to Grandmothers house we go...

We had such a great time with Grandpa and Grandma Rueckert that we decided to follow them home to Maryland for a Rueckert Family Reunion! We had family pictures taken, and the kids were rewarded with Popsicles when we thought it was all over...then mormor realized she wanted a picture with all her grandchildren. It turned out adorable.
Mormor

The Rueckert Men
Ben (B.inLaw), Grandpa Dean, Dave (brother), Chris & Dan (B.inLaw)

Chris & his beautiful sisters!

Sarah (younger) Elise (older) Linda (middle younger) & Amanda (baby)I don't have any of the 'whole family' pictures that we had taken, but when I get them I'll post them...hopefully there are good one's considering we don't all get together that often...it's hard when we live in Maryland, Boston, North Carolina, California & Utah!

Our Little Family

Playtime with Aunt Amanda

I remember LOVING hanging around with my older cousin Di, it's so fun that Brielle has a 16 year old Aunt. She LOVES hanging around her, they had so much fun together--painting fingernails, going to a painting place (like color me mine), going shopping, playing dolls, watching movies...we love Aunt Amanda!

Crab Feast

No trip to Maryland would be complete without a crab feast...unfortunately it's pretty much just the Rueckert kids that are crazy about spending $170 on crabs! I almost died when I found out how much they cost...it is SO much work to eat them (they were eating for 3 hours) and you hardly even get any meat--not to mention it is SUPER messy! However, this bunch thought it was awesome!

Brielle & Claire
(her ONLY girl cousin on either side)
SnoBalls & grandpa's 11 grand kiddos
For some bizarre reason SnoCones are called SnoBalls in Maryland...
Crazy Tongue Tricks

Brielle & Johnny have the same 'talent'! Water Balloon Fight
Uncle Chris was every one's favorite TARGET...I can't imagine why! Mary Poppins
We went into DC to see the Broadway musical, Mary Poppins. It was great, Brielle & I loved it! Mary Poppins is such a great story! I love that my kiddo's love it too...almost everyday when Deano goes potty he runs around with his pants around his ankles saying "I'm a penguin! Sissy, you be Mary Poppins"

Baltimore
We went to Baltimore to visit Uncle Dave at work. He works for a company that lays telecommunication cables on the ocean floor. We got to take a tour of one of the cable ships and have lunch on it too.

Chris & Dave spent 5 days working on Dave's new house. One of the things they did was hang all the drywall--which is ironic because that is the one thing that Chris has hired someone else to do (both times we've needed drywall)! It was hard work but they did good job & atleast they got to spend a little time together!
Fort McHenry
We also visited Fort McHenry, the birthplace of The Star Spangled Banner

Washington DC
Grandma, Max, Brielle, Deano & Oliver
We went to DC with Grandpa & Grandma, Uncle Dave, Aunt Tiffany, Max & Oliver! It was an exciting trip because we took the metro downtown (rather than fight the traffic)...that might have been the highlight for the kids!Smithsonian
We visited the Air & Space, American History (Dorothy's ruby slippers) & the Natural History Museums.
Chris & I really wanted to visit the Holocaust Museum, but it was closing...maybe next time. Another fun thing about our trip to DC was that one of my best friends from college (who lives in DC) came to meet us & introduce us to her fiance ...too bad we did not take a picture!

Capitol Building
By the end of the day we were all exhausted! Poor Chris had to carry both kids back to the metro...I kind of wished he could carry me too!

I realized on the way home that we had spent 4 Sunday's in a row with Chris' parents...that must be a record! We don't get to see them nearly as much as we'd like and this was by far the most time in a row we've had with them since we got married. Chris sometimes feels sad because he only gets to see his family once or twice a year (I can't imagine how tough that would be), so it was such a blessing for all of us to have so much time together...my kid's adore their Grandpa, Grandma & Aunt Amanda! I feel so blessed to have great in laws, they are wonderful examples to us and always make me feel like I am the greatest thing that ever happened to their son (which isn't always the case w/in laws)!

We had a great time...but we were exhausted by the time we got home!