Lilly with Cousin Dana, and cousin Matthew in DC

Lilly, Becky, and Great, Great Aunt Ruth in PA


All of the grandchildren and 1 great grandchildren with Zanny in PA.

Lilly showing off her one of her new outfits with Great Aunt Elise, and cousin Kit in PA

Three of the "Big Six" with Lilly!

Learning lots from Great Uncle Bob and Great Aunt Bonnie!

So happy to open presents!!

Becky and Lilly with the Fitzula side of the family in front of "The Tree" at Rockefeller Center in NYC!

And Finally the Family shot in front of the tree!

Our East Coast Christmas Adventure...

With a car full to the brim, we set out for our Christmas Holiday on Saturday the first leg of our trip....Washington DC. We made it with only two stops, and one very minor meltdown, not too shabby. We had arranged to meet up with an old teammate of Fitz's and her family for dinner. We really enjoyed having Lilly hang out with their 14 month old daughter, they played very well together. Then we finished the evening with a short jaunt over to Fitz's Aunt Donna, and Uncle Dwight's house. We put Lilly to bed right away, as it was getting late, but we (the adults) ended up chatting until nearly midnight. And like clock work the next morning, we heard our Lilly alarm clock at 7am. Before we hit the road again we had a nice visit again with Aunt Donna and Uncle Dwight, and Fitz's cousins Dana and Matthew.

Then we were off again to make the trip to PA to see my side of the family (well some of them). We made that trip in one shot and were welcomed by my cousin Kit and Aunt Elise. Shortly after we arrived my Uncle Mark, Aunt Charlene, and their kids (Allie, Tori, Emmy, Max and Sam) arrived for a visit with us and to meet Lilly. Soon after they arrived, we got even more visitors when my great Aunt Ruth and Grandmother (Zanny) came over.We had a ball, Lilly loves all of the attention, and we got some great photos. Then it was off to bed again and like the rooster that crows every morning..we were awakened at 7am. On this, our third day of holiday, Lilly got to meet even more new people....my Aunt Helen, cousin Mary, her great, great Uncle Bob, and gg Aunt Bonnie. I think GG Aunt Bonnie had the most fun of all, she spent most of the evening on the floor with Lilly just playing?! I wish she lived closer! Then we curled up for the evening! on our final day in PA, my cousin Kit and I, made a quick dash to Lancaster Central Market to shop. For those who don't know....Central Market is like a grocery store that has only the freshest foods from the local farmers, and home baked good that are out of this world. I left with gingerbread men, a loaf of french bread, shaved ham, and the best chocolate milk I have ever had. We had sandwiches and dessert for the road which was nice. The road this time lead us to Fitz's hometown in NY.

This trip was a bit longer then the trip to PA, so we were glad to be able to make it in one shot. We got a chance to unpack before all the gang arrived...Grandpa, Rosalie, Chrissie, Julia, Gary, and Fitz's parents. We had a full schedule over the next few days with Christmas Eve lunch with Great, Great Aunt Betty (we think she is well over 90 and still kicking), followed closely by cocktails and dinner at Attie's and then Evette and Gary's houses. The kids even got a visit from Santa Clause complete with gifts....Lilly did very well, and was the best smiler (I don't think this is a real word) for the camera. We made it to bed around midnight, of course Miss Lilly had been asleep since 8pm, so she was raring to go at 7am. On Christmas Day, we took Great Grandpa, and Rosalie to church. Lilly was "moved by the spirit" a number of times, and although she did not cry, she was a bit of a disturbance. Combine the noise with her raspberries on the people in the pew behind us, either Fitz or I were out in the parking lot or back of the church for most of the service. Right after the service we got back in the car for the trek back up to Attie's to finish opening Christmas gifts. This was an early night for us all! On the 26th, we got packed for a trip down to NYC to show Lilly the sights. We got to tour 5th Ave, the tree at Rockefeller center, Time Square and everywhere in between. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Chrissie, Gary, and cousin came down with us and did a quick tour before they headed home. We got up the next morning and did a nice run around Central Park. I am still amazed as to how well behaved the dogs are in central park....I need that trainer for our next dog. We got cleaned up and did a quick shopping trip to FAO Schwartz to find some after Christmas deals. We got Lilly some wooden ABC blocks, two barefoot books, and a rubber ball. We had to really try to make room for these, as we had to leave some gifts in NY because we ran out of space. After FAO we hustled back to the hotel and packed quickly and got on the road for home. We started our trek back at 1:43pm, and made our way down through NJ on the awful turnpike, then through DE, and VA over and under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel and finally into NC and the fog. We finally arrived home at 1:34am after 500+ miles, two long stops, and one baby meltdown at hour 7+ of the trip. We are finally unpacked and cleaned up after our East Coast Christmas Adventure...here's to not traveling with a 8 month old baby for more then a 3 hour trip!!