Our Christmas Trip to Maryland

Again, I find myself playing catch up. Here is a little of what we did when we spent Christmas break in Maryland this year.

The trip there was altered as two feet of snow began to fall 12 hours before we were to fly in. That flight was canceled and we left a day later. We still had a three hour delay at the airport, though. The boys did great. Luke did have his moments. Here he is putting himself in timeout due to one thing or another that made him upset. (We enjoy the fact that he is raising himself.)



We had lots of fun playing in the snow. Jackson and I got to take some of his friends sledding and we hit some of my old sledding spots. It had been a long time since I had that much fun.



Grant enjoyed many firsts. His first airplane ride, first time in Maryland and his first Christmas. We had lots of fun although it was bittersweet because it was my first time to wake up Christmas morning without either of my sisters being there.




We did spend a fabulous Christmas eve with my in-laws, of which I have no pictures. We spent lots of time with them and I didn't even take one picture. Not good.
We also got to see Barrington's grandmother, Mama, twice. She is so fun and an amazing chef of all things southern. (Plus, she cooks in a wonderful way that allowed me to indulge despite my baby Grant diet.)



We had a fabulous time with lots of friends. Here are some times that we remembered to take out the camera:

Girls night out with Emily and Kelly:


We got to have a grand get together with our long time friends, the Howells. This is Jenny and I. We have been friends since I was born. Her mother used to babysit me.



This is Luke with two of the Howell-Smiths:


Jackson with a Howell-Dillard and two Howell-Smith's:


The new generation of the Howell/Knowles clan. The only child missing is my niece, Anna, who lives in England. You can see myself and Brian in the picture using our best parenting skills to get the two-year-olds to cooperate.


Alexandra, Jackson and best buddy Izzy had lots of fun play dates.


New Year's Eve was spent with the traditional malfunctioning chocolate fountain. It was yummy and fun, though.




We had a countdown and toast at 7:30 pm so that the kiddos could ring in the new year.



Barrington was willing to humor me and we drove down to the Lincoln Memorial after the kids went to bed. It was a fun time. I wanted to get some great shots of the Washington Memorial and Reflecting Pool at night but it was raining and overcast. It was quiet and there were a few other people around. It was a nice and peaceful way to ring in 2010. We also strolled by the Korean War Memorial on the way back to the car.





There was a nice man who was asking us where another memorial was. We were no help to him. However, he was sure to tell Barrington that he looks and sounds like Denzel Washington. (This is not even close to the first time a total stranger has mentioned this theory.) While we were on our way down the steps the guy ran over and asked, "ARE you Denzel Washington?" We really should have played it off and maybe B could've signed an autograph for the guy, but we didn't think of the fun we would have had with that until after he was gone. We drove to some of B's old stomping grounds on the way home and saw some fireworks on the way home.



Mom with the boys:



Jackson and Luke waiting for the airplane back to Detroit.