visit to Maryland

This is completely out of chronological order, but since we forgot our camera the weekend that we went to Maryland and we've just now gotten some pictures from the trip, I thought I'd post...even if it's a bit late!

The 2nd weekend in July we went to Maryland for an Audi family fun weekend. We hadn't been with Daniel's whole family since our vacation to Virginia Beach last summer. It was great to see everyone and the kids were really intrigued by my growing belly bump. They constantly asked to touch my tummy and wanted to know when the baby was moving. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite big enough to move a whole lot at that point. Too bad, for their sake, we didn't go just a couple of weeks later - they would have definitely seen him move then.

The kiddos having a picnic - I caught Isabella on camera as she was thanking Jesus for her food - so cute!

These are the oldest of the girl cousins being silly, enjoying watermelon on the swing and 'Grandma' and 'Grandpa's' house.

The weekend was so relaxing! We just hung out around the house, mostly, and went down to the neighborhood pool a couple of times. The nieces and nephews had some picnics in the backyard - it's a bit difficult to get out and about with 21 of us! One afternoon we took a trip to DC, though. It was hot, but fun! We rode an elevator to the top of the Washington Monument that day, my first time in all of our visits to do that. What's so amazing about DC is that our tax dollars pay for all sorts of great things - like visiting fascinating museums for free and going up to the top of the Washington Monument for free!

Here we are, the three of us - me, Daniel, and our son - standing at the base of the Washington Monument.

Orange girls...at the Monument

The bird's eye view of the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial from the top of the Washington Monument

Laura, Trish, and Becky with Julia and Isabella waiting to go up the elevator to see DC from the top of the Monument

The family surprised us Sunday night with a baby shower. Daniel's family are such loving, giving, generous people. We were really blessed by a sweet evening with everyone being showered with so many gifts. These are two great outfits for our little boy! Thanks, Rachie!! Among lots of other things, Daniel's mom made our baby a blue crocheted baby blanket. He'll love it!! Thanks, everyone, for a fantastic weekend together! We love you!!