Getting to, and being in, Maryland! With the Milligans. And grumpy pirates.

We're here in the States for our annual R&R, which stands for "Rest and Relaxation"... when the government sends us back to remind us how to be Americans. I think "rest and relaxation" is a misnomer, because even though we always have a great time, there's not a whole lot of resting or relaxing going on.

From the get-go, in fact. Last summer and this one, the kids and I have flown back a few weeks before Z, so we can spend a couple of weeks with my family and still have a nice chunk of time to spend with his family when he arrives. He DOES grace Texas with his presence for a couple of days before heading up to the great NW.

Anyway, it's totally UN-relaxing to travel with small children. Especially alone, as many of y'all are aware. Add in the factor of international travel AND traveling exactly during said childrens' daytime hours (read: NO long stretches of sleep), and the fun factor drops considerably. Add in the major factor of having an almost-18-month old, and you enter the negative-fun zone. Now that I'm done whining (for now), I'll tell ya that, overall, the trip was good. A few hiccups, but overall... a good trip.

The tykes, watching planes at the Sofia airport, nice and early... We got to Paris and I had them run up and down as much as possible, to get as many wiggles out as they could before the long flight to DC. Finally, after 8-1/2 hours of basically wrestling Maeve (at least she was mostly just energetic, not fussy), we arrived at Dulles Airport. I only got outwardly grumpy after the guy checking our customs declarations while leaving baggage claim SENT US BACK because the agent at customs had written down that there were TWO of us, not FOUR, despite talking to each child individually, etc. Seriously? I travel for 16 hours with three small children, wait forever for some of our luggage, pile everything precariously on top of a cart, and get this close to escaping the airport, with a sleeping toddler strapped to my front and two tired four-year olds, and you're going to send me BACK? No way. But they did. Despite my loud and insistent protests. I was so dang ticked. SO ticked. It really didn't take that long, and at least they were apologetic, but still. Like we needed that. Then it was off to pick up the rental car and another two hours to my sister's house in Fort Meade, Maryland. Oh, it was good to get there! We were there from the 19th till the 22nd. I'm behind with my posts. Shocker.

We loved seeing Tressa and Nora! Loved it. We've not met Nora before and she is just about the cutest little babe. She's five months old. Tressa is two. They are awesome.

Uncle Marc is also awesome. He let Bran hold one of his guns, and so is just about the awesome-EST in Bran's book.

Maeve wanted to give Nora's exersaucer a whirl. Always better when the baby's done with it first. The baby, especially, appreciates that...

It was so dang hot there. Over 100 degrees every day with a heat factor of around 120. Good prep for Texas. We went to the little park near Tara's house and about passed out. Then we did it again. Call us crazy. Little Nora was a squishy ball of sapped energy.

That same day, we took the kiddos on what was supposed to be the coolest thing ever. Bran and Nuala have been asking to go on a boat for a long time now, so Tara and I decided to take them on a fun little pirate cruise in Annapolis. We just told them they were going on a boat, but not that it was a PIRATE ship. Oh, boy, we couldn't wait for them to realize what was going on! Unfortunately, all five of the kids fell asleep on the half hour drive, we got there just before the ship sailed, and they were the grumpiest little pirates ever. They all fed off each other, too. They all cried. Two or three at a time, in rounds. It was hilarious and maddening. Eventually, they all warmed up, but still... grrrr...

Here's Nuala shooting a water cannon at Pirate Pete. She hit him in the face and has been cackleingly thrilled about it ever since. "Cackleingly?" Not working. She cackles about it. That's what I mean. It was the highlight of her pirating experience!

Bran did NOT warm up in time to shoot the cannon, poor guy, but was able to do some other fun things, like pull up treasure. And pose by the cannons.

Little T taking center stage. With another little girl's dolphin.

Bran with his bag full o' treasure. It was an entertaining little trip, and if the kids had been going full speed from the beginning, it would have been worth the load o' dough we dropped on it.

The next morning the kiddos played in the backyard wading pool. It was hot and humid. My camera did not like it.

Cute Maeve and Nora. My camera DID like them. Who wouldn't?

Maeve really loved Nora. She totally kept trying to hold her. Nora seemed to love Maeve, too, but not especially when she was her sole support.

Here she didn't mind. Soooo cute.

Oh, man... Tressa's hair... it is aMAZing. So many curls. This is when she wakes up. Totally cool. And lots of fun for her mommy to comb.

Annnnnd... we went to the park. Again. See? Crazy.

Maeve is a total little monkey and loved climbing up this ladder thing. She's a sure-footed and fearless little gal, she is.

Tressa's outfit was most terrific. The tight little booty shorts, the curls pinned up... made me grin.

Then, about 20 minutes after getting back from the park, my kiddos and I had to leave. For the airport. Again. These were our last cousin shots. Everyone was soooo happy...

Annnnd, here is an unhappy being-held-by-Maeve Nora. Face plant!

A goodbye snuggle for Auntie Tara. Unrelated to any picture, but one night we had delicious Thai food and watched one of the coolest movies ever. Roller Boogie. This little gem is from 1979, same as me, so its awesomeness should not be surprising. We highly recommend it if you are looking for a movie that you're not sure is a spoof or not. Or "hunks" on roller skates. Or really short shorts pulled up to the rib cage.

After going the wrong way on the beltway (yeah, after living in the DC area for 5 years that still happened to me) and getting to drive right past our old digs in PG county, we arrived at the airport for our very last flight without Z. This year. Despite United Airlines changing our seat assignments, which they always, without fail, do, the flight passed with minimal drama. Just took a while to puzzle out which passenger needed to switch with which passenger so one of my four-year olds wasn't several rows ahead or behind the rest of us. Honestly, United is our least favorite airline ever, and we have flown on many, many airlines. They always separate our seats, even after we choose them! They are ultra-lame.

We've been in Texas for a week-ish now, and are having a blast. My 32nd birthday was yesterday and my sis and I got to go out and celebrate, leaving Curtis, her hubby, with all 9 kids. For several, several hours. He's a great guy, that Curtis!