Maryland

April has been one cah-razy month. We've had travel, visitors, more travel, and so much fun packed into these last three weeks that the girls may never recover to adjust entertainment expectations to a manageable level for Matt and I.  The cool thing about April, I think, is that the girls managed to spend quality time with all of their grandparents. That's not an easy thing to do when your grandparents are spread out in MO, IA, and MD. So, to begin a recap of this month, we went to Maryland to visit Grandma and Pop Pop for Spring break.  Grandma usually comes to visit us, so this was Adrienne's first time in Maryland, and Jillian hadn't been since she was a baby. It was so fun for them to see where Grandma lives, spend time with Pop Pop (who is probably the most patient man on the planet), and hang out with Uncle Tim and Julia a bit, too.  Some highlights in pictures...


Twinsies waiting to board. Jillian got a sticker from security.

Some non-planned matchy-matchy with Grandma!

Uncle Tim accompanied us into Washington DC one day. We picked him up and then drove to the train station to take the metro in. The metro card machine had a learning curve.

Riding the subway for the first time. The girls were nuts and would not sit/stand still. Adrienne nearly knocked her teeth out at one point when she let go right before the train stopped.

I hope this picture is in no way a prediction of the future.....

We hit the Air and Space Museum first. Matt and I could have spent a lot more time there, but the girls were slightly underwhelmed.

Truth be told, all they really cared about was getting to try some space ice cream, which they thought was pretty yummy.

Brothers. Uncle Tim's stache was killing me. Jillian loved it. I've been told he's since shaved it off--wahoo!

On the way out, the girls had fun examining the internal layer of a space suit.

We stopped to take a few pics on our walk to the Natural History Museum

Walking with Matt into the first exhibit. In hindsight, we should have gone to this museum first and just stayed there all day. It was perfect for the girls, and they were interested in EVERYTHING.

Adrienne spied a really BIG rabbit! Ha. Jillian knew it was an ant eater and had no trouble correcting her little sister...

They had a fun little mini-museum for kids under ten. Lots of hands on examining for our little scientists.

Radiologists in training.

As we waited for our train, I couldn't help but snap this pic. Honestly, I'd take Frank Underwood at this point!

A day in DC is hard on a kid.

Proof of Pop Pop's patience.

Wednesday night we got ready to take Grandma and Julia out for dinner in honor of their April birthdays. We went to the Chart House, a beautiful restaurant on the water in downtown Annapolis.

Prom Pose

Two beautiful green-eyed girls.

Singing happy birthday...

Nightly reading with Grandma.

Bella and Lily, Grandma's cats were a highlight of the visit for the girls. They'd sure love to have a cat. Their allergic mother says N-O.

After a thunderstorm, we spied the most amazing rainbow I've ever seen out the front window of the house.

The girls enjoyed some dirt cups they made with Grandma. Lots-o-worms in these babies.

We spent some time wandering around downtown Annapolis one day and I could not stop laughing at this sign in the souvenir shop.

Lunch and Chick and Ruth's Delly was delicious, and we killed that 2 lb milkshake in no time flat. We should have tired the 6 lber!

At the scenic overlook

An out of order pic--at Chick and Ruth's

Building with Grandma

Making a stepping stone for Grandma's yard.

Movie night, post pizza.

Playing the iPad with Emmy and Vinnie

On our last night we spent some more time with Uncle Tim and Julia....and the 'stache.

Paula and her boys

We got up EARLY on Sunday to come back. And I mean early. We left Grandma's house at 3:30 to return the rental car and catch a 6 a.m. flight out of BWI. We woke the kids up at 3 a.m. ET. We did this because leaving that early saved us several hundred dollars on our tickets, which seemed worth it at the time of booking...but man it was ROUGH. Tired selfie on the rental car shuttle...

My row companions. The girls are so easy to fly with now!

Cashed out in the backseat on the way home from MSP. Whew!