Let's go back...
...a few weeks. Maybe even a month. I'm not sure, my memory seems to have gone to bed with Michael.
Over spring break, the kids and I made a trip up to the Land of Ports to visit Michael's big bro and his amazing family. I love going there because they are always the best hosts and really know how to treat me like the royalty I am. All except for giving up their bed. Although next time, I think I will insist.
The first day we were there, Aunt Jen (meant to be said with a French accent) came up with the idea of going roller skating. Us, being the pros we are, agreed. (Didn't know it could be a professional sport, eh? Ever seen Xanadu? Ana knows...) Some of the kids took to it right away. Like my Hunter and little Corrinnee girl. Corrine had to change into her "skating" outfit. Which consisted of a pink butterfly shirt, jeans, and her sparkly dance skirt over top of the jeans. Her hair had to be "down and straight". She dons this outfit every time we go skating. It's great. Hunter just plays it cool and low key. Chillaxin'. Also, Emily, my niece, was fabulous. She kept falling, but dang it!, she got up every time and kept on going. She laughed at herself, which in turn made us laugh, which in turn made her keep laughing. And on it went. Sweet Amanda and Ty-guy didn't appreciate the sport so much. They did try, bless them! I am in love with the picture that follows. I think it truly illustrates so well the feelings that were prevalent that day.
Tyler could take or leave skating. Preferably leave it. Corrine is thrilled to be back in the game, dressed to the nines. And Amanda (in the middle) is patiently waiting for the camera's flash so she can escape from the menacing contraptions on her feet. I imagine her saying under her breath, "I am soooooo over this." She decided to hang out with me and Laynee instead. I'm glad she did. She's a great companion. Thanks for hangin' with me, Amanda!
The next photos are of Corrine skating on the ramp that went up and down and up and down. She totally crashes but loves feeling the wind in her hair when she's on the down part.
Aunt Jen (say it in French, remember?) and Tyler cuttin' it up.
The next day, our gracious hosts had planned for us to go to McMennamin's (not sure on the spelling of that) for pizza and a movie. We saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks". It was a cute show, and the kids enjoyed it. All except the babe. She was not enjoying it so much. Funny how she was more entertained with the emergency exit than she was with a trio of singing chipmunks. What is wrong with my baby?
This random shot is one of their entire loft/music studio taken from the viewpoint of a super cool retro lamp. It's all encompassing, isn't it?
See this candle in the foreground? See the piano in the background? Couple of things. 1) I am in love with the candle. I want to snuggle it and smell it and take it to bed with me and breathe in it's intoxicating scent. It reminds me of Michael's neck. Hehe. Enough said. And 2) It doesn't hurt to hear Anthony creating beautiful music in the background while I snuggle with my candle.
I also like this view of their over-the-fireplace-mirror and decor.
Sweet little girlie in the girlie girls' room. It is ELECTRIC pink. I love it. It makes me want to eat raspberries and grapefruit while listening to Hilary Duff. And I don't even like raspberries and grapefruit!
I love this clock on the wall. It totally fits into the whole ambiance of Ant and J's place.
Sometimes when we are staying with "the cousins" we get some music going. OK, every time we stay with "the cousins" we get the music going. It's what we do. Or more accurately, it's what they do. It's so great to be a part of something and make it sound amazing and know it came from your fingertips. Or vocal chords. Or body. Whichever. The kids love it, too. We all feel like SUPERSTARS! (Imagine me down on one knee with my arms raised above my head doing 'Jazz hands' as I say this.) Here, Hunter and Tyler are posing with Flat Stanley as they accompany Anthony, who is on guitar.
Don't you just love them? They love you, too.
A staple in the loft of the Burrell home.
Jen (again with the accent) is a really good decorator. These are on a shelf in the bathroom, over the toilet. I bet it would sting a little if they fell on you while you were taking care of business.
A yummy, delicious, good for you drink that cured some guy's mom's cancer. True story.
Laynee is a hands-on kinda gal. She loves to help. Too bad Ellie the dog isn't down with being hand fed by a miniature human. She's really missing out.
Corrine accompanied Anthony while he sang her favorite song. Want to guess what it is? I'll tell you. You'll never guess it. "Time is Running Out" by Muse. I, never in a million years would have thought this would be her fav song. But, it is. You can sample it here.
More totally cool table top decor. The metal guy in the foreground is sweet, too.
Jen (how did you pronounce it?) is also a guitarist. She puts on these gloves specially for jamming. I think Anthony's exact comment was, "Nice gloves, Madonna."
I want some, now.
On our last day, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's. Where a kid can be a kid. Layna wasn't into the whole huge mouse wearing clothes and staring at her. I don't blame her. I'm rather puzzled by this phenomenon as well. In spite of that, we all had a great time. And the kids learned a valuable lesson on frugality. Let me explain. We had been there maybe 10 minutes and all their tokens were gone. Gone. $6.50 worth. Gone. All except for Emily. She managed to hold onto all of her tokens until just before it was time to leave. Girl knows how to manage her money!
My baby loves the rides. She just doesn't know how to control her emotions quite yet. Poor thing. Good thing big sister was there to rescue her. Thanks, Roo.
My lovely sista, Jen. (Say it again. With the accent. Just because.)
Emily and Corrine had a blast dancing to Chuck E. Cheese's music videos. On TV. There was this video camera and a blue screen. You could stand in front of the camera with the screen behind you and shake your bacon and be on TV. Well, Chuck's TV. They thought it was awesome. (Below is a picture of the divas in front of the blue screen.)
So. There you have it readers. A bit late, but a good post nevertheless. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Anthony and Jen. We loved spending time with you and making all these great memories. I hope you don't mind all the information I gave away about your private lives. I told you I'd make you famous. Don't say I didn't warn you! ;)
Over spring break, the kids and I made a trip up to the Land of Ports to visit Michael's big bro and his amazing family. I love going there because they are always the best hosts and really know how to treat me like the royalty I am. All except for giving up their bed. Although next time, I think I will insist.
The first day we were there, Aunt Jen (meant to be said with a French accent) came up with the idea of going roller skating. Us, being the pros we are, agreed. (Didn't know it could be a professional sport, eh? Ever seen Xanadu? Ana knows...) Some of the kids took to it right away. Like my Hunter and little Corrinnee girl. Corrine had to change into her "skating" outfit. Which consisted of a pink butterfly shirt, jeans, and her sparkly dance skirt over top of the jeans. Her hair had to be "down and straight". She dons this outfit every time we go skating. It's great. Hunter just plays it cool and low key. Chillaxin'. Also, Emily, my niece, was fabulous. She kept falling, but dang it!, she got up every time and kept on going. She laughed at herself, which in turn made us laugh, which in turn made her keep laughing. And on it went. Sweet Amanda and Ty-guy didn't appreciate the sport so much. They did try, bless them! I am in love with the picture that follows. I think it truly illustrates so well the feelings that were prevalent that day.
Tyler could take or leave skating. Preferably leave it. Corrine is thrilled to be back in the game, dressed to the nines. And Amanda (in the middle) is patiently waiting for the camera's flash so she can escape from the menacing contraptions on her feet. I imagine her saying under her breath, "I am soooooo over this." She decided to hang out with me and Laynee instead. I'm glad she did. She's a great companion. Thanks for hangin' with me, Amanda!The next photos are of Corrine skating on the ramp that went up and down and up and down. She totally crashes but loves feeling the wind in her hair when she's on the down part.
Aunt Jen (say it in French, remember?) and Tyler cuttin' it up.
The next day, our gracious hosts had planned for us to go to McMennamin's (not sure on the spelling of that) for pizza and a movie. We saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks". It was a cute show, and the kids enjoyed it. All except the babe. She was not enjoying it so much. Funny how she was more entertained with the emergency exit than she was with a trio of singing chipmunks. What is wrong with my baby?
This random shot is one of their entire loft/music studio taken from the viewpoint of a super cool retro lamp. It's all encompassing, isn't it?
See this candle in the foreground? See the piano in the background? Couple of things. 1) I am in love with the candle. I want to snuggle it and smell it and take it to bed with me and breathe in it's intoxicating scent. It reminds me of Michael's neck. Hehe. Enough said. And 2) It doesn't hurt to hear Anthony creating beautiful music in the background while I snuggle with my candle.
I also like this view of their over-the-fireplace-mirror and decor.
Sweet little girlie in the girlie girls' room. It is ELECTRIC pink. I love it. It makes me want to eat raspberries and grapefruit while listening to Hilary Duff. And I don't even like raspberries and grapefruit!
I love this clock on the wall. It totally fits into the whole ambiance of Ant and J's place.
Sometimes when we are staying with "the cousins" we get some music going. OK, every time we stay with "the cousins" we get the music going. It's what we do. Or more accurately, it's what they do. It's so great to be a part of something and make it sound amazing and know it came from your fingertips. Or vocal chords. Or body. Whichever. The kids love it, too. We all feel like SUPERSTARS! (Imagine me down on one knee with my arms raised above my head doing 'Jazz hands' as I say this.) Here, Hunter and Tyler are posing with Flat Stanley as they accompany Anthony, who is on guitar.
Don't you just love them? They love you, too.
A staple in the loft of the Burrell home.
Jen (again with the accent) is a really good decorator. These are on a shelf in the bathroom, over the toilet. I bet it would sting a little if they fell on you while you were taking care of business.
A yummy, delicious, good for you drink that cured some guy's mom's cancer. True story.
Laynee is a hands-on kinda gal. She loves to help. Too bad Ellie the dog isn't down with being hand fed by a miniature human. She's really missing out.
Corrine accompanied Anthony while he sang her favorite song. Want to guess what it is? I'll tell you. You'll never guess it. "Time is Running Out" by Muse. I, never in a million years would have thought this would be her fav song. But, it is. You can sample it here.
More totally cool table top decor. The metal guy in the foreground is sweet, too.
Jen (how did you pronounce it?) is also a guitarist. She puts on these gloves specially for jamming. I think Anthony's exact comment was, "Nice gloves, Madonna."I want some, now.
On our last day, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's. Where a kid can be a kid. Layna wasn't into the whole huge mouse wearing clothes and staring at her. I don't blame her. I'm rather puzzled by this phenomenon as well. In spite of that, we all had a great time. And the kids learned a valuable lesson on frugality. Let me explain. We had been there maybe 10 minutes and all their tokens were gone. Gone. $6.50 worth. Gone. All except for Emily. She managed to hold onto all of her tokens until just before it was time to leave. Girl knows how to manage her money!
My baby loves the rides. She just doesn't know how to control her emotions quite yet. Poor thing. Good thing big sister was there to rescue her. Thanks, Roo.
My lovely sista, Jen. (Say it again. With the accent. Just because.)
Emily and Corrine had a blast dancing to Chuck E. Cheese's music videos. On TV. There was this video camera and a blue screen. You could stand in front of the camera with the screen behind you and shake your bacon and be on TV. Well, Chuck's TV. They thought it was awesome. (Below is a picture of the divas in front of the blue screen.)
So. There you have it readers. A bit late, but a good post nevertheless. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Anthony and Jen. We loved spending time with you and making all these great memories. I hope you don't mind all the information I gave away about your private lives. I told you I'd make you famous. Don't say I didn't warn you! ;)
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