Bye Bye Baltimore

We've had a fun month in Baltimore. When we got here on April 13, Owen wasn't even quite a month old. Now he's already 7 1/2 weeks old and many pounds heavier. I don't need to tell you that we loved getting to spend so much time with him. We left town yesterday and now we're on our way to Warsaw. But before we left we had a whirlwind last week in Baltimore.

On Saturday we gathered at Mary and Andy's house to watch the Kinetic Sculpture Race, sponsored by the American Visionary Arts Museum.

The alligator was my favorite kinetic sculpture. All sculptures had to ride on dry land, in the water, and in mud. We only watched them on dry land though.

Peter and Jessa's college friend Ana - also a Harrison family friend - drove down from Pennsylvania and spent the day with us. We always enjoy seeing her.

The next day our niece and nephew, Kelsey and Kyle, drove up from DC and we got to catch up with them.

That same evening, Andy's parents came over and we spent some time outside while Owen slept in the fresh air.

Other highlights from the week were that Owen and I got to be twins when we realized we had the same fashion taste.

And it was great to keep getting to spend quiet weekday time with Mary and Owen.

I treasure the time we got to be with this sweet baby these past four weeks. I wish we could spend even more time here, but with three cousins that we want to be with just as much, we've become a traveling grandparent road show. Which is a pretty wonderful thing to get to be.




 

Baltimore and Beyond

We've spent the last two weeks at our new Baltimore house. It's my first time here and I really like it. The house is great and we're a ten minute walk to Mary and Andy's house. Restaurants and grocery shopping are a short walk away. We leave tomorrow but we're returning in April to meet the new baby.

We came here to celebrate these two as they wait for the baby, who's due in three weeks. Last weekend the grandparents hosted a baby shower.

The shower was at a restaurant down the street from Mary and Andy's house. All four grandparents are in agreement that we're very excited for the arrival of this baby! It'll be our fourth grandchild in four years, and Mark and Eileen's first grandchild.

Eileen procured a cake that's more than blog-worthy. It was both beautiful and delicious.

Last weekend we went out to brunch. The weather was quite cold the first week we were here with lows in the teens and 20s. But it warmed up a lot in the second week with highs in the 60s.

I'm training for a 10k that I'm running next weekend, so I had non-negotiable running days. Even on the cold days it was clear and, best of all, dry. 

We played trivia the other night and took first place in a field of over 10 teams. And yep, I was very excited about this. Everybody else took it in stride.

But enough about us. Lloyd has a soccer shirt and he likes to play soccer with his daycare friends.

Freddie doesn't have a soccer shirt (yet) but he has this sweet face and toys galore.

Rosie and Peter and Jessa went on a trip this week, as it was  February break. First they took an overnight train to Vienna.

Then they took another overnight train to Florence and spent a few days there. All reports are they had a great time. They got home today.

Byyyyyye January

I haven't done one regular blog post all month. So here I am, making up for a lot of lost blogging time. Let's start at the beginning of the month. Or, more accurately, the very end of last month. We went to Pasadena for the Rose Parade with our friends Tucson friends Tim and Mary. Here we watched the floats being made.

We also visited the Huntington Gardens in San Marino. 

We toured the Gamble House, an arts and crafts residence in Pasadena.

And we went to the Santa Monica Pier. 

The highlight was the parade. It wasn't very cold, contrary to all appearances. The coda to this entire trip was, of course, the fires that came just a few days later. There aren't words for any of that.

After the parade festivities were over, Brad and I headed south on our way to the San Diego airport. One of our stops was to have dinner with the Reckinger crew. And we got to meet our great niece Ruby. Such a sweetie.

While in California I ran a tune-up 5k and received an unexpected first place medal among all females in the race. Not first female in my age group. First female. I have to brag it up, but to be honest it was a small and obviously not at all competitive field and it will likely never happen again.

After our time in California, Brad flew to Baltimore and closed on our first ever second home. While he was there, Baltimore got some snow and bitterly cold temps. He spent three weeks getting the house furnished and put together. I've yet to see it in person but I'm looking forward to a trip there in just a couple weeks.

Meanwhile, I drove home to Tucson. After a few days I was joined by our Wisconsin friends, Mary and Paul. They stayed at our house for three nights and we had a wonderful visit.

Meanwhile, the grandkids kept busy. Lloyd played peek-a-boo.

And he kept the bear well-nourished.

Freddie turned 6 months old and he started eating solid food.

He also started trying to figure out why his big brother is so interested in dump trucks.

And he worked on his standing.

Meanwhile over in Warsaw, Rosie worked on her standing too. Standing tall, that is, in an amazing outfit.

Slowly but surely the dark winter days in Warsaw are getting longer and lighter. But while it's still winter, Rosie's learning that a little pink - or in her case a lot of pink - really brightens up one's outlook.

Finally there's grandchild #4, who will make their appearance in about two months. Mary's 32 weeks along. She and Andy got to see a lot of Brad while he was in Baltimore as he stayed with them for two weeks. And our new place is just a few blocks from their house. Here is Mary, out to breakfast with Brad. It worked out that while he was there she had one holiday, around two snow days, and some late starts due to weather. Next month we'll be in Baltimore as we're hosting a baby shower with Andy's parents. And with that, I'm considering January to be caught up!

Baltimore Week

Brad and I arrived in Baltimore last weekend. We've been enjoying a week of visiting with Mary and Andy. Last Sunday we celebrated Father's Day with a lovely brunch on the water.

Here's the dad and daughter Father's Day picture.

On Monday while Andy was at work, the three of us went to Fort McHenry. I've been there lots of times before but never to the museum. As you can see, it was a bit windy.

Other activities in Baltimore have been hanging out with Tikka .....

..... hanging out with Mary and Andy .....

..... going out for ice-cream .....

..... and enjoying the views. This was sunset last night as seen from Mary and Andy's rooftop deck.

And this was the Inner Harbor this morning from a water taxi. Tomorrow we head to Philadelphia. Mary and Andy are coming with us and they'll stay for a night before returning here on Saturday and getting ready to head off a few days after that for their delayed honeymoon trip to Costa Rica.

Good Week in Baltimore

On the Monday after Thanksgiving, Brad and I got on the Amtrak in Philadelphia and headed south to Baltimore for the week. It's Christmastime in Mary and Andy's neighborhood. The picture doesn't do it justice but this street had the most beautiful Christmas lights. Andy's parents live a few blocks from where he and Mary live, so this picture was taken on our walk over there for dinner on our first night in town.

Mark and Eileen are Andy's parents and they had us over for a very nice dinner. It was a good thing that we all went over there on our first night in town because .....

..... we interrupt this post from Baltimore to bring you ..... Brad and baby Lloyd in Denver?! Yes, Brad got to meet the little package known as Lloyd. After spending five nights in the hospital when she had Lloyd, Troy found herself back in the hospital for what ended up to be a total of another five nights thanks to an infection. We had arrived in Baltimore on Monday afternoon, but by the crack of dawn on Wednesday I was driving Brad to the airport. He flew to Denver to assist with dog sitting as John and Lloyd moved into Troy's hospital room (in the maternity ward). I would have loved to have gone too but ..... work. (Plus we're headed up there next week for Christmas.)  Only one able-bodied dog sitter was needed and Brad got the bonus of spending time with baby Lloyd.

Meanwhile back in Baltimore, there were shenanigans taking place. We went with Andy's parents to the annual lighting of the Washington Monument. And I am referring to Baltimore's Washington Monument, which is actually older than the one in DC. 

I'm not exaggerating when I say it was the best fireworks show I've ever experienced. Why? Well, first the fireworks were really good. And second, we were so close. This picture was taken without a zoom. It was just great.

Other shenanigans included Mary trying on my wedding dress. After carting this thing around for the past 36 years it was finally time to bid it farewell. We had a fun dress-up session and I left it with her to either donate to the Goodwill or make something out of it for her own wedding ensemble. She already has a dress of her own and I had to laugh at how dated my dress seemed. I remember when I had it boxed up I thought I was keeping a treasure. Ha!

We also got a laugh out of how my wedding dress eerily resembles Mary's First Communion dress from 2001.

And we decorated Mary and Andy's Christmas tree. I was delighted to learn that Andy's mom gifted him with his childhood Christmas ornaments. Next year when I get out our ornaments (we're not decorating this year) I know just where to send all of Mary's childhood ornaments.

We walked over to the museum where Mary and Andy are having their wedding and reception and I got to check out the venue. It's actually in their neighborhood so in theory they could walk to the wedding.

And on my last day we went to the Mayor's Christmas parade with Andy's parents and his brother and sister-in-law. It was a long and fun and festive parade and a perfect Baltimore sendoff before I headed to the airport to fly home.

So long from Baltimore! I flew through Denver on the way home, Brad met me at the airport, and we flew to Tucson together. He'll be back there soon as next weekend we are driving up to Denver to spend a couple of weeks with John, Troy, and Lloyd.