Gah. It was so long. And there were two tunnels!
At the rest stop on the far side of the bridge
Studying maps of the Chesapeake Bay area
Please note Lily's comparison study
At Ray Ray's apartment complex- finally! I believe Claire was mimicking the Canadian geese they spotted by the pond.
Auntie-niece chats.
We got into town right around bedtime, so after running the girls around a bit after being cooped up in the car for so long, we set them up on their air mattress (which was unbelievably exciting) and set Brynnie up in her pack-n-play in the walk-in closet (which was so intriguing to everyone) for the night.
They woke up with the sun, thanks to the great excitement of being at Ray Ray's. Thankfully, Rachael had plans for channeling all of the excitement. She lives in a coastal town, so we headed to the beach for the morning.
Brynnie doesn't need the snacks that I pack for her. She's got her toes.
Watching for wild ponies! We spent the morning at Assateague Island, which is home to wild ponies, much like the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day!
Sand dancing!
We got there early enough that the beach was fairly deserted for the first hour or so, giving us plenty of room to play ball and fly kites. Side note: I have no idea why some of these pictures are so dark.
The water was QUITE cold, but that deters our children not one bit.
Also, who IS this long-legged child?? Clearly it's not my baby bear...
Brynnie enjoyed the sights...not so much the cold water.
Look at that sky! It was so beautiful.
Rachael was a sport and risked hypothermia to play with the girls. Jewels in her crown, y'all.
Snacks and sand dances
We wrapped up just before lunch time, and the girls took an afternoon nap. When they woke up, we caught bits of a Blue Angels exhibition from Rachael's balcony.
See that small triangle shape about a quarter inch above the garage building on the right? That's a tight formation of six jets.
Can you see the white arch of jet stream? We could see and hear it much better in person, but this was the best we could manage on camera.
Watching the show before we left for supper.
Side note: how cute is this seersucker dress from WAL-MART??
About to walk around Berlin, Maryland
First stop
We got ice cream before supper (strategic move so as to allow more time to burn off sugar before bedtime), and it was DELICIOUS.
After ice cream, we set off walking around downtown Berlin. It was so cute and quaint, and I felt like it was very familiar. I was snapping pictures of different angles and casually mentioned that it reminded me so much of the town in Runaway Bride. To my shock, Rachael said, "That's probably because it was filmed here."
!!!
GUYS. What in the world? I was delighted, to say the least. I immediately texted Mom and Amiee, as Brad could not possibly be as excited as I was.
For supper (which was much smaller than a usual supper, given the massive amounts of ice cream we had already scarfed), we went to The Globe. It's theater-themed, but not in the vein of Shakespeare and his Globe; more of a 1940's movie theater. Very fun. And delicious. We split a few appetizers between us and decided it was a brilliant decision.
I spy Brad and Lily on an expedition while we waited on our food.
Found a mer-cat
The waiter got a good picture of our crew! 5 out of 6 facing the camera is a major win.
Morning snuggles with Ray Ray while Brad and I packed the van.
We were able to do quite a bit in less than 48 hours, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed all of our activities. A great time was had by everyone, and we're so glad Rachael let us come visit her and her new town!
