Sorensen Family Reunion

Dave's Aunt Barbara and Uncle Nick celebrated their milestones birthdays this past weekend so we had a family reunion in Albany.

We headed up Friday and ran into a bit of traffic but luckily still made it in time to have dinner with most of the family. Anna was thrilled to see Mimi - she ran right to her Mimi when we ran into her and Grandpa in the hotel lobby as we arrived. Anna kept saying 'Mimi, Mimi' over and over again and she didn't want to leave her when it was time to go back to hotel for the night.

Dave went out with his cousins for a little while, and I went back to the hotel with Anna for the night since it was getting late and I was still battling my summer cold. Anna was sad to see the evening come to an end but she calmed down after a short while and went to sleep on her new inflatable bed. She was a bit restless later in the evening but did pretty well considering the circumstances.

By 7:30 am she was raring to go and chanting 'Mimi, Mimi' over and over again. We met Mimi and Grandpa for breakfast downstairs, and then after a bit of confusion, headed to Aunt Barbara's to meet up with the cousins. After visiting with everyone for a little while, the group went their separate ways for a little afternoon fun. Anna went back to the hotel with Mimi for a rest, and Dave and I spent some time with his cousin and his fiancee. Since we didn't have a lot of time before the party, we went for a walk through a local college. It was nice to catch up with Craig and get to know his fiancee.

The party was a lot of fun and Anna was a big hit. She wore her strawberry sundress and charmed the family with her big smile and cheerful 'hi'. After dinner, the balloons came down and Anna had tons of fun marching around with a yellow one. Whenever she got a little too far away, I was able to quickly find her by spotting the yellow balloon floating just above the table lines! She had fun watching all of the older cousins run around and her older cousin Natalie took a strong liking to her which provided Dave and me with a bit of adult time (thanks Nat!), but mostly Anna enjoyed marching with her yellow balloon, goodie bag and red sweater and, of course, getting lots of hugs and kisses from Mimi.

Saturday was a late night and Anna was not very happy about the party coming to an end. But after returning to the hotel just before 10 pm, she settled down pretty quickly. Of course, the late night didn't prevent her from popping right back up at 7:30 am chanting 'Mimi, Mimi' again. So we packed up and headed to brunch at Aunt Barbara's. One last chance to visit and say our final good byes before heading home again. Anna enjoyed some time with her cousins drawing with chalk on the driveway and loved climbing up Aunt Barbara's plushly carpeted stairs. She and Mimi also had a chance to visit one last time, which was definitely the highlight of Anna's trip.

A little before noon, we were all feeling tired from the busy weekend so we decided to head home. Anna was sad to see the weekend come to an end and was especially sorry to say goodbye to Mimi but she quickly settled down for a rest in the car. Even though her rest was short lived, she was happy to play with me in the back seat before we stopped for a yummy pizza lunch in Mahwah. And since we were so close to our friend Karen's house, we stopped in for a visit with her and her little dog Mia. Anna was feeling refreshed and was happy to get out of the car for awhile.

But all good things have to come to an end. We made it home just before 5 pm for some much needed relaxation. We were thrilled that the weekend went so smoothly but also glad to be home
for some time to ourselves before the busy week started all over again.

Happy birthday Aunt Barbara and Uncle Nick and thanks for everything Smith Family! It was great to see everyone. Balboa!