Maryland

A couple of hours and two friendly Southwest flight crews later, we made it from MSP to BWI on Christmas night. My parents were there to pick us up and take us to Westminster, my hometown, where we would stay until New Year's Eve. We didn't have any major plans for our time in Maryland except to hang out with family, which is what we did for most of the time we were there.

Another member of our family, my sister and brother-in-law's dog, Nola.

On the 26th we got to meet the newest addition to our family, Bryce. He was about 6 weeks old at the time, so we got in plenty of baby snuggles during our visit! My sister and I also got to spend some quality time together with her new baby boy, taking him on his first long walk around the neighborhood on a warm winter day.

Selfie!

Out and about on our walk. :)

Bryce chillin' with Uncle Erik and his crazy hair!

In addition to spending time in Maryland, we traveled to Virginia to meet my aunt and uncle for lunch, which was another highlight of our time at home. I was also able to catch up with a few friends, including one who is expecting a baby in March and one who just got engaged, and I was very happy to get the chance to see friends even though our time in Maryland was limited.

While in Westminster, we enjoyed some of our favorite American foods, namely Chipotle and Roberto's Pizza. We also had the chance to enjoy crab cakes from Timbuktu (the BEST crab cakes in Maryland, by the way!) just before my parents dropped us off at the Amtrak station. Our Maryland trip concluded with a visit from two of our friends who re-arranged their travel plans so that they could keep us company on the Amtrak train! Our flight to Africa left from JFK, so we took Amtrak from Baltimore to NYC, and our friends rode with us until Philly, where they were returning home after spending some time in North Carolina.

It never feels like enough time at home, and it was sad to say goodbye to our families, but it helped that we had 3 weeks of adventures in Africa to look forward to after our departure!