First Impressions {Exploring}

We've been in Maryland for about two weeks and have had so much fun exploring the area!  Praise God, we found a rental house quickly that we are excited about!  We get the keys on August 1st, so in the meantime Ryan has started his new job while the kids and I are staying busy so as not to go crazy in the hotel suite we will call home until then.  We've explored something new almost every day and are having so much fun!  We've made plenty of rookie mistakes (like the time I turned the wrong way down a one-way street - hello out-of-state license tags!), but are quickly adjusting to "city" living.  It suits us well.

Our first trip to the grocery store . . . reminds me of life in Seattle when we brought the groceries up from the parking garage much the same way.

The library!!  We've already visited three different libraries and are spending most of our afternoon quiet time reading.

Family!  We get to live close to family!  My Uncle Steve and Aunt Vallerie have been more than generous in making us feel right at home.  They've won the kids over with their kindness, hugs, promise of a sleepover, and ice cream. =)

We spent a Saturday exploring parts of Annapolis . . .

The Maryland State House: the oldest state house in the nation still in legislative use

A mock-up of George Washington resigning his commission before congress.  

The Annapolis Maritime Museum - not so much a museum, but you can learn all you want to know about oysters! 

Lunch at the Amish Market

We visited Capitol Hill Baptist Church on Sunday and then strolled through the neighborhood to find lunch.  The girls thought this was a nice spot for a photo. 

Lunch across the street from the Library of Congress on a gorgeous sunny Sunday. 

I have so been looking forward to seeing my Gramma!  She lives in a nursing home close to where we will be living and I count it a blessing to think that the kids and I will be able to include visits with her in our regular weekly outings.

A trip to Ikea to scope out home furnishing options.  The girls played in the kids' room, but Rooke was too tall (gasp!), so we got him all to ourselves.  These guys think they're so funny =)

Happy 7-11 Day!  A free slurpee delivery to Great Gramma!

Happy Birthday IHOP!  Yes, I will take four short stacks of pancakes for $0.58 each.  Yes, that is all.  And yes, I will let my kids use all four types of syrup.

Dinner with Steve and Vallerie.  Did I mention the kids LOVE Aunt Vallerie and her desserts?!

Free tickets to the local minor league baseball game!  The kids' first baseball game.  The girls took naps that day so we were able to last through to the end of the seventh inning. 

Trying out the Metro . . . the kids were so excited!  

Taking part (briefly) in the Together 2016 event on The Mall.  We ate breakfast at a fun spot in the Eastern Market, then decided to walk to the event.  Poor planning on Mom's part ended up making us walk too far on a HOT day.  The fresh peaches from the market and ice water helped, but it will be a while before the kids let me plan a walking adventure tour downtown again =)

A morning at Chesapeake Beach!  The first beach we stopped at was going to charge us $40 to use their beach - WHAT?!  No thank you.  I talked with a kind local woman who pointed us to Breezy Point Park where we arrived to find that on Mondays kids get in free - hooray!!  We dug in the sand, splashed in the water, spotted jellyfish, only got stung once, watched out for crabs (because one child was convinced crabs were going to attack us), collected rocks, and learned that next time we should bring a giant umbrella to provide shade so we can stay longer.

And just for fun . . . we had to switch phone providers and with that came a new phone.  Rooke's dream of being able to do slow-motion videos has come true:

Road Trip! {Staying with the Swishers in Ann Arbor}

The day after the moving truck pulled away was spent tying up lose ends, packing up the cars, and preparing to drive off.  We left bright and early Friday morning.  Ryan and Rooke rode in the "Silver Bullet" (AKA Ryan's car) while the girls came with me in "Snowball" (AKA our trusty minivan).  Our hotel was about nine hours away and, while it was a long day of travel, everyone did great and we arrived safely in the beautiful town of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  While on long trips, we eat outside whenever possible so the kids can be loud and run wild when necessary!

Day two went as smoothly as the first.  We stopped for a late lunch in Chicago where we grabbed some pizza and found a beautiful picnic spot.

And finally, later than planned but still safe, we arrived in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the end of another nine-hour driving day.  Our friends, Steve and Jean Swisher and their kids Jacob and Emily, welcomed us into their home with generous hospitality.  We were so thankful to see them and stay with them for a few days!  We first met Jean and Steve when we were on the same ministry team in China, and they have remained dear friends over the years making two visits to see us in different places.  It was fun to have a chance to visit them!  We were blessed by their hospitality, and grateful for how comfortable we felt being together as families.  Stopping over with them for three nights days was the best part of our trip!

Jacob and Bridgette are very close in age and both wanted to go fast in circles!  

Jean prepared a beautiful picnic lunch for all of us to enjoy near the University of Michigan after church.

Steve and Jean are fun and adventuresome, so we were excited for the activities they had planned during our days together.  We walked through part of the UofM campus, stopping by the Law Quad, and walking through the law library.  The absolute silence of the library brought back memories of sneaking through Seattle University's law library to find Ryan and deliver a study snack.  I'm still so grateful those days are over!

Ryan and Steve ducked into a local coffee shop while Jean and I stopped off at the children's museum (where we were blessed to surprisingly all be given free admission!).

DELICIOUS ice cream!!!  Seriously, some of the best ice cream I've ever had.  These kids don't know how good they've got it! =)

Being the fourth of July weekend, Jean had prepared lots of fun, festive holiday foods including red and blue berries, and a cherry pie with whipped cream!

On the fourth of July, we ventured out to the Greenfield Village in Dearborn, close to where Steve works for Ford.  We loved stepping back in time to the days of Henry Ford in a sort of amusement park setting (which wasn't crowded at all!).   

The girls loved seeing "Laura Ingalls" tell some of her stories in a wonderful monologue. 

A carousel ride (or three?!).

Another great picnic lunch!

My attorney getting the scoop inside Abraham Lincoln's courthouse.

The boys heading off in a Model T.

Girls' turn!

Back at the house, Jean and Steve had lots of read, white, and blue fun!

And then . . . somewhere in the middle of all that fun . . . Jean managed to secure a babysitter for the night so the four of us could go out!  It'd been a long time since Ryan and I had relaxed, laughed, and enjoyed such good food with good friends.  

They taught us a new game (which we promptly bought for ourselves!).

The kids, specifically Rooke, loved playing with the Swisher's dog, Freo.


And then, on the morning of July 5th, Jean took the kids to the park while Ryan and I packed the car and we headed out for our last long day of driving.  Eight more hours and we crashed in our hotel beds at Andrews Air Force Base, thankful for a smooth and safe trip.