Trip East: Part One

The trip we just took home was the longest amount of time we've been away from California since we moved out here. So, in our minds, it was a super long time, which meant that we had plenty of time to see everyone we had ever met in our entire lives. Turns out, that means a lot of time spent driving from place to place and days packed full of things to do and little sleep...but it was so worth it. I needed a good healthy dose of friends, family and home. Trip summary: Places visited: 4 (DC area [including DC, Reston and Arlington], Eastern Shore, Richmond, Johnstown) Different beds slept in: 5 (Mom's house, Dad's house, hotel in Johnstown, Dan's parents in Richmond, Matt's beach house on the shore) Miles put on rental car: 1300 Trip East Part One: Jet lag and babies So, we got in really late, went straight to mom's and "crashed." Dan crashed. I was wide awake until something like 4 AM. So, much of the next day was spent lying around, Dan doing laundry (he flew to DC after 10 days in Texas working South by Southwest), and getting the rental car. We had dinner with mom...Ledo's pizza. (food #1 I was excited about that I can't get in California) And then, we went over to Laura's who had prepared quite the Mexican feast for Missy, Franklin, Sarah, Mike, Kelley and the babies. Of course, Frank and Blue were also there, and were attempting to covertly sneak Ryan or Jack away when Kelley wasn't looking. (alright, let's be honest, it was mostly Blue). We spent a lot of time watching the babies, talking about what the babies were doing, saying what we thought the babies would say if they could talk, feeding the babies, you get the idea. After the babies left, we looked at each other blankly for awhile, and then Missy, Laura and I tried to name all the cast members of all the Real World seasons ever (can you believe they're on season 23?!?!) We did pretty well, up until I'd say the last 5 seasons when we kind of lost interest. You want baby photos? Excellent. Ryan, close up of his cheeks. They demand pinching. He was only taking a power nap in this photo. He was completely, totally cashed out and then woke up ready for more play about 20 minutes later. Ryan, clearly having an awesome time with me and Laura. The next day, Laura, Dan and I went over to Kelley's to hang out, have lunch, and "lend a hand" (which roughly translates to hold the babies as much as possible). Mission accomplished. We hung out through lunch, two feedings, lots of spit ups - mostly on me, although Jack got Kelley really good when he shot formula out of his nose...twice, doggie excitement, and more laughing. Nighttime found us home with mom for dinner, and then over to Missy and Franklin's for a night of Wii playing. Good lord do we love the Wii. More baby photos? You are insatiable. Jack and his big eyes. Jack and Dan both actually asleep. You can't really tell in this photo, but Jack's pacifier says "Chicks dig me" which is you know, adorable. And true.