Fast and Furious, but Fun

With barely under two weeks at home from our last trip, we headed east back to Maryland. Crazy? Maybe, but my youngest sister, who lives in Colorado Springs, was going to be there with her family. Maryland is a lot closer to Pennsylvania than Colorado Springs! We combined a visit with the Shullenbarger family in Knoxville, MD, so Ann-Marie could celebrate her birthday a little early with her friend, Rebekah. We left Friday morning, picked up Rebekah at 2 p.m., drove to Columbia, Md (the closest Build-a-Bear store), and were back by 6 p.m. for game night at their house. The lady at Build-a-Bear made Ann-Marie's early birthday so much fun, it was well worth the effort. Best friends picked out matching twin bears.





On Saturday, we drove to the National Harbor, as my Brother-in-Law was able to get us a room at the Gaylord Hotel. It was beautiful! Our room was on the 17th floor and our balcony looked over the lobby and out the glass windows you can see across the Potomac into Alexandria, VA and D.C.

The best part was spending time with my sister, brother-in-law and their three children (one more on the way!!!)
Little Abigail chilling (because she hadn't taken a nap!)
Kurt and boys enjoy (COLD) swimming pool.
Darrell having a moment with Evan (who had just found out Maryland state law prohibits anyone under the age of 18 to go into the hot tub. He was not happy!)
Our kids with their cousins.
The younger boys - Alec and Nathan. My little guy isn't so little in comparison to his cousin!
The older boys - Evan and Silas.
The girls - my sister Sheila, Abigail and Ann-Marie.
Enjoying the harbor and the sights.
And the light and water show inside the hotel.

We were only in Maryland just over 48 hours, but it was time well spent to see friends and family!