Rockin' in Richmond!

Shortly after picking up Grandpa Kent from the airport on Friday morning, we packed up & headed out for the Lazenby's vacation home in Richmond, MA. What a fun place! We always love going out there, and the family is always so generous in sharing it with their friends.

On Saturday, we drove over to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. I think we all enjoyed it more than we expected, especially Emma! She had fun in the kids' activity area, showing Dad how she's been learning to draw:


Dad can never resist the temptation to challenge Emma's intestinal constitution.

We of course bought too much stuff from the gift shop, and then went outside to leave & ended up playing on the grounds for another 1/2 hour. There was a nice gradual hill covered in leaves, and Emma kept running down the hill as fast as her little legs would take her:



Even though she'd been awake for over 4 hours, she was so happy & I got so many smiley pictures of her (as opposed to the blank stares I've mentioned previously). You just never know what sort of mood will strike her!







Emma even gave a little display of her latest learned skill: dancing! She does this at random times during the day when she's feeling a sudden burst of joy or when she hears me say "dancing" - and yes, I'm doing everything I can to encourage this interest! After all, I'm only slightly biased in favor of having a little dancer in the family.

(working on uploading video)

Emma with Grandma & Grandpa NortonAll 3 smiling? At the same time?! A momentous occasion!

Later on after Emma's nap, we headed out for the nearby outlet malls to do some birthday shopping for Emma & made quite a haul at Osk Kosh. That night after Emma went down, we made a collective effort to complete the Norman Rockwell puzzle we bought at the gift shop. And yes, we started & finished it in one day!

Some of the Lazenbys arrived late Saturday night, and they headed out Sunday morning to attend the local ward. Sadly, Katie's bag of clothes (hand-packed by her) had gotten left behind. So she stayed at the house with us & played with Emma all morning. Their favorite activity was riding around the tennis court while Grandma Jane pulled them:

Only grandmas can think up such fun & original activities!

Snuggling with Grandpa to stay warm!

What a fun way to kick off our visit with Grandma & Grandpa! What will we do for the rest of their stay? Stay tuned to find out! :D