Nine Days Of Joy

After our work in Greensboro and another neighboring city were complete it was finally time to head north to Maryland.  Sure don't miss driving through the city traffic though!  It took us an extra two hours due to this:

We had reservations for nine days at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland.  It's a huge park complete with two swimming pools, two dog parks, a miniature golf course, movie nights, playgrounds, cabins for rent, yurts for rent, a tent only area and so much more.  Claiming to be the closest RV park near Washington DC, they stay pretty busy.  It also happens to be the closest RV park to Jessica and Mike's new apartment in Bethesda.

Raven likes the rest after so much driving!

Rufus was glad the kiddie pool was empty

is that a rhino on the course?!

While Mike was away attending officer training school in Rhode Island, Jessica was busy taking care of Emmett and also securing their move to a new apartment.  Luckily she had help from friends and also the navy movers, one of the perks of being in the military.  Mike had only been home for a few days when we rolled into town.  Needless to say, the apartment was still a jumble of boxes.  Good for me as I was on baby duty while the three of them did such things as hanging the TV, arranging the furniture, emptying boxes, filling cabinets and other stuff that I have no idea about because

 I WAS ON BABY DUTY!!!  :-))   

No we weren't hermits the whole time...  We did venture out most days.  Being right in the heart of a city suits them perfectly.  There are nearby grocery stores, a public library (Jessica loves books!), a hardware store (went there for TV mounting screws), an elementary school across the street, oodles of hip and trendy restaurants, a pet store (they have two cats and a snake), plenty of retail therapy stores and even a Trader Joe's grocery store.  All of these places are within walking distance too!  Let's put the baby in the stroller and see where we end up.

 

The weekly farmer's market at the elementary school parking lot had plenty of options.  Jessica found some honey to take home.  The rest of the booths didn't peak our interest.  But then we spotted the food trucks.  We arrived around lunch time.  After walking through the booths we got some food and took it over to the nearby playground.  Emmett's first time at a park :-)  He loved it!

I love this picture Mike took of us :-))

he likes the grass on his toesies

yes, I did share the baby (on occasion) LOL

Baby make three, family for life!

There was one day that Mike went to his former EMT Station to work.  He insists on keeping his paramedic skills up to par.  He is one of a few of his current classmates who has actual work experience 'in the field'.  It's such an asset to his education.  His one and only call that particular day was a motorcycle crash victim :-(  
 

We had scheduled Rufus for a grooming appointment at nearby PetSmart.  When he was done, Jessica put Emmett in the stroller and we mosied our way over there to pick him up.  The city has some pretty interesting street art on display.  Oh No, there I go into tourist mode again taking photos of street art...  





Rufus was ready for a long walk after his bath and hair cut.  And we were hungry.  Jessica and Mike really like their nearby brewery.  Sounds good to us.  Off we went.  Rock Bottom Brewery offers several in-house brews available on tap.  The story of how beer is made is quite interesting.  You can read about their process here.  Ron chose a Pilsner to accompany his late afternoon meal.  He usually doesn't drink at lunch time but he said it was so good he ordered a refill.  We ate on the patio as Rufus can't go inside and it was such a nice afternoon. 

On a second trip to the same restaurant, we left Rufus at the apartment and we sat inside.  We played 'pass the baby' most of the night :-)) 

This was also our last night with them.  Back at the apartment we pulled out the tripod and got some photos.  Some better than others, some goofy ones, but all wonderful memories!

With hearts full of love and eyes full of tears we made our way out the front door :-( 

Mike, Jessica and Emmett will have to find a way to empty the remaining boxes on their own.  At least the TV is hung so video games and Netflix may resume!