Day Three: Lots of Cousins, Take Two

This probably will not be as well written as last night's post; I'm tired. Thanks for all the emails and comments... I have no idea where the lost post went, but it wasn't published and it wasn't auto saved. Hope I have better luck this time!

On the third morning of our trip we loaded the stroller after breakfast and hit the same park playgrounds and did the same walking tour of town that we had the previous two days; the girls were really getting the hang of things. We had lunch downtown (inside a restaurant, not on the street) with Gamma, and even had a couple of visitors come by to meet the girls for the first time. After lunch the little gals went back for a nap, and Ella got to spend some quality time with Gamma at her antique shop.
When Maggie, Kate, and Sarah woke up from their naps, we headed over to Scott's grandparents house for an evening of fun with the cousins. While we were waiting for the rest of the crowd to arrive, the girls snacked on fresh strawberries and bananas. Maggie was a huge fan of the strawberries!
The shot above is one of our multiple multiples photos plus Ella. Courtney and Kimberly are Scott's cousin Rosalie's 6 year old twin girls. As a side note, people are always asking if triplets run in our family. I know enough triplet moms to realize that this is a nice way of prying asking whether they were conceived spontaneously (naturally) or as a result of fertility treatments. Because ours are spontaneous the question is not a painful reminder of infertility for me, but I still just usually say, "They do now." But seriously, we have quite a number of twins on both sides of our families. Scott has these second cousins pictured above and I believe a great aunt and uncle were fraternal twins on his dad's side as well. My great grandmother on my dad's side was an identical twin, and I have great aunts who are twins on my mom's side as well as several sets of 3rd cousins who are twins. So twins definitely run in our families, but do triplets really run in any family?!?
The great grandparents had everything set up for a fun afternoon and evening. There was sidewalk chalk (or chonk) as Ella calls it, bubbles, balls, and lots and lots of running around enjoying the company of cousins whom we almost never have the chance to see.
I think one of the very best parts of our whole trip was having all these people who have loved and prayed for our girls over the last couple of years actually get to spend time with them in person playing and getting to know them in real life. Just look how happy Sarah and Great Grandaddy both look!?!

Great grandmother wisely planned to have pizza for supper... the girls' favorite meal! She sure knows the way to her little one's hearts. There was the "big girls only table" pictured above with Mackenzie at the head....
.... and the "small fry" section on the floor nearby.

Before we left we tried to get a group shot of all the great granddaughters. Scott's grandparents have 9 great- granddaughters and one great- grandson on the way.... finally. We were missing one set of cousins, and Jessi, the little one on the left kept trying to run away, but this was our attempt to document this evening for them. Unfortunately Kate was crying in every single one of the shots.

Overall, our trip was off the charts for fun, family time, and great memories! If it weren't for the pesky road trip there and back, we'd be planning our next trip there already. A huge thank you to Gamma, the great grandparents, and all the cousins for making the girls' first visit a wonderful one. We love and miss you all!