The Walker Family: Connecticut Part 2

After a fun-filled September 4th, we all went to bed and slept (well not so well, but that's what happens on vacation, right?!) Reed and Eve are not used to being able to see each other, but they eventually figured out that it was better to just go to bed. Oh, I forgot to mention that Sammy made me a beautiful birthday card! Thanks, Sammy!

September 5th was Kate's baby blessing. She is such a happy and content little baby. She sleeps a ton (always a great thing) and is always pleasant when she is awake. What more could you ask for, for the 6th child?! Not much more. Megan (my sister-in-law) made Kate's dress, and it look gorgeous! The blessing was great, and Sunday was the day that Justin (my brother) became one of Reed's best friends. Something about riding in a car together, I guess. I think Reed just figured out that Justin was a good person and decided that he wanted to sit next to him all the time. :) Oh, Megan's brother and sister-in-law were also able to make the blessing. They live in NYC. So, it was a fun family gathering on all sides! It was nice to get to know them. :)

The rest of Sunday was just relaxing, talking, eating, sleeping, playing games, ya know, all the fun things!

Monday, I went running with my mom (used loosely - she didn't actually run with me, but we were on the same trail). The trail was beautiful - tons of green trees! I passed by a cemetery, some fun little restaurants, and more trees. Then, the boys went off to go pick up a piano that Megan bought on Craig's List. It is really beautiful! You did good on that one, Megan!

While they were away the kids just played and played. Reed loved getting to know all of his cousins. I think his two favorites were Sammy and Michelle. He still talks about both of them and how he wants to go and visit them. Sammy did a great job and letting Reed play with her. She is quite a bit older (8, I think), but loved having Reed around.

When everyone was back and lunch was eaten, we went on a tour of the Yale campus (where Justin is doing his fellowship). On our way there Sammy and I played a few different alphabet games in the 'girl' car. Because of the size of our group, we had to take 3 separate vehicles. Ours (the minivan) had only girls in it, thus being called the 'girl' car. Yale was really pretty and we found some fun little areas (like a wooden swing attached to a huge tree branch - yes, the kids all LOVED that part). We saw where Justin works and missed seeing the medical library by about 15 minutes. Ah nuts! Ah well, maybe another time. (Oh and my camera battery died about halfway into everything, so we borrowed some pictures from my mom. Thanks, mom!)

We finished off the day at a local park and then ate Thai food for dinner. It was a great Labor Day/my Grandpa Rowberry's birthday. Even though I didn't really know him (he passed away when I was 3 months old), I feel a huge connection to my Grandpa Rowberry. I can't wait to meet him again!

Tuesday the kids went back to school and my parents took them to school, then left for DC. We still had some time to kill, so Tyson, Reed, Eve, Megan, Michelle, Kate, and myself decided to go to a little animal farm and park just up the road. We decided to walk because it wasn't very far. Well, the walk took a lot longer than we had anticipated. But, Reed and Michelle loved seeing the animals - horses, chickens, a rooster, ducks, bunnies, goats, sheep, and I think that is it. Then, they played on the play ground - of course Reed monopolized a swing almost the whole time.

We walked back and realized that we were running late. We had to catch the train. So we hurried to eat lunch, get some snacks packed, and get everything in the car. We were rushing and were wondering if we were even going to be on time for the train. Well, as Megan was driving the temperature gauge went to hot in a matter of seconds. We thought that was weird, but she kept driving because we were late and pretty close to the train station. Then, her power steering went out. Then, the battery light came on and some sort of a chime was dinging. Well, the dinging stopped, so that was good? We didn't know what to do at all. We got to the train station with 2 minutes to get to our train. Luckily, the train station was small and our train ended up being 5 minutes late! Megan had to turn off the car so that we could get our bags out of the back (in their van you have to have the keys to open the back). We raced off and as we were racing, we realized that the car would not turn back on! Aaaahhhhh! What to do? At this point we had no idea if our train was leaving us. So, we raced to the track and the train had not come yet. Tyson raced back to help Megan move the car, but some taxi drivers had helped her move it out of the way. Luckily, we were very close to where Justin works, so he was able to come and wait for the tow truck and Megan took her two youngest kids home. Apparently, their serpentine belt broke which causes a bunch of problems, as we learned. We felt so guilty for just leaving Megan there! So sorry Megan! Nice house guests we are, righ?! Luckily, everything worked out ok and everyone was fine and we made our train by a couple of minutes. Phew!!! That definitely made my heart beat a lot faster!

Other than the last minute drama, our trip was fantastic! I loved seeing my brother and his family! They are really fun people and we can't wait to see them again! Connecticut gets a thumbs up!!!!

Sleepy Kate

I just thought the dress was gorgeous!

Michelle, Nathan, and Sammy having a "Chowder" party. It is a show on TV that Megan doesn't let them watch. Apparently, he wears a hat in all his shows. Thus, they must be having a "Chowder" party because they are all wearing hats.