Escape From Minot

In May, Matt was "asked" to take a temporary assignment at Ft. Meade in Maryland for the next four months. We quickly packed and Matt took some extra leave so we could visit Matt's family and relatives in Cedar Hill, Missouri. His parents graciously offered to keep Bailey until we return to North Dakota in the fall. We couldn't have made the trip nearly as easily, so we are very very grateful. We left Minot on June 7th, stopping in Council Bluffs, Iowa the first night (11 hours in the car, what fun!). I had way more leg room than the above picture shows, I promise! Henry was such a trooper, especially the first day. We still had his Rainforest mirror attached to the seat from our long trip from California when he was 8 weeks old. It must've brought back fond memories for him (it plays music and lights up) because he would calm down whenever we turned it on, haha.
The second day, we made it to Cedar Hill. We had 10 fantastic days there. Henry met his great grandparents Mothie and Pawp, for the first time, along with Neetie (Matt's great aunt), Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rob, and Matt's cousins Susan and Ryan. It was great for Matt to have so much time off to just relax.

During our Father's Day get-together, we celebrated Henry's birthday early. The local grocery store makes these cute little cakes, which Matt later enjoyed since Henry didn't even touch it! He was way more interested in studying the star candle.

He did however love Neetie spooning him Jones' ice cream of course!

Matt's parents, grandparents, and us

Four generations!

We left Cedar Hill, and Bailey :-( on June 17th. We stopped in Dayton, Ohio overnight. Boy do we miss Wright-Patterson AFB!! Despite our last minute notice, our great friends Vic and Marsha, Jody and Ira, Barb and Randy, and Anya and Glenn welcomed us for a delicious dinner. It was so so wonderful to see everyone. On our way to the Hope Hotel for the night, we swung by Graeter's for a cooler full of yummy ice cream (to take to our fellow Graeter's fans in VA). Oh do we miss Graeter's!!!! The next morning, we headed to Maryland, picking up Matt's rental car at BWI and then settling in to our furnished apartment (thanks to Marriott's Execu-Stay program, highly recommended!). We're looking forward to catching up with friends and family members in VA (Matt's brother and wife live in the DC area, and my family lives in Williamsburg and Chesapeake).