Road Trip to MD

Last week, Nathan and I took an impromptu road trip up to Maryland. We have family that we miss dearly up there - I couldn't not go when Mom said she was going for Aunt Mary's birthday. Tuesday afternoon we headed up.

Nathan, of course, did great in the car. I swear I am always surprised at how good he is. I know he is a good baby but it's like I keep waiting for a bad kid to emerge. I hear about kids going from babies to toddlers and how they have a hard time and their angels turn to demons. And maybe it's coming. But for now, Nathan is a pleasure in most situations. He entertained himself with his toys, his shoes, then socks, then feet. He sang and talked and looked out the window, only complaining towards the end of our six hour ride when it was dark and we were all antsy and hungry.

Aunt Mary has a nice dinner waiting for us when we arrived. She had nice meals the whole time actually. She is an amazing cook and I think I found someone to recipe swap with. Uncle Lee was home too. We enjoyed catching up before a busy few days.

Wednesday I had to do some work but Gigi was on patrol. Thank goodness for Grandma's! Cousin Elaine planned to come up for lunch and to hang for a while. We determined we hadn't seen each other in over two years or something like that. SAD! How does time pass so quickly?! We had a nice time together over lunch. Cousin Lee came home too. Another long time, no see! Nathan got to meet more cousins and get aquainted. And just when thought we had seen it all, Cousin Jill walked in! She was in town for a conference and surprised us by coming home. Yay! We got to see the new engagement ring and talk about her 4/2/10 wedding. What a treat!

Thursday we ran some errands around town in Easton, MD, and Aunt Mary showed us an Amish Market. This place had beautiful handmade furniture and lots of wonderful food. There was a whole section of fresh spices cheap! We stocked up to replenish our old spices and it got me excited about cooking up some new dishes. I can't wait! Later that afternoon we went to Aunt Janes and Uncle Jimmy's. Elaine and Julie were there too and we had a great dinner. There was a high chair all set up for Nathan already, as well as a sippy cup and toys. Toys from when the kids were all growing up. Toys I used to play with. It was really neat to have that flash back. Funny how those things bring back memories.

Friday morning we were up and at 'em to get back to Raleigh. While we were gone we got news about the house. We had a buyer for ours and it fell through so our house is back on the market again. Boooo. But we are still working on the deal with the new one so maybe it's ok and will work out just right. So now we are back to keeping the house perfect in case we have to show. We were so loving being lazy bums for a few weeks!

This Saturday Matt and Joey come for a few days to hang with us on their spring break. Hopefully the weather will stay in the wonderful 60's that we've seen all week. Coming from upstate in college, it will be a nice change for both of them. I'm looking forward to cooking for them and having a nice week together.

Oh yes, and we have the 11 month picture much delayed. Only one more to complete the year. How did that happen? I'm not sure how we will celebrate the occasion. How does one commemorate the best year you've ever had?!