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At the beginning of March we all headed to Philadelphia. And I mean all. Grandma Ginny, Uncle Andy, his girlfriend Tara, Clare, Liam and myself. We went for my cousin Jennie’s wedding, to see all of the family coming to town for it, and to see Philly itself.

Liam was very well behaved on the flights, eventhough we were on a cramped little plane, near the back. Everyone on the plane (ok, not EVERYONE), commented on how well he was behaving. We checked in at the Downtown Courtyard Marriot. It was the nicest Courtyard we’ve ever been to! It was fairly chilly out, but we did take a look around the city.

The day after arriving was my cousin’s wedding. We had a great time. It was held at The Union League in Downtown Philadelphia. The UL is two hundred years old, and Abraham Lincoln was supposed to be there two days after he was shot. It was the original club for proponents of the Civil War. Gorgeous, old. Unfortunately, children were not invited to the wedding, so they all congregated up in a suite my Aunt booked. Pure chaos up there, let me tell you.

The next day we had brunch with the whole family, and then we all went nearby to my cousin’s house to visit with everyone. They had a birthday cake (two, actually!) for my mom. It was a great time, but too short.

Our last day in Philadelphia was spent sight-seeing. We took a narrated trolley around the city, which showed us all of the sights. We toured Independance Hall, where the Declaration was signed, saw Benjamin Franklin’s grave, the Liberty Bell, and Christ Church, which George Washington used to attend.

For our flight home we were in the very last row (though we had requested a few days earlier to be nearer the front), and Liam wasn’t feeling too well. It was a pretty miserable flight, and we were all glad to be home! We loved Philadelphia though, and had a great time with our family!

We’re back from Vacation! For those that aren’t “in the know”, we went to England (London and Manchester), Rome, and Venice! It was great, long trip. Tons of photos. Check out the “Favorites” folder for a “best of” our 1k photos!

Well, it’s a Europe year, which means that I get to be in planning heaven! Josh will get to plan next year’s vacation (ha, just kidding). He’ll at least pick the destination, since it wouldn’t be right to make him go to England every year!

We are leaving on May 14th for London, and will travel up to Manchester to see the family. Then maybe a day in the Lake District to see friends. We’ll be in Italy for a week: 4 nights in Rome and 3 nights in Venice! After Italy we’ll spend a few days in London with my Dad, and then back home on May 31st. It’s too short, even though we’ll be gone for 18 days!

We arrived home safe n sound from Waikiki, to ash on our cars and a black lake where our pool used to be.
It was hot hot hot! and very humid which made us tired and attached to our air-conditioned hotel room. We drove around the island, found some beautiful beaches, snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, spent hours looking at the ocean, shopped in the International Market and had MaiTais everywhere.
Photos!
The best part of the vacation was spending all that much-needed time together!
Hawaii was nice, but I’m definitely still a European vacation kinda girl
So I’m already planning our next trip: England + Italy next year…

Since Josh highlighted my anniversary gift to him, I’d like to mention his gift to me: after years of my pleading and prodding, Josh painted a picture for me, one of my favorite photos taken on our honeymoon. I was so happy and so impressed- it made me cry!