Meeting Cousin Austin

About a month ago, my sister-in-law Kristin and her son Austin made the trip out to Massachusetts to visit us.  Austin was due only a few days before Rory but was born three weeks early.  Since Rory was almost a week late, the two are about a month apart which is definitely fun!  We aren't sure when we will try to visit California so I was thrilled that we got to meet little Austin James before he grows up too much!  And how awesome that first time Mom Kristin was willing to travel solo on a 6 hour flight with a 3 month old!

Austin James (8/3/2015) and Rory Louise (8/31/15)

Most of their time here was just spent doing baby related things like feeding, burping, changing diapers, and getting kids down for naps.  However, Josh did have the weekend off that they were here and so we took a trip into Boston to visit the aquarium.  We had taken Ryan last year around this time, but at 2 years old, she certainly was way more entertained by the fish this year.

Rory and Austin slept through most of the aquarium visit, but we did get a few group pictures in front of the harbor before leaving Boston.

We also took them to walk the Rail Trail and Kristin even watched the three kids (with the help of a babysitter) so that Josh and I could have our first night out since Rory was born.  Not much of a vacation for her huh!?!?!

This is our "we're thrilled to be out of the house without kids face." Ha!

We are so lucky that we have so many family members that want to come visit us in Massachusetts.  And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm kind of sad that this was the last set of planned visits, at least at the moment.  We certainly love that our kids get to know so many of their family members even though they live so far away.  It makes it a little bit easier to be in Massachusetts.  Hopefully we will be making a trip to California in the near future!

The Last Day...

...of Mom, Dad, and Rachel's trip to Grenada.  And we ended it with a bang.

Our day started out at Annandale Falls. I have been to Annandale a couple of times, but on this particular day, two HUGE cruise ships were in port and so there were a lot of tourists at the falls. 

And we got to see Jack the Mona Monkey at Annandale.  I met him the last time I was there!

After spending a relatively short amount of time at Annandale, we drove up to Grand E'tang.  I had yet to make it up to Grand E'tang, mostly because when I say up, I mean UP!  The drive is pretty windy and very uphill and kind of hard on poor Toby Toyota and I haven't wanted to attempt the drive with just me and a bunch of girls in case of a problem.  But, Toby did just fine, like he always does and we made it to the top.  Grand E'tang is a nature reserve and is a submarine volcano that is no longer active.  The crater lake is about 1,800 feet above sea level.

In my opinion, the best part about Grand E'tang was the wild monkeys!  I use the term "wild" very loosely, because although these monkeys do in fact live in the wild, they are extremely used to tourists and have become very tame.

All you have to do is call out to them and they come down from the trees.  Oh, and having a banana or two doesn't hurt. :)

He tried to poop on Dad!

Give me that waterbottle!

 These monkeys were all little models!

We finally finished with all the monkey business and headed to Seven Sisters Falls, another location that I had not been to yet.  Seven Sisters has a bit of a reputation for being dangerous.  Many a student has hiked to the falls and jumped into the beautiful pools only to end up with massive bruises on their arms and legs or worse from the impact.  But don't worry, I made Dad promise that we wouldn't do any type of jumping on this trip.

Cliffon, our tour guide and Rachel's Grenadian husband-to-be.

Two of the Seven "Sisters"

Seven Sisters is probably my favorite falls that I have been to in Grenada.  The pools were perfect for swimming in or lounging around and they were just breathtaking.  I definitely need to find the time to bring Josh to see both Seven Sisters and Grand E'tang.

If you thought our day was done after our hike, think again.  When we got back to the apartment, we realized that Mom and Dad hadn't yet been to Lance Aux Epines Beach which is right down the street.  So we walked over for a couple last hours on the Caribbean Sea.

Walking down LAE road.

We headed to Prickly Bay for dinner and dancing and enjoyed the last night with Julie, Kevin, and Phyllis.

Love my BFF JuJu.

He's become such a dancer recently!

We had such a fun, exhausting week and I'm so very glad that some of my family was able to come and spend time on our little island.  We always enjoy having visitors!