One of our favorite parts of traveling is selecting a rental car. (Yeah, that is kind of dorky.) We had a pleasant surprise when we arrived in the Houston airport. They upgraded us from a mid-size car to a swagger-wagon for free. Sweet. We started our trip in Houston, with Rachel and Badri. Rachel took us to the Houston Museum of fine art, and to a really nice park downtown with a kiddie train ride. They loved it. Rachel also knows the best places to eat. I'm craving these vietnamese sandwiches, and the Chocolate Bar is out of this world.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of their house. It's a really neat old house in a historic downtown neighborhood.

After a couple days there we drove to San Antonio.

We stopped for Barbeque along the way. You had to go into the smokehouse to get your meat, and you order it by the pound.

Then we got to spend time with Christopher and his family.







This kid is too cute! His smiles melt your heart in seconds. I could never say no to this little guy! Wish I could snuggle him more often. The cousins had a super time together. James really took a liking to Arianna's ballet costumes.

We took a day trip to the San Jose mission, and visited with some dear friends. We love and miss both these families so much. The kids had a great time together. We had more barbeque at Rudy's. I don't know if I could ever get enough of that stuff.

Here are Jer and Christopher on our last morning in San Antonio before heading out to breakfast.

It was so hard for the cousins to say goodbye to one another, but we were so glad to see how the love for family grows strong regardless of how many miles lie between.

Our last stop before returning to Houston was the Alamo and riverwalk.

This Boeing is Going!

This was taken after we'd safely landed home in Baltimore. We had an exciting trip to Texas. More to come soon!

According to James:

Jer overheard James calling Luca a stupid-head:
Jer: "We don't say stupid-head in our house."
James: (with sly expression) "I didn't call him a STupid-head; I called him a DUpid-head."
Jer: "Oh, yeah? What's a dupid-head?"
James: "It's just a silly name that we call people."

On work:
Joanie: "What are you going to be when you grow up?"
James: "I don't know what my job will be. They'll tell me when I get there."
Joanie: "Well what do you think you would like to do?"
James: "Probably build buildings. But...I've never gone to work, so I have to check it out."

Fun Day Trip

The American Visionary Art Museum in downtown Baltimore is a funky fun place to visit. Luca wished he could ride to school in a bedazzled bus like this one. The place is full of crazy art...the welcome mat is made entirely of toothbrushes. They had a crown making craft for the kids to try. They're wearing them in the next picture.

They liked the lip shaped sofa seat.



There is a giant chess set made from scrap metals. It is a quirky fun place to see. Then we stopped at Sip and Bite for some of the best crab cakes I've ever had.

Mom-mom and Pap-pap also came to visit us. We all really enjoyed having them here.

My favorite Day of the Year

Christmas eve at my parent's house. We'd just finished our Italian feast with family and friends.

Miceli fam. I love them like crazy.

From Thanksgiving

Yes, It's almost Christmas and I'm just getting around to posting some pics from Thanksgiving. I'm a bit behind, but I'm catching up. Here are some pics from our exploration of the Cornell campus. That's one of our favorite things to do when we go to Ithaca.

We tried to take family pictures. This is one of my favorites...it really captures the essence of the whole experience. Especially the way that Libby is trying to escape my grasp.

We got to tour the new architecture school. The main highlight for the kids was the "slide and the bubbles".

Jer checked it out too.

Here's Libby about half-way up the slope. I should have taken a picture of the boys rolling down it.







And lastly, here is Libby in a chair that belonged to her great-great-great grandfather Albert Libby when he was her size. The story goes that he loved to drag it around behind him and that caused the legs of the chair to become worn down in a certain way. Libby also loved taking it with her, but she preferred to push it in front of her.

Independence

Normally I don't find pictures of messy kids all that cute. They just make me feel really tired. But I had to show you this one. The look of pride on her face while she attempted to feed herself a yogurt was almost worth the mess in her hair, on the chair, floor, tablecloth....etc.

She absolutely wouldn't let me feed her anyway. Libby is a very independent little gal. Now if only she would let me show her how to keep the spoon right side up.

And now a shout out to Pap-pap. He is about to under-go open heart surgery as I type this. We expect great results from the surgery, and hope for a quick recovery. About independent gals...I don't know if I ever will be. A girl needs her dad forever. Here's to mine, and many more days, and many more dances to come.