Our (quick) Stateside Trip

 We had one week of leave at the end of Feb. so we decided to Space A it to the states.  We arrived at BWI on the evening of the 28th of Feb. and flew back out that following Tuesday March 6th.  It's a pretty quick trip to make when you are talking about adjusting to the time difference, long flight, and three little kids.  However, I have never been so proud of my kids.  They were all such great little travelers.  They were nearly perfect on both flights.  It was definitely a proud mommy moment.  Our first stop was Dave's house.  It was so great to see them.  I'm only sad we didn't get much time with them.  We are all officially in love with baby Ansleigh.  She is the cutest thing ever...

 Uncle Dave with Cecily.  Doesn't she look pleasant?  Dave and Tana were so sweet to take us to Cafe Rio.  That was my one request.  I have missed that place soooo much.  They can't do mexican food in Germany.  They can't even come close to it.  They also took us to a mall.  Boy, I forgot how much I missed shopping until I walked into that mall.  The options were amazing (in fact, almost a little too overwhelming when you've gotten used to no options).

 Since we were flying on Gabe's birthday, Tana was so sweet to pick up some yummy cupcakes.  Obviously Gabe still doesn't know how to eat without making a huge mess.

 The many looks of Ansleigh...

 Can you say cute, cute, cute!?

 Okay, so Ansleigh wasn't so sure about these strange kids always wanting to hold her and touch her.  Eva and Gabe kept trying to pick her up.  It was kind of cute.

 It sure was good to catch up with my brother.  I haven't really gotten to know Tana either, so it was nice to spend time with her.  All I have to say is, Dave is one lucky guy.  She's pretty dang amazing.

 Up the 95, and through the suburbs to Grandmother's house we go...  Oma and Opa bought a home about a year ago.  They moved out of their place in Northeast Philly, and moved up to Bucks County into a nice home in the quiet town of Warminster.  It was so nice to have the kids spend time with the grandparents.  Oma is such an amazing cook.  She even taught me how to cook a traditional dish she made when Hans was growing up.  She baked this cake for Gabe's birthday.  Let me just say, this kid sure was lucky this year.  He had an early birthday party before we left, we had cupcakes with Dave and Tana, then had a birthday celebration at the grandparents house.  He was kind of getting confused as to when his actual birthday was. :)

 Cecily and Oma were best of friends.  Opa could do no wrong in Eva and Gabe's eyes.  They always think he's just the funniest guy in the world.  He's so good with them.

Over all, the trip was a success.  However, we had a few hic-ups.  As soon as we landed in BWI, we got on the shuttle bus to go get our rental car and Gabe decided to get sick.  He threw up right on the bus.  Then he threw up again in the rental car and then again when we got out to Dave's house.  That same night, Eva decided to get sick.  She threw up and had diarrhea at the same time.  After that, they were both completely fine and slept all through the night.  The next day they were back to normal.  So, that was on a Tuesday.  Then, Friday night Eva got sick and threw up and had diarrhea at the same time again.  Then the next day she was back to normal.  The Saturday night, Gabe woke up around 10:30 and was feeling sick.  He had a pretty high fever and he acted like he was going to throw up, but never did.  However, that next morning he still had a really high fever and now his ear started to drain.  So, I ended up having to take him to the ER on Sunday because I knew he had an ear infection.  We were getting on a plane two days later, so I was a little worried.  Sure enough, the doctor said he had double ear infections and the one ear was so bad he might burst his ear drum.  So, we got medicine in him right away and he improved very quickly.  In spite of all this, both kids were in such great moods the entire trip.  They were such troopers.

Anyway, we left the grandparents' house on Monday afternoon and headed to our friends house, the Terhune family.  The Terhune's used to live in Germany and we became very close family friends.  They now live only an hour from BWI, so we stayed with them on Monday evening and spent the next morning with them before we had to head to the airport.  It was so great to see them.  The kids always love spending time with the Terhune kids.

I just wish we had more time to spend with everyone.  There were people I would have loved to see on our trip but we just didn't have the time.  It won't be too long before we head back to the states to live, so hopefully we'll find the time to see everyone next time.