We made it back from our trip, alive and semi-conscious. What a fantastic time we had. We always cram as much into our trips as possible while still relaxing and this time was no exception. We flew into Washington DC on a Saturday night and spent the rest of the weekend there relaxing in the hotel pool and finding a rental big enough for our family (we reserved one but were informed at the last minute that it was only a 7-seater.) We drove all the way up to the tippy-top of VT where my dad lives and where all my siblings were waiting for us. It was a long and often very loud drive with many, many stops. We spent a good 10 days in peaceful VT recovering and laughing it up with my family. Then it was off to CT to catch the ferry over to Long Island. As I recall, Samantha screamed for a solid 45 minutes at one point. The ferry ride was nice because there was no car seat involved! The McGee family was gracious enough to put us up for a couple of nights and we thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them and swimming in their pool. Lonny really wanted the kids to see a big fireworks show on the 4th of July so we drove to Jones Beach where we and tens of thousands of other people watched an amazing show. Even Ethan and Samantha were duly impressed. The next day we visited one of Lonny's buddies from Southern Police Institute. Kevin is the quintessential NYPD officer. And what a great family he has - they were very good to us and we had a wonderful visit with them. Then it was off to NJ where we were able to visit a good friend from The University of Dallas, my alma mater. Mary and her family put us up for the night and once again, we thoroughly enjoyed our time together. The next 5 days or so we spent at my brother's house in VA. The kids swam and played with their cousins, we went to Arlington National Cemetery and to a couple of Civil War sites, Fredricksburg and Manassas, everyone went to King's Dominion and I stayed behind with the little ones, we went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and of course had a good visit with my brother! We also met up with a high school friend of mine at Manassas and met her little boy. For our last couple of days in VA, we went to my cousin's house in Stafford and hung out with her and her dad (my uncle) and her family. We got to meet her daughter's Samantha Marie who is 2 months older than ours. Everyone had a great time playing Pool and Wii. My uncle, Lonny and the 2 older boys went to the Marine Corps Museum on our last day while Matthew spent time with my cousin's husband and Molly, Sam, Ethan and I hung out with my cousin and played all day. It was a memorable visit. We spent the last night in a hotel close to the airport and, thankfully, had a fairly uneventful flight back home where Abby met us with frenetic barking and tail wagging. Whew - what a ride - but it's good to be home again.
