Visited with Grandma and Opa B most of the day (stopped in to see Nonni and Pappi Schneider too), but we had dinner with Angie at the Oregon Dairy. It always makes me feel odd when we’re the youngest ones at a restaurant, but it’s worth it for the desserts alone (they also have some pretty good PA Dutch food).
Today’s photos (slideshow, mouse over the image for controls)
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There’s something to be said about the morning after a snowfall… even in the middle of a city it’s still beautiful. That being said I’m tired of shoveling snow. After doing about six hours of shoveling over the past two days (two sidewalks and four parking spaces) I’m finished… and sore. Tonight we took Melanie’s parents out to dinner to celebrate their anniversary. Nothing says “Congratulations” or “job well done shovel man” quite like a steak dinner
Today’s photos (it’s a slideshow, mouseover to see controls)
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Whenever we travel to PA for the holidays there is always the chance that we’ll get a white Christmas and every few years Mother Nature hammers us with snow… this was one of those years. The snow started falling last night near midnight and has continued all day (it’s still snowing as I type this). So far it looks like we’ll get about a foot. Luckily (or unluckily?) I’ve shoveled twice already today so when it does finally stop I won’t have the full amount to clean up.
On a positive note Cole got to experience his first snow during his first trip to PA. Pretty cool experience even though he won’t remember it. We bundled him up in a snow suit and took him outside for a bit today and he enjoyed it for a bit, we grabbed some photos, and then he went back inside to warm up. Since we were stuck in the house all day we decided to have our gift exchange with Mel’s parents. Cole’s been really fussy in the evenings so we ended up breaking up the gifts into two groups and giving him some time to eat and calm down in between. All in all it’s been a pretty good day (even if I still have to go shovel again).
Today’s photos
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Today’s high temperature: a balmy 34 degrees though the majority of the day was spent below 30 (currently it’s 29 and feels like 23). We spent the day going between the grandparents’ houses… and not much else. Bundle, carry, drive, unbundle, eat, play, bundle, carry, drive, unbundle, play, eat, bundle, carry, drive, unbundle, play… yeah, you get the idea. Cole is definitely getting the hang of this traveling thing, but he’s not yet warmed up to the idea of constantly being strapped into his car seat.
In other news we’re in the path of a nice winter storm. Predictions have us getting somewhere in the area of 10 inches of snow tomorrow. This should make for some nasty traveling, but some lovely photos.
Today’s photos
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We made it! The flight to PA went very smoothly and Cole was a champ. We nearly had a calamity as I forgot to bring Cole’s birth certificate with me (luckily we had a nice lady at the Southwest desk who used the effective date on my insurance card as proof of Cole’s birthdate… fingers crossed we have the same luck flying back). Getting through security at the Austin airport wasn’t as stressful as we thought thanks, in part, to the fact that not many people were flying today. Cole nursed on the way up and the way down with no ear popping problems, slept some in between, and was otherwise a happy little baby. His co-passengers on the plane were happy to have his cuteness around them.
One thing we did learn is that no matter how well you prepare, plan, and execute said plan things will inevitably go slower than you expect once you have kids (when traveling). Getting off the plane… slow. Getting down to get our luggage… slow. Finding a restroom to change the baby… slow. Getting the rental car and prepping it for travel… slow. Even the traffic was heavier and slower now that we have Cole in the car. We landed in Philly around 5… got the car around 6:15, but didn’t make it into Lancaster until 9 (it’s typically a 2 hour drive with a dinner stop included).
Today’s photos (Cole makes the family happy)
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I’m afraid I don’t have much to say in this post because I’m (unwisely?) taking a short break from packing to get this post up. We’re flying to PA tomorrow morning and we’re scrambling to make sure we have everything. First flight for Cole… could be interesting… I’ll share all of the details in tomorrow’s post.
Today’s photos
For those following the blog on a daily basis I am planning on continuing while we are on vacation, but the images won’t be posted in small collages like they have been due to the fact that I don’t have Photoshop on my laptop. So most days will only have 2-3 individual photos, but when I have more I’m going to use the slideshow like I did in this post.
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