Ol’ Pocono

Another year, another trip with the family and friends to the Poconos. This year is extra special since it is Nora’s first time in the Poconos. Well, her first time out of the womb, anyway. She was kinda-sorta there last year.

As always, we hit the road on Thursday night after work, and arrived in the mountains late. Once the cars were unpacked, Nora was in bed, and we all had the chance to sit down with a few beers or glasses of wine, we caught up for a little bit, only to discover that it was soon 1:00 a.m. Oops.

Nora woke us up early this morning–6:00 a.m., to be exact. We were pretty surprised since she had been up so late, but she was out of her element and in the same room as us, which can be a challenge. I brought her into bed and nursed her, then successfully got her to pass out again so we could all get more sleep. I have to admit that it was pretty nice to snuggle with her, because it’s not something we get to do very often anymore. When we woke up again, we realized it was close to 8:30–whoa! Up we were, and downstairs for some breakfast in the morning room.

Nora was loving Grammy’s banana bread!

Everyone else started to slowly trickle downstairs or over from the carriage house. We all sat out on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful morning together.

Nora practiced her standing skills. How cute are her little legs?!

This is a common scene during our Poconos weekends. Everyone sitting around with the kids and the dogs. Love!

With SIX dogs in attendance this year (yes, SIX), Hunter was in dog-lovin’ heaven.

It wasn’t even noon yet when the boys started loading up the floating cooler to take down to the pond with them. Vacation? Yes.

This is one of the new additions to the pack of dogs–this is Coqueta. Susan and Vinny (my mom’s friends who own the house/land and host us every year) rescued her from Costa Rica. She is SO sweet.

The twin bros together. They don’t look alike AT ALL. :)

Once Nora was up from her morning nap, I dressed her in one of the new shirts that her Aunt Marie brought for her. This one was a halter top! Adorable!

I had fun taking lots of photos of Nora on the porch. Gorgeous light.

Had to snap this one quickly, when Nora and Tessa were actually sharing a lap. Tessa is usually pretty cautious with Nora–doesn’t like to lie next to her or anything. She’s intimidated by Nora for some reason (she’s a wimp).

My paradise. Seriously.

Later, after some struggle, Nora went down for an afternoon nap. When I suspected that she was finally sleeping, I went to go check on her, only to find her in her funniest sleep position yet:

That is her FOOT up on her face. Little one must’ve been sitting up, then was so tired, she leaned forward and passed out.

A clearer look from above (instead of through the mesh of the pack ‘n’ play).

These are Susan’s other two dogs, Indie and Sashi. They were hanging out with the boys on the dock while they fished.

Tyler caught a pretty big fish (I’m told it was a walleye. Whatever that means.)

Doug (Susan and Vinny’s son) fileted it while Hunter looked on.

This is the other new addition this year–Buckley. He’s Trevor and Kara’s (and Hunter’s!) dog, a 10-month-old beagle they rescued.

Mom and Susan (and Sashi and Indie!) went out in the paddle boat for a while.

We walked back up toward the house from the pond, and played with the kids in the grass for a while. Hunter LOVES Nora (he calls her “Nor”), and after taking tons of pics of the two of them together, I managed to snag this one:

HOW STINKING CUTE IS THAT?! (I played around with this one in Photoshop, that’s why the color/style is different from the rest.)

Mom with her grandchildren.

As we got ready to cook dinner, a storm rolled in and it started to pour.

It’s funny, because it ALWAYS pours at some point when we’re in the Poconos. Every year.

By this point, Tessa was so tired, she didn’t care that she had to share my lap with Nora. :)

We grilled and enjoyed dinner together, put Nora to bed, and then all of the adults crashed in the living room to watch a movie (“Limitless”). In the Poconos, our days are relaxed, but full–we’re all exhausted!