Summer Vacation is over!

The kids went back to school this week but not before we had some fun during the last week of vacation! I took a few days off to spend some time with the kids before they started back to school and when we told auntie Meg, Auntie Beth, Auntie Kk and Christina about our plans to go to Coco Key they decided to come along! The kids had a blast having their aunties and even the baby twins there to play with!

The whole crew having fun at Coco Key.



Abby takes a turn holding Lila.



Molly and Lila hanging out at Coco Key.





Brendan resting on his Mommy!

Ou beautiful boy!~

Annie Bananie in her duck towel.

KK and her godson having some fun on the Lazy River!

Molly girl getting wet!

Abby - looking lazy on the Lazy River!

Fun times for Annie with oodles of auntie to play with.

Baby Lila in her adorable little bathing suit!

Auntie Meg and Lila in her bathing suit.

Annie - looking adorable and SO happy to be with all of the big kids!Tyler must have spent 45 minutes just floating around.Kk hanging with lila and having fun.My handsome boy!My goddaughter - the duck!Auntie Beth and Annie got lots of quality time.Auntie Meg and Kk were so proud of themselves for going down the big water slide.The girls waiting to go play!Nobody was more excited than Annie for auntie beth to come home!Auntie Beth always has a lapful when she is at our house.We took the kids to the Butterfly farm and yankee Candle on Friday. It was great to have some time as a family before school started again! Annie LOVED every minute with the butterflies and reminded us of why we braved the hot weather and humid conservatory with her shrieks and giggles when the butterflies landed on her.Wow - Annie looks like such a big girl these days!Ellie loved being able to roam free.Annie held her arms out the entire time - she was hoping that they would land on her arms!The big fish in the little pond were Annie's second favorite part but we were very afraid that Ellie would just jump in the water!Yankee Candle factory.The boys!Mama and her girls.The kids get so excited when Auntie Meg comes over to visit with the twins. It is a joy to see Meg as a mother but it is also wonderful to watch the little girls go crazy over the babies. They fight over who gets to kiss, hug, tickle and hold the babies and they are so gentle and loving that it makes my heart swell. These are just a bunch of pictures of the kids with the babies on random days when Meg stops over to visit. There were a few weeks when meg was recovering and getting used to the twins that I thought my kids were going into shock from missing their auntie but those days are gone. Meg is wondeful about coming over with and without the babies and making sure that the H-W kids (and parents) feel loved and cared for.We got an added bonus of having Xtina here for a few days when she came back to CT to visit. The kids loved it and everyone knows the H-W's love a busy bustling house - Xtina just added to the fun! The kids were so excited every morning when they woke up to find Xtina here but they did not get why she had to visit other people. Xtina seemed to enjoy it and loved being close by to Auntie Meg so that she could be there as often as possible! We already miss her!Auntie Meg trying to "baby" Ellie. She was not cooperative at all.Being an auntie to Meg's babies is really wonderful. Meg is so natural and comfortable with the babies that she makes it great to be around her and so easy to love the twins and get to know them. I love being an auntie!Sweetest picture - Lila and Lizzie studying each other!Lizzie is in heaven!This is Lizzie saying "No, Mama!" when I tried to take Lila away from her!Molly girl is in love with her baby cousins. She wants to be with them everyday and is so loving and sweet. She kisses them, talks softly to them and just loves being with them. I remember when I was 8 years old and Brendan was a baby. I loved being anywhere within 20 feet of Brendan let alone holding him, looking at him or even walking around with him in the stroller. And now Uncle B is a grown man and one of my favorite people in the entire world!I love baby piggy toes - I want to kiss them all day!Molly and Lila bonding!We had the honor of celebrating Auntie Ann on Sunday as she celebrated 50 years as a Sister of Mercy. Auntie Ann has dedicated her life to God and service to others and we are so proud of her!The girls wore matching Shamrock dresses in honor of Auntie Ann.The kids loved playing in the Mercy gym after mass. Auntie Ann and the boys.

Abby and Molly loved lounging in Auntie Ann's back yard at the party. It was a great week and there will be many more posts as the aunties from far away are insisting on more pictures and more posts so they don't miss a thing! GNM - ILY!