Super Sandi

On her way to picking up Mira and Jacob after 3 great weeks at CYJ, Aunt Sandi stopped by Austin for a couple days. While this post includes many people we saw and played with over the course of our time with Aunt Sandi, this post is dedicated to her. Aunt Sandi gets credit for officially fixing my toddler who had considered both of his Texas aunts as pure enemies until he finally saw the spark in Aunt Sandi, let her in, and became a loving child to all.

At first, Aunt Sandi approached Spencer very cautiously, giving him the regular threats of imminent kidnapping.

All it took was a yellow frog.

For months, I've been trying to tell my sisters that my 3rd child was a very happy boy. They pretended to believe me but I don't think they quite did. Without knowing why he held a grudge in the first place, Aunt Sandi managed to break the spell and the rest of the weekend together was smooth (if not great) sailing.

sharing a toy sweetly (until big brother wants his share of the attention)

blowing in butts

the end of a great running hug (blame the photographer)

We're gonna make it after all! (And now that lyric's in your head, isn't it?)

When the Gildens showed up for Saturday afternoon fun, Gabi decided she wanted special girls time with Aunt Sandi doing mani-pedi's. And so, Shayna was treated to her very first pedicure. Why did Shayna sit so nicely keeping her foot on the paper towel? We'll never actually know.

girls time!

Apparently, Gabi decided she can paint her own toes at 5.5.

Thankfully, Gabi let Aunt Sandi take care of the manicure.

When you have the right combination of digital technology, happy and adorable babies, and a picture-obsessed blogger, beautiful things are possible:


Aunt Syssa, who's been off the 'good list' since Spencer could voice his own interests, was in on the love!

My sweet Ethan decided he wanted his share of picture love too.

It was a good night for all!

On Sunday morning, a new day began and there was more family fun to be had.

The clock was yellow, so up with you.

This time, we invaded Chez Gilden.

Just as I am sometimes a smart mom, my kiddos are sometimes very sweet kiddos.

Joey got loaded up into Bluebell, and the party bus headed out for Special Aunt Time!

Special Aunt Time included a visit to fro yo, and it most certainly included Spencer feeding himself his own cup.

And in case you were wondering, Spencer hadn't yet forgotten that he loved his aunt now.

Aunt Sandi loved on kitty Casey too.

On Monday, we made it to CYJ to greet 2 very happy Cohan campers after 3 weeks away.

While Mira is happy to see Spencer, Spencer doesn't understand why she's not as focused on eating watermelon.

After lunch, the cafeteria exploded with dancing, which you would think would have overwhelmed the 3.5 year old...but he figured out how to adapt. (And then, there's the crazy guy imitating a chicken for cheap laughs.)

Hanging on hammocks:


On our way back from Wimberly, we started off strong with a car-full of smiles and ended with a car-full of Cohens going strong and smiling. Get some rest, Cohans.