GAD and the Grandparents W.

This past weekend, visitors descended upon our household and Ellie met several new relatives. I think it gave her a taste of what is to come in the next few weeks, as we are leaving on Saturday for a 10-day Florida trip to be followed immediately by my family reunion in Cleveland. It will be a lot of travel, a lot of new places, and lots of new people for Ellie to meet. I hope she's ready for it. I guess it was probably good to have this weekend to ease her into it, on her own turf.

The weekend started off with a little visit from my Aunt Debbie, Gary and Debbie's sister Lori. They stopped by for an hour or two on Saturday morning before continuing on into the city for some sightseeing. Ellie blew us away with her good behavior during this visit. She was quiet, sweet, happy, smiley and all around delightful. Considering that the last time she met one of her great-aunts, she screamed the entire time, we welcomed this new approach.

Saying hello to her Great Aunt Debbie

Aunt Debbie has had lots of baby practice recently - both of her children have had babies in the past six months!

Lori, Aunt Debbie, Gary, Achilles and Ellie

Sweetness!

After the first round of visitors left, Ellie had some lunch and went down for a nap. While she was sleeping, her Grandpa W. and Grandma Suellen arrived for their visit. So as not to disturb the baby (all that "never wake a sleeping baby" stuff people always say is so, so true), Eric took his dad and Suellen into the city for a little sightseeing while Ellie napped. They saw Eric's office, Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral before heading back to Hoboken, where they stopped to take in the views of the skyline at Pier C.

Ellie's grandparents at Rockefeller Center!

Enjoying the view

Welcome to Hoboken!

By then Ellie was waking back up, and she was ready to meet another set of grandparents. I would say the first introductions went quite well.

Everyone getting a good look at each other

Ellie and her Grandpa

Three generations of W.'s!

After having a pizza lunch and spending an awful lot of time watching Ellie roll around on the floor, we all went out for a short walk around Hoboken, along the waterfront and over to Washington Street. We stopped for some Crumbs cupcakes then came back home for a bit before everyone left for dinner at Biggie's, while Ellie and I stayed home.

It seems that as time has gone on, I've gotten a bit more casual with how I hold her.

On Sunday, the W. Grandparents returned and we watched Ellie roll around for a while once again. That kid is entertaining! When it was about her nap time, Eric took our guests back into the city. This time they stayed downtown. They walked past the World Trade Center, through St. Paul's Chapel, down Broadway to Trinity Church, down Wall Street to the Stock Exchange (and the area where Eric filmed The Dark Knight Rises, in theaters Friday!), and down Williams Street to where Eric's dad used to work. They then walked back to the train, passing the Bull on the way.

By the Stock Exchange

On their way home, they stopped for lunch and ate along the waterfront. Ellie was still asleep when they got back, so we very quietly said our good-byes and they left for Connecticut, the next leg of their road trip through the area. It was a nice visit, and now Ellie has met nearly all of her grandparents - only one left! I can't wait for her to have met them all!

She was really so good all weekend - we could not have asked for anything more. She was an angel. Now, let's all cross our fingers that she does just as well with the visiting marathon she has ahead of her starting this weekend!