The Woodland Adventure

Over the 4th, the Brandon's family came to visit (minus his sister and bro-in-law-- sad!). SO, we got to host Brandon's mom and dad and his older brother Derek who came all the way to visit from Cali, plus Sean came over from Philly. They were good sports sleeping on air mattresses and couches, and we got spoiled for a week with yummy meals out or whipped up by Debbie. The Woodlands were up for lots of adventures, so we went all over Bmore, DC, and the Chesapeake Bay. Luckily, they brought over California weather (barely 80 degrees, cool breeze, little to no humidity) that lasted for most of the time they were here. As soon as they left, the weather went crazy and Bmore recorded heat records and the hottest temp in the country (for Wednesday)!

A bonus of the Woodlands visiting during this particular week (last week) was that the Baltimore Orioles were playing the Oakland A's (the Woodlands favorite in the universe!). SO, we went to the opening game of the series...
And then, we trekked back into Bmore and went to the second game of the series... (this is not bolded or underlined on purpose, blogger is acting funny-- although, it could be symbolic since two games in a row is A LOT OF BASEBALL)


We drove out to the Bay and went on a little hike to the secret beach on Wye Island. It was a pretty cool place where we got to enjoy the sun & water and just relax. There were crazy big horseshoe crabs that looked like they were related to the dinosaurs!



Our Chesapeake Bay day ended with a very tasty crab dinner at Mike's in Annapolis. Brandon gave a demonstration of how to crack a crab (since he's been treated to some crab dinners through work) and his family caught on very quickly.

DC for a day-- good thing the Woodland boys wore bright colored shirts so they wouldn't get lost!


We were out and about a lot, but also took some time to just hang out, read, sleep, and play Uno (the favorite game of the trip).

For the 4th we decided to play it low key and watch fireworks put on by our neighboring town: Towson. We headed over to a park two hours before the "show" and were surprised that not many people were gathered. We were all used to staking out our spots and protecting them until fireworks time. But, it soon filled up, and THE SHOW WAS AWESOME. Seriously, some of the best fireworks I've seen in a while. And, you can't beat watching them with family!

I am grateful for
***Freedom***Family***Faith***Friends***