Ahh, home sweet home!

On day 6 we drove up to beautiful High Rock. It was Connor's first ride in a Jeep, and he LOVED all the "winding." It is exactly as it sounds, an extremely high rock that juts out and you can see for miles and miles and miles. Stephen isn't too keen on heights so he stayed off the rock itself and was a little sick to his stomach until I came off with the kids.

We then started our ride down to the Annapolis region. Our hotel ended up being directly across the street from an enormous outlet mall. (Poor Stephen.) We stayed at an Aloft by W. Easily the coolest hotel I have been in!

We got BACK in the car to go to Severn Park, Maryland to my cousin Maureen's house. She was brave enough, and kind enough to host my family for a reunion of sorts. On Friday night, the kids ran around her back yard with the spectacular Severn River as the view.

On Saturday there was horrific rain, so we went to the outlet mall (which was indoors) to wheel Avery around for his nap, and for me to shop!

Back to Maureen's for the reunion. Both of my sisters and their boyfriends, my brother, his wife and kids, and several cousins with their families were all in attendance. My cousin Maureen lives in a charming old house on the Severn River with amazing views, and a huge piece of shoreline. The kids swam, and splashed, and kayaked, and canoed, and sailed. (The sailing was a little dicey due to some extreme winds, but at least my nephew James has a fantastic story!)

Sunday began the longest drive EVER. Avery was very mad that he didn't have white milk to begin with, and Connor was a grumpy bear! Stephen and I passed the ten hours remembering our highlights of the trip.

Connor caught his first fireflies and had his first bonfire (complete with smores!)

Avery has learned to say " Eeeese" when any camera makes an appearance.

The water tower outside of our hotel was aptly described as a GIANT OCTOPUS!

Connor asked if he could take off his falling down shoes and put on his running shoes.

Avery got several new teeth!


We are eternally grateful to Umpin John for letting us destroy his house and being a wonderful tour guide of Maryland. Thank you Dave and Lisa for a great dinner and even better visit! Thank you Maureen and Richard for a wonderful solstice party, and adventures for my kids! Thank you to all (Mary, Dave, Bern, Annie, Kathleen, Sophie, Grace, Molly, Moose, Aunt June, Jim, Carol, James, Jude, Aunt June, Jim, Sue, Brenda, Peter, Tricia, Cassiel, Calvin, Tom, Barbara, Robbie, Claire, Nancy and Dad) for a wonderful trip with amazing adventures and unforgettable memories!