Summer Lovin'. Part III.

Jane and I were able to take a train ride up to New York to see my parents for a week!  I hadn't been back home for a good 2 years so I was excited to get back to the Hudson Valley and see and do some of my favorite things.

I've done this train ride before, traveling from Lynchburg, VA to Rhinecliff, NY.  But I was a fit college student traveling with my sister, not 7 months pregnant traveling with a one year old...  So this was VERY different.  It wasn't the worst experience I've ever had, but it was definitely long and tiring, for both Jane and I.  The good thing about traveling with the cutest little miss is that everyone is really nice to you.  So... BONUS!

^Just hangin' out in her seat.

^She loved looking out the window.  And loved to make a mess of the window.  Gross.

^She fell asleep a few times but she slept for a good two hours after we switched trains at Penn Station in the city.  HALLELUJAH.  She needed it.

We got on the train in Lynchburg around 7:15 in the morning (I think) and got in to Rhinecliff after 8 at night, I believe.  I honestly don't remember.  I was just happy to be off the train and to see my parents!

^This is a snapshot from my mom's Instagram.  Jane was a little loopy from all the traveling and lack of sleep and just started doing the funniest things, one of which was sticking a bowl on her head.  Maybe the King side comes out a lot once you get around Marme and Nono :)

The weather was really nice for a couple of days while we were there.  "Nice" meaning it wasn't so humid that you drown from the moisture in the air when you walk out the door.  One of those days we went to Wilcox Park for a picnic and some swimming!

^This was Jane's fist experience with sand.  She was a little confused at first. haha.  But she ended up loving it!  She would crawl back and forth from the sand, into the water, and back.

^On the way home we stopped at Holy Cow for a milkshake.  Holy Cow is the greatest ice cream shop around.  I don't think that really explains it, though.  When I think about home, Holy Cow Ice Cream is one of the first things that I think about, and I immediately begin craving a chocolate milkshake.  It. Is. Perfection.  Maybe my cravings are just a little extreme because of being pregnant right now, but man, it is one of my favorite places in the world.  And now it's one of Jane's :)

^Her first milkshake.  And let me tell you, she seriously liked it.

^We watched a lot of movies that I haven't seen in a long time, since that's one of our favorite things to do.  In this picture we were watching National Velvet, and Jane was LOVING it.  She really does like horses :)  Even though she loved it, she couldn't keep herself awake and fell asleep with Marme.

^Hangin' out in all the comfy pillows.

^What's a trip home without seeing a million King cats??  This is my cat Demon.  She's not mean or anything, she's just got a little something missing in that brain of hers up there... but then again most of the cats we've had do too.  So nothing new :)

^Here's the rest of the crew.  Mangy felines.  Gotta love 'em.

We had to say bye to my dad a couple days early because he was headed off to a national model airplane meet.  Jane thought he was absolutely the funniest guy around.  I know that she loves her Nono :)

That same day we headed off to Olana, which is a New York State Historic Site, and just a short drive from my parents house.  And I had never been there!  In all the years growing up there, I never got the chance to go.  So we decided to make it happen!  And we went with my Nana and Conk.

It is an absolutely gorgeous house built by American painter Frederic Church in the 1800's.  Check it out here if you're interested.  He was greatly influenced by his travels all over the world, but mostly to the Middle East.  The house is so beautiful and his paintings are just as gorgeous.  

^One view of the Hudson Valley from Olana.  Aaah, home.

^Jane was suffering from an ear infection and ended up having a really bad fever later in the day, but she still stuck through the tour of the house and was an angel.  Poor little miss.

^Marme with some beautiful flowers.

After we got some medicine for Jane and got her feeling better, it was time to get on a train back to Virginia.  I was sad to leave my parents, the cats, and the beautiful Hudson Valley, but I did miss Andrew, and so did Jane :)

^Marme and Jane waiting for the train.

^This girl.  She has quite a personality.

^One of our last moments on the train.  Thank.  GOODNESS.  The trip back to Virginia was less than enjoyable.  I think it was just because we were tired from an eventful week and I was a little emotional about leaving my parents and I was missing Andrew a lot.  So all of that, combined with some not so nice city people getting on and off the train, made me break down into tears a few times.  And I felt bad for Jane because she still wasn't completely herself and had to endure such a long trip cooped up in a train.

Despite all of that we survived, thanks to Andrew's idea that we get off a station early in Charlottesville, which was wonderful because the train was running about an hour late and it made me want to bang my head against the window and stuff my face with as much Nutella as possible.  Both of which would not be very good for my looks or health.  So we were reunited with Andrew and got some food to eat (a nice juicy, burger and fries that made all my troubles disappear) and made our way home.

It was such a fun trip and I'm so thankful my parents could help Jane and I get up there before baby #2 gets here.  I'm glad I got to see Nana and Conk a few times as well, and I wish I had gotten some pictures of them with Jane!  I can't wait to get back up there!

Summer Lovin'. Part II.

The Brandt's try to have a family reunion every year.  This was the first year Andrew and I were finally able to make it to a whole one together!  There was one around New Years the year we were engaged and I was only there for a couple days of that.  The next year the reunion was scheduled around our wedding in the spring, so we didn't make it to that one since we were honeymooning in Aruba!  And last year Jane was making her debut right in the middle of the family reunion.  So this year there was nothing crazy going on to stop us from going!

We spent the week at a resort called Massanutten near Fredericksburg, VA.  There were tons of activities to do, so we were always busy doing something fun!

^We went to the tennis courts that were nearby our apartments and had fun playing.  Well, trying to play anyway... Tennis is hard!  Andrew knows how to play, but I am useless with a tennis racket.  And Jane just liked to be outside :)

^Look at that face.  Mean muggin'.

^Jane had her first swimming experience while at the reunion!  There were at least 4 different pools we could choose to go to whenever we wanted.  It was nice to actually get in a pool for the first time in a VERY long time.  I'm not much of a water person, but it was really nice to get in and cool down.  It helps when there's a little squish that loves the water and wants to be in it :)  It was also nice to get some sun on my legs...  I actually got tan lines on my legs and I was so excited, but then I realized that the part that was "tan" was still not really tan, just darker than the other ghostly white parts of my body.

^There was a little petting farm that had some neat animals you could pet and feed.  The farm was near the stables where they kept all the trail horses, so that's mostly why I made Andrew take us there :)

^Samson the Desert Tortoise was a big hit with these kids.  He was pretty cool lookin'.

^And this is probably one of the scariest things I've ever seen.

^The alpacas were super soft and much more polite than the goats that you can feed there...

^Rude.

^Seriously rude.  And gross.  But a lot of fun :)

^Clyde the Camel!

^Here we are spending some more time at the pool.

^That's obviously not me sitting next to Jane and Andrew, all gorgeous and tan.  I stayed behind the camera so as to spare your eyes from the glow of my white skin and giant belly.  You're welcome.  Harmony is much nicer to look at :)

^Jane seriously loved seeing the horses.  She loved to pet them and would try to pull herself over the fence to get closer to them.  It made me really happy :)

^Though her idea of petting them ended up being just grabbing their ears.

^Since I'm pregnant I wasn't able to go on a trail ride (Noooooooo!*insert at least 3 days of drowning my sorrows in Nutella and Animal Crackers*), but a bunch of the other Brandt girls got to.  Jane and I hung out at the stables for a little bit waiting for them to get back so we could try to take some pictures of them on the horses.  I wasn't very successful... but it looked like they had a lot of fun out there on the trail!  

^Cousin Elise back there on her horse.  Sorry about the big, horse butt in the way...

^Aunt Kristen and cousin Allison on their awesome horses.

^That's Andrew's hand petting that horse!

^The resort held a field day for the families staying there and it was really fun.  I can't say I participated in any of the activities... but most of them included some sort of running, and after attempting tennis earlier in the week and being sore from that, among other things (like being pregnant), I wasn't really feeling it.  But Andrew and Harmony got in on the water balloon tossing!  And they did really good too.  Even when they had to throw and catch with only one hand!  I was definitely impressed.

^We did some miniature golfing with Grandma Sue, Pop Pop, and Harmony too.

^Look at that cutie and studly husband.

^One day of the reunion was on the 4th of July, so a group of us drove to a city close by that apparently had a really good fireworks show.  It wasn't the best show I've seen, but I shouldn't really complain, since our country is lucky enough to even HAVE an Independence Day to celebrate.

^And her face was worth it anyways.

That's the end of all the pictures I have from the family reunion.  It was a ton of fun and I'm very thankful for everyone that planned it all, made meals, shopped for all the food, drove long hours, took time off from work, etc.  And we missed everyone that couldn't make it this year.  Some day I'll get to be at a Brandt Reunion where EVERYONE will be there! :)

Summer Lovin'. Part I.

Since April, quite a lot has happened to this little family of ours.  At least it feels like a lot has happened.  Jane started crawling, we moved into Andrew's parents' house, a niece got married, we went to a family reunion (where Jane got to pet her first, REAL horse!), Jane and I took a trip up to New York to visit my parents, Jane had her first ear infection (it was NASTY), and she turned one!  So even though life has been insane, it has also been so fun.  Oh and as of now there's only two months left until we become a family of 4(!!), or a family of 6 if you include the cats, which I feel is only right to do.

So let's get started with all the pictures!  Because that's all that everyone cares about, right? :)

These first few are from before we moved, which was near the end of June.  In the middle of May we found out that baby Brandt #2 is a girl!

^This was Jane's face when she heard she was going to be a big sister :) Ok, she doesn't really understand what's going on, but this was that same day and she was making some CRAZY faces.

^Chillin' one Sunday afternoon.

^Little Lady Jane.

^I desperately needed a nap one day and Jane wouldn't let me be so I just laid down on the bed and eventually we both fell asleep.

^Jane and I watched the Field Hockey World Cup that was in May or June.  She actually was really interested, for about the first 5 minutes.  But still, she hasn't shown that much focus and concentration on something like that before.  Except maybe basketball :)

^Piper snuggling with me for one of the last times before becoming an outside cat.  She kills me.

^This was me and my belly at 26 weeks! 

^These two.  He pretends he doesn't like Jane, but I think he secretly loves her.  He lets her lay her head on him and snuggle for a few minutes, as well as smack him on the back quite a lot...

^This picture is hilarious.  This was during our move and she pulled this WEIRD face and it just get s me every time.

This is one of the only pictures I have from the day of Andrew's niece's wedding... we had dinner at a Steak n' Shake!  I figured I would leave all the picture taking to the professional photographer, though I wish I had taken just a few snaps of the beautiful bride and groom, and the rest of the fam all fancied up.  It was a really fun day that started off a crazy week at Massanutten for the Brandt Family Reunion!

Before we left for Massanutten, VA we were able to see one of my brothers and his family, since they live somewhat close to Raleigh, which is where the wedding was.  I'm so glad we got see them!  It stinks that it was a VERY short visit, but hopefully we can see them again soon.  And I didn't take any pictures from that visit either...  I think what I need is a real nice camera that I can take pictures with, instead of just my phone.  So if you ever read this Andrew... take note :)

Family Reunion coming up next!