Baltimore Aquarium and Time at Home

 Just like everything in life....all good things must come to an end. The joy of all of us being together felt a little piece missing when we had to say bye to Bree on Tuesday. She flew back to UT out of Baltimore, so we all took the trek down there to spend the day and sight see. Britt and David and their boys went to Washington D.C. in the morning, and we took Ari with us to meet Dad in Baltimore after he took Bree. We ate a picnic lunch outside in the freezing cold right in Inner Harbor.

 There's The Hard Rock Cafe back there. Cute picture of Mom and Dad.

 We decided to go to the Baltimore Aquarium, which was a lot of fun. It was Katelyn's first time at an aquarium, so it was fun to see her wonderment, along with the other kids'. They had this really cool shark pool.

 Eww! Sharks are so ugly and creepy.

 Giant sea turtle amongst sharks! The blue lights reflecting on the top of the water look cool.

 Getting a good view of the Harbor

 All our cute girls posing in the rainforest.

 Baby moon jellyfish

 The ceiling with really pretty glass jelly fish

 This was at the end when the girls were pretty tired of walking. It's a big place!

Holy teeth!

It was a fun aquarium trip. Afterwards, we walked over to Chipotle and ate dinner. Then we headed home for another rousing game night after the kids were in bed! Actually, Bryan stayed up and played Hand and Foot a few times, and did a great job! We played lots of fun family games over the course of the trip, and those are some of my favorite times. Sitting around the Toone table, chatting and snacking and playing and laughing. Good, good times.

The kids had their own games that they played to their hearts' content! Apples to Apples Jr was a hit. So was Sorry, Monopoly, and Spot It. Nothin better than jammies and games! And stuffed animal friends joining in on the fun!

Grandma and Colby (sorry Mom, you'll hate this picture), but I love how he's watching the game so intently. And I love that you're such a wonderful Grandma. :)

Nathan, along with reading and playing, also led the children in crafts! What does this man NOT do?

Cami and Ari played house in their twin Frozen shirts.

On New Years Day, we stayed close to home and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside. Lexi was excited to go play on the playground across the street from my parent's house. Pink princess!

Bryan and Matthew played a game of tetherball. I love this game! I challenged Jake to a duel, and I can't remember who won, but I think it was me. :)

Jake really wanted to see the Shoe House, so we hopped in the car and took the girls to see this fun landmark along Route 30 on the way to Lancaster.

That night was our last night all together before Nathan and Allison and their cute kiddos had to leave on their journey back to Missouri. Little Colby...awww.

We enjoyed a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dinner of pork and sauerkraut to ring in 2015. It was quite a feat to gather everyone around the same table in the seminary/front room, but we did it! We even had some bubbly to celebrate the special day.

On Friday morning, before the rest of us left for New York City, we had to say goodbye to Nathan and Allison and fam. I totally cried, because I sure to love those people.