Summer Catch Up: Part 1

This summer was filled with travel for us. Forgive me for backtracking a bit, but there's lots to report on! I'll go back to day 1 of our trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

We left Manhattan at a decent hour Saturday, June 28th. We drove for a few hours, headed toward DC, and stopped on the way to see the Concord Point lighthouse on the northern shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Delaware & the quaint little town of Havre de Grace that surrounds it (including the pawn shop for Matt to hunt out guitar equipment). Unfortunately it wasn't open when we were there (we arrived about 11 AM and it didn't open until 1 PM) so we didn't get to go inside, but it was still a great spot to get out and stretch our legs and let little ones run around.

Concord Point Light is a 36-foot tower that was built in 1827. It is the second oldest tower lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay and the oldest continuous lighthouse in Maryland. The tower is built at the point where the Susquehanna River meets the tidal flow of the Chesapeake Bay and navigation is very hazardous around this area.

Looking out at the Bay


The Chesapeake Bay




The Lightkeeper's house (it was closed when we were there)

After our stop in Havre de Grace (did I mention the homemade candy? De-lish!) we continued on down the interstate en route to my mission friend Jenni's home where we planned on spending the night. As we were following our mapquest directions, we turned a bend and this popped up in front of us:

The Washington DC Temple! So we decided to stop and visit the grounds. The girls really loved it there. We were lucky to see a bride also, which is very exciting for 2 little girls to see! We spent some time in the visitor's center and walking the grounds.

And then we made it to Jenni's house! Our kids ran with their kids. We ate grilled hamburgers & delicious homemade blueberry crisp (warm from the oven with ice cream on top!). We talked and talked and reminisced about the mission & just had a great time! They have a beautiful new home (where we were the first guests in the guest room!). Her son, Connor, had had a pirate party that morning, so the girls were loving all the pirate paraphernalia. I'm pretty sure we snuck off with a couple of pennants from the front lawn.

All our kiddies together

Lexi loved Connor- I think he was still debating his thoughts on this extremely energetic & sassy New York girl

Thank you, Jenni, for being such a wonderful hostess. Next time, we're staying a week!