The whirlwind tour

We left Saturday for our East Coast tour-- 6 cities/towns in 5 days. We are insane, I know. But I will tell you what, it was the only way to do it. None of that guests stinking after 3 days stuff for us. We barely gave anyone the chance to realize we were there before-- poof!-- we were gone. It probably would have been better had Sebastian not been sick, but he was and he was a real trooper anyway.

Some highlights:

Saturday: Finally saw Jamie and Kaci's apartment they have been living in for almost 5 years now. Sebastian's fever was probably around 104. Only Jeremy got to see Double Trouble.

Sunday: Drove to Baltimore and had lunch with Jeremy's co-worker at a cool restaurant. Went to my aunt's house to visit her family and my grandmother to find we were expected to also eat there a 1/2 hour after our lunch. Kids had an egg hunt and we were back on the road to our 3rd city to see my other grandmother and collapse into bed after watching Little Dorritt.

Monday: Went out to breakfast with my mother and grandmother, then headed down to DC in the pouring rain with my mom to go to the Air & Space museum and the Natural History museum at the Smithsonian. Sebastian was sick and whiny, my eye exploded in an allergic reaction in the orchid exhibit. Thai food for lunch at a restaurant that was supposed to be closed and then back to the guest house for a hot bath for me and naps for the 3 boys.

Tuesday: On the road again to Chincoteague to visit my little brother who is the best host ever. Anyone who says, "I'm always reading about you chopping stuff up, so I thought you'd like this" and then offers me a spread of veggies and dip and hummus and crackers can have me over anytime. Then we went over to Assateague to the awesome visitor's center and the ocean and saw some turtles, about a million egrets and 3 wild ponies grazing by the side of the road. Next we had some amazing ice cream (I had Snickers cheesecake and would have died happy). Then back to Jack's place for a fantastic dinner. He made some coconut-breaded shrimp and even though I generally don't care much for either coconut or shrimp, I ate them and liked them. There was also tuna steaks and rice and mango and veggies. Again, I will happily visit the boy. We also met his friend Susie who was super nice and kept the kids entertained with a floppy frisbee for, literally, hours. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, Jack made me this:

and I almost decided never to leave. Mmmm... daiquiri...

Wednesday: On the road for the final time before 8am. Taco Bell for lunch at 10:45am. Then trapped in the car for 6 hours because traffic was horrible from the time we got off the Jersey turnpike until we got to the IKEA in New Haven. Then a 2 hour rushed drive home to try to catch ANTM and we were back at 8:10pm. There was quite the cheer when we all saw the "Welcome to Vermont" sign.

All in all, the kids were wonderful travellers, we didn't eat as poorly as I imagined/hoped, and we got to see lots of people we haven't seen in a long time. (Like my 14 year old cousin I'd never met.) But I will not be doing it again any time soon.