Visiting Maryland...

Our countdown to Idaho is quickly progressing and there is lots to get done!  One of the most important things involves getting my contact center consulting business up and running.  As a part of this project Matt and I felt a quick trip to Maryland was necessary.  Last Saturday night we packed up the kids, and what felt like half of everything we own, and drove through the night arriving in Maryland on Sunday afternoon.  While the trip was short, and mostly business oriented, we did get some time to have some fun!   We also learned some very important lessons...

Turns out James is NOT ready for a "big boy" bed!  We thought
this would be a great test since he would be sleeping in a real bed
 at the hotel.  We all did very little actual sleeping.  James decided
he liked sleeping in his brother's "bed" much better than a
"big boy" bed.  Mom and Dad decided they like having the toddler
contained through the night.

The good news is that Nicholas IS ready to sleep in the same
room as his brother!  Through all the chaos and bedlam, he slept
through the night.  As long as he had his buddy Larry, all was well.

We didn't get to see as many people as we would have liked
because we were short on time (and the snow storm didn't help),
but we did get to see a couple special people.  Helen learned that
holding a baby is "kind of boring." 

James has always been our "puppy dog" because food is way
more important to him than sleep.  Turns out that Nicholas is our
kitty cat because he couldn't care less about food but wants to sleep
ALL DAY LONG... too bad that doesn't always remain the same at
night.

One of the things we enjoyed most about Maryland
were all the fun places to eat.  One of our very
favorite places was Nandos, a Peruvian chicken
restaurant.  They use perri perri spice to season their
chicken and it is addictive.  We were excited to get
another taste of this fantastic treat!

Turns out that toddler tantrums are just as rampant
on vacation as they are at home... can four-years-old
come any faster?

As always, the trains went with us everywhere,
including the 'around the world' eatery in downtown
Washington DC.

 We were very blessed on this trip and had lots of wonderful things happen.  I'm so grateful for the mercy of God and His plan.  As much as sometimes it frustrates me that I'm not in charge, God's plan always turns out WAY better than anything I could have planned.  Hopefully we'll get one more trip out to Maryland to say goodbye to everyone we love before heading to Idaho, but either way our first trip as a family of four was a success!