Snow Sleepover

What do you do with a blizzard outside and no school the next day? You have a sleepover!!!

Tate's First Snowplowing Job

Tate's Birthday

The shenanigans I've resorted to in an effort to pull off surprises for the kids lately! I stole Tate's phone and plucked out his friends' phone numbers. I texted them to come surprise Tate for his 15th birthday. I'd love to say it worked, but he had some friends who were wildly unloyal to me :) and told him about it. He was a good sport through the whole thing and tried to spare me the grief of his knowing. He is honestly the best 15 year old ever. I mean, I know that Kevin and I are partial, but he is HONESTLY the best kid ever.

Google

Our time with Jackson and Kim was amazing. We went to the Sony WonderLab, Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Chinatown, 9/11 Memorial and Grand Central Station. We ate at the Shake Shack and NY style pizza. But there was no toping our finale: a tour of Google. You can only get in if you KNOW someone. Well, I didn't know someone. And I haven't known someone for 3 years- which is the length of time I've spent tying to know someone! I finally decided to place all the last of my eggs in the Facebook basket. And it worked. I posted that if anyone anywhere knew anyone that worked for Google and could help a boy who desperately wanted to work for Google in the future, to please let me know. My college friend, Ann Lowe, reached out to her nephew, Brian Bilbo of Google, and he agreed to give us a tour. Holy cow. It worked. After 3 years, we finally got in! No pictures inside Google, but let's just leave it at amazing. I told Kevin I would work as the carpet sweeper if they would hire me! Brian taking the boys outside for a view of NYC from Google. After the tour waiting to get our car. Worn out after a 2 1/2 hour, but totally worth it! Jackson's posts on Instagram about the swag Brian gave them.

NYC with Garett and Jackson

Times Square with Garett Natural History Museum off Central Park This is what the hotel room looks like with two cubers Jackson's mom, Kim, enjoying Spices and Tease Back at our house for a day, celebrating Jackson's birthday

Jackson's Surprise Visit

When we moved to New Jersey, Garett had to leave his best friend behind. I really believe Garett and Jackson are friends for life. They have a really cool friendship. Their interests and sense of humor align in a really neat way. When Jackson's mom called to see if there was anyway we could get the boys together, I said "Yes! Come to New Jersey!". What a great sport Kim, Jackson's mom, is. We worked all the arrangements out on the phone. And about a week later- I wake Garett up and say, "Hey, come spend the day with me in the city. But first, we have to take this damaged suitcase back to the airport." So we headed to the city (stopping at the airport). When we got to the airport and he turned the corner and saw his best friend, I can't even describe the moment! Well, here are the pictures.

Fractured Finger

Garett broke his pinky finger before our trip. Let's just say it wasn't at the top of our radar. Not that we didn't care- but he really didn't complain about it. We just thought we'd wait to see if the swelling went down. Oops.

Christmas Trip (cont'd)

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris. Amazing. Yes. We tried escargot in Paris. All of us. It was all fun and games until somebody had to put all the suitcases away. :)

Christmas Trip (cont'd)

Grand Palais in Paris. Arc de Triomphe. Our hotel was steps away from here. The Louvre. The Louvre. The Louvre. Picture taken from La Grande Roue (the grand ferris wheel off the Champs-Élysées. New Year's Eve in Paris. Video show projected onto the Arc de Triomphe with fireworks to reign in the new year! New Year's Eve. Marissa dancing in the hotel lobby to the DJ. We walked around Paris with crepes in one hand, eclairs in the other, macarons in the other. :) New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve. The Lock Bridge. So fun.