Well it's taken a while to get back in the blogging saddle. We just wrapped up a wonderful visit from Honey and Poppy, and then with the new school year underway, I've been a bit snowed under. But I'm back to finish the report on our summer travels around the east coast. The next stop on our itinerary after leaving Syracuse was our beloved Baltimore, where we visited some friends. Our first night there we stayed with Emily's former Loyola colleague Anne, and the good news is that we had a great time catching up with her. The bad news is that we didn't take any pictures with her.
Our next stop was at the house of our friends, Megan and Jim. Megan also worked with Emily at Loyola, and we all hung out together often in Baltimore, so it was great to spend some time with them. Jim is a terrific musician and treated Michael to a few songs, which had Michael mesmerized. With Megan's help, he summoned the courage to try his hand at the guitar.
Our last stop in Baltimore was with our friends Brendan and Abby, whose daughter Mary was born shortly after Michael. You may remember that they visited us in Seattle a few months ago, and you may also remember that Michael and Mary have an arranged marriage scheduled twenty or so years from now. So it was good to give these two some quality time together.
It started off well at the playground as Michael and Mary cruised along...
Until there was a little quarrel over Michael's reckless driving and Mary threatened to hop right off this motorcycle if he didn't slow down and drive more prudently.
So Michael decided to spend some time doing some guy-things with the guys. Like seesawing:
That didn't last long. Maybe it was the extra 150 pounds on the other side, or maybe he's already realizing how uncool dads are. Whatever the reason, he beat it after a few turns and left it to the dads, who showed that you're never too old to jam on the seesaw.
Fortunately, Michael and Mary's disagreement passed under the bridge and they proceeded to their dinner date, where they totally impressed each other with their impeccable table manners.
Here's one last picture of Michael from a lunch we had with Megan and Jim, and Brendan, Abby and Mary. It was very kid-friendly with a play area full of dinosaurs that kept Michael more than busy while we ate.
We sure made the most of our few days in Baltimore, visiting good friends, including special family friend and former landlord Chris the Plumber. On our way out of town we visited my aunt Susu in Washington, D.C., who generously made her world-famous crab cakes. It was a perfect end to a perfect visit to the DC-Balto area!
So Michael decided to spend some time doing some guy-things with the guys. Like seesawing:
That didn't last long. Maybe it was the extra 150 pounds on the other side, or maybe he's already realizing how uncool dads are. Whatever the reason, he beat it after a few turns and left it to the dads, who showed that you're never too old to jam on the seesaw.
Fortunately, Michael and Mary's disagreement passed under the bridge and they proceeded to their dinner date, where they totally impressed each other with their impeccable table manners.Here's one last picture of Michael from a lunch we had with Megan and Jim, and Brendan, Abby and Mary. It was very kid-friendly with a play area full of dinosaurs that kept Michael more than busy while we ate.
We sure made the most of our few days in Baltimore, visiting good friends, including special family friend and former landlord Chris the Plumber. On our way out of town we visited my aunt Susu in Washington, D.C., who generously made her world-famous crab cakes. It was a perfect end to a perfect visit to the DC-Balto area! 