Our next adventure was to Richboro, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia). My dad's side of the family lives there and we went up for a family get together. It is the first time we have taken Bella up there, so we were excited! She did great for the 8 hour car ride (4 up and 4 back) and had a lot of fun playing with all of her wonderful cousins. The "big kids" let her play softball with them and she thought she was too cool. She also got to color with her cousin, Caprice, at my grandmother's little table. The table has all of the cousins' handprints on it. We drove up and back in the same day, so we were exhausted, but it was worth it. (The first pic is just a cute shot of Bella in her "movie star" sunglasses. She was walking to the car before we left for our trip.)
Next, we celebrated John's 33rd birthday! We went out to dinner and then gave gifts back at home. Bella made John a plate that says "I Love U Daddy"
at the Mud Hut. He loved it! Bella also enjoyed "signing" the birthday card for her Daddy. She spent a full 10 minutes on it! He also got the Lego Harry Potter game from my mom and we have really enjoyed playing that together!
We went to Butler's Orchard to go blueberry picking on July 3rd. Bella loved every second of picking them AND eating them! Then we celebrated the 4th of July by going to the Garrett Park parade and then over to Suzanne's house for a night of friends and good food. Bella ate even more blueberries ("bayies" as she calls them) that night. She has now realized that they are by far her favorite food and requests them often!
On July 5th, we were very happy to meet up with John's sister and niece in Annapolis for the day. I have never met them and John hasn't seen his sister in nearly 20 years. It was a great reunion! We had an awesome tour of the State House (thanks to his sister!) and then ate lunch at Chick and Ruth's Delly. John was looking forward to eating there since Man vs. Food was taped there not too long ago. It was a wonderful day and we look forward to getting together with them again soon!
Bella turned 20 months on July 7th and is getting so big and grown up! We can't believe how fast the time has gone by. We went to the pool and she started her Little Gym class. She really enjoyed the balance beam and is pretty good at it. She likes to explore and do her own thing during most of class time though. We are lucky that my friend, Tali, has her daughter, Noa, in the same class. The girls enjoy their time together.
This past weekend, my sister and I ran an 8K in Rockville! It might not sound like much to some people, but it was our first race, so we were pretty happy! My mom came to support us and it was an awesome night.
Then, we went to the Splash Park in Germantown today with my friends, Alison and Tulasi, and their kids. We ran around and played in the water all morning and then ate lunch at the picnic tables at the park. Bella ended up taking a 3 and a half hour nap, which always makes Mommy happy! We had an awesome time and can't wait to go back!
We are excited about our upcoming vacation to Ocean City in August. We also look forward to many other trips to the pool, the Zoo, the Splash Park, the playground, and more! Hopefully, I will not take as long to post the next set of Summer Fun pics! :)
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