The day after Christmas, we loaded in the car and headed east to visit my brother and his family in Maryland. Mike had to work that day, so we didn't pull out of town until 4:45. We drove half-way the first night and then finished up the trip on Saturday. It was a looooong drive, especially because Jack slept very little and had an allergic reaction to the scrambled eggs he ate for breakfast on Sat. morning. The saving grace was the DVD player in my mom's car. It kept them occupied for many hours, and we had headphones so the whole car didn't have to listen to Elmo and Arthur!
Upon arrival, we were thrilled to meet Alex, my brother's third son, who is 7 weeks old. I enjoyed cuddling him and feeding him, but it reminded me that I also love having kids who are a little older and more independent :) We also quickly moved to their living room to exchange presents, and within a matter of about 10 minutes, it was pandemonium (in a fun, good way). 
Over the course of the next 4 days, the four older kids played well and visited the Air and Space Hanger, The National Zoo, and a couple local restaurants...all in all, a great time was had by all and the kids really enjoyed playing together. One of the highlights was a picnic table brought into the kitchen so they could all eat together. Daisy the dog especially liked this arrangement, and by day 2, Jack was very adept at saying "no, no Daisy dog."
On the last night, my mom requested a picture with all the grandkids and the grandparents...much easier said than done. We had the kids in their matching shirts that Susan got them for Christmas, but they just didn't cooperate...first one, then another decided they just didn't want to be in a picture. At the end, my brother and I wound up sitting in the picture in hopes of getting something decent...and this is the best we had!
Upon arrival, we were thrilled to meet Alex, my brother's third son, who is 7 weeks old. I enjoyed cuddling him and feeding him, but it reminded me that I also love having kids who are a little older and more independent :) We also quickly moved to their living room to exchange presents, and within a matter of about 10 minutes, it was pandemonium (in a fun, good way). Over the course of the next 4 days, the four older kids played well and visited the Air and Space Hanger, The National Zoo, and a couple local restaurants...all in all, a great time was had by all and the kids really enjoyed playing together. One of the highlights was a picnic table brought into the kitchen so they could all eat together. Daisy the dog especially liked this arrangement, and by day 2, Jack was very adept at saying "no, no Daisy dog."
While there, I was also lucky enough to have a chance to visit with my friend Kristen and her twins. We are good friends from college and she was in our wedding, but we hadn't seen each other in three years (and three kids ago!). It was fantastic to see her girls and have a little of a chance to catch up with her, but a much longer weekend is needed!
On the last night, my mom requested a picture with all the grandkids and the grandparents...much easier said than done. We had the kids in their matching shirts that Susan got them for Christmas, but they just didn't cooperate...first one, then another decided they just didn't want to be in a picture. At the end, my brother and I wound up sitting in the picture in hopes of getting something decent...and this is the best we had!
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