I learned in December that I was selected to run the NYC Half Marathon. By this time, we were well aware that our far-away families in Connecticut and Massachusetts would be having babies during the next couple of months. Steve’s sister Karen and Andrew were due to have a baby boy at the end of February and my brother Todd and Erin would have their baby on March 15th.
With the race scheduled for March 18, we thought a trip a little more East was inevitable…not only to see the newest babies, but also to visit with Paul, Sue, Gretchen, Scott, Karen, Andrew, Lorelei, Todd, Erin & Zachary! They all live less than three hours from one another so we were prepared for a few days of family fun :)
Needless to say, Julian Peterson Horan decided to arrive on January 23rd (5 weeks, 2 days early!) so instead of a 3-week-old, we saw a 2-month-old! Dylan Hendrix Mott arrived as scheduled (a planned Caesarean tends to do that) so we saw him when he was mere five days old and only 6 lbs!!
Now on to visits galore!!
We arrived in New London, CT via train on Monday afternoon. Our brother-in-law Scott welcomed us with open arms and took us back to their place in nearby Mystic, CT which we had designated as our “home base.” Not a bad place to call home :) Thanks Gretchen & Scott for letting us take over!
To our delight, Monday was also Scott’s birthday so that night we went to his mom’s house for a super celebratory birthday dinner where multiple March birthday’s (including Steve & Scott) were honored with corned beef, cabbage and cake! We were joined by Paul and Sue who also brought us a car to use for the rest of the trip.
The next morning we headed about 40 minutes North to see my brother Todd, Erin, Zachary and Dylan in Plainfield, CT. Following breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer Diner, we returned to their place to catch up, gawk at Dylan, and attempt to catch a very active Zachary.
Later in the afternoon, Todd fired up the grill until it was time for us to head “home” for the night. We could not have had better weather for our entire trip.
That night, we returned to Gretchen & Scott’s where Scott made some overly impressive, time consuming and insanely delicious sushi. Seriously. I’ve been on a sushi kick the past couple of months and this stuff was awesome. He made spicy tuna rolls (he actually went to the fish market and got tuna right off the truck!) smoked oyster rolls and veggie rolls. Did I mention he even brewed his own beer for us?? Of course he did! I sure wish we lived closer so he could spoil us more often.
On Wednesday, Gretchen, Scott, Stephen & I headed to Newburyport, MA to visit Karen, Andrew, Lorelei and Julian. Paul was able to join us for the first couple of hours and we all enjoyed some amazing weather outside.
The day was filled with books, presents (Lorelei turned 2 on March 5!), pizza, wine, beer, pulled pork, more books, wine and beer!
Andrew was able to get out of work a few hours early and it was nice for all of us to have time together.
We also got a look at Karen & Andrew's brand new kitchen! Renovated just in time for Julian (well, not quite…due to his eagerness to arrive) This is quite a change from the closed space we had seen during our last visit.
On Thursday morning we drove to Willington, CT to visit with Paul & Sue for a little bit before they drove us to Hartford to catch our plane home. Although we saw everyone, it was not nearly enough time. It’s one thing to live so far away from parents and siblings, but it’s something else to live so far away from Lorelei, Julian, Zachary and Dylan. Although our visits together are few and far between, we hope we are simply impossible to forget…We tend to have that effect on people :)
Until next time…Lots of love to family, new babies and sushi!