The East Coast (Abridged)!

Well, this post comes a tad late, but I wanted to get published anyhow. 

In October, the family took a trip to Philly and Maryland to visit family. It was busy, but awesome! I put together a pretty detailed trip log HERE for those who are interested. For folk looking for a more abridged version, I'm pasting some of the highlights below. 

• E was very good, considering the 5 hour flight, as we passed him between Oma, Opa, Lisa, and me, reading lots of books, playing with toy trucks, and pressing the media screens.

• One memorable moment from the day: Opa was in the kitchen, when E looked up at Wayne and said "Opa?" To his credit, there is a definite resemblance between the brothers.  After that, we dubbed him "Two-pa". 

• Breakfast was severed promptly at 9...which for this crew, meant success.[30 minutes late] 

• Started the day with another P90X workout with Graham and Gary (Titled: Core, which was Hard...Core - ba dam ching). And I'm not sure I would've ever believed I'd do a move called Superman/Banana with my father- and cousin-in-law. And that it'd be so enjoyable. But I did. And it was. 

• Before it got dark, E helped me collect kindling for a backyard bonfire. However, he got royally upset when I dumped all his hard earned twigs into the fire pit. 

• Graham and I braved Philly traffic for my last chance at getting an authentic Philly Cheesesteak. We picked one up near Drexel and took the HUGE sandwich back to the house for everyone to split (though, I think I ate half by the end--oh well, I did P90X, remember). 

• With all the kids in the minivan, the unsupervised parents wandered around freely with their coffees and appeared to be looking for a photo op. Though eventually, they all ended up safely inside of their car.

• The drive to Cumberland, MD was beautiful with a touch of fog to make things mysterious, scattered showers, and a rainbow to accent the leaves just starting to dress for autumn. 

• Having had a very short nap, E went to bed quickly and on time while the adults laughed about the four pounds of wheat germ under the sink in the downstairs bathroom and about Carol's dramatic (and near perfect) rendition of E's book Sheep in a Jeep. 

• We ate our Safeway sandwiches on the Lincoln memorial steps, overlooking the reflection pool. The temperature was near perfect, as was the people watching.  

• After being in a million pictures, E learned to say, "Cheese," before each one.

• For the first part of the drive, E wanted to play with his 'Do-Do'...which is as close to "Choo-Choo" as he could master.

• Exhausted, Lisa and I did the critical unpacking things and then hit our own glorious bed. As we drifted to sleep, we reminisced about what an amazing trip it'd been.