The Last Hoorah of Summer

Several weeks ago Charlie and I decided that a trip to Delaware was in order. Since he was awarded the chaplain residency at Barnes Jewish Hospital after much hoping and praying, we were at ease with the prospect of some income for the coming year and a little concerned that our Christmas plans might need to be flexible, considering he will be the low man on the totem pole and considering the intensity of the job. So, we bought our tickets and flew to DE for a week. We had a blast, and by blast I mean a relaxed, enjoyable, delicious time with our family.

First things first.
After a somewhat stressful plane trip,
Charlie got to relax in Grammy's bath.

He likes Grammy, because she gives him bath toys!

We got to meet our nephew Jude Davis for the first time.
And, oh boy, did we have fun with him!
He was all over the place:
getting out of things we put him in,
and getting into things we kept him out of!

But mostly, we did a lot of relaxing...

...and looking...

...and thinking...

...and looking some more.

In fact, there really was a lot of looking going on.

The best part of the week was simply being together and away from our home-bound responsibilities. It was the first extended time together the three of us have enjoyed.

We spent one afternoon with our brother and sister Jeff and Maura and our nieces and nephew. This is Aleka, Gemma and Teagan. Their oldest sister, Kaila, was off to start her first year at college. Charlie's cousins proved themselves excellent babysitters!
Watch out, guys, or we may just take advantage of that fact!

Uncle Jeff may very well prove to be Charlie's coolest uncle. Have any of the rest of you sunk a WWII naval vessel? Didn't think so.

And Aunt Maura kept us all in line, happy and very well fed.

Though we didn't get any pictures of Pop Pop holding Charlie this time, I will always remember hearing him laugh from the other room while he watched Charlie play in an ExerSaucer (what a name!). I would hear Charlie's infant noises and then, "Hmm? Yes. I agree." from Pop Pop. He was, as his T-shirt declares, a Proud Great Grandfather.

Our last afternoon with Whitney and Jude was spent very peacefully under a tree in the front yard.

We had a lot of fun imagining what kind of friendship Jude and Charlie are going to have. Time will tell, but in the meantime we have proof that at one time, at least, they were very interested in each other.

Mother and son. I love this picture.

sigh.

Our last evening in DE our cousin, Arlene, came with dinner...Italian, of course. These olive penguins were especially in honor of my husband.

Charlie is going to love getting to know his family! And what fun it is to see him surrounded by people who love him.

Now, back to real life.