We spent this past weekend in Baltimore where we stayed at Mike and Susan’s condo. Ludmila was off for a few days so my original plan since we didn’t have childcare Wednesday through Thursday last week was to go to Baltimore mid-week and stay through the entire weekend. But I had previously signed Avery and Emerson up for dance camp that week and I chose not to reschedule it. That meant we couldn’t leave for Baltimore until Friday afternoon. Friday evening we went to Federal Hill for dinner and ate at a Mexican Restaurant called Blue Agave. We actually went there three years ago and the girls loved the salsa and rice and beans the first time. It wasn’t so great that I felt we needed to go back, but many of the other options were bar type food and I prefer a fish taco over a burger and fries any day. Anyway, the girls ate…it was reasonably priced and we were in and out of there quickly…so a win in my book. We walked for a while and since we couldn’t find an ice-cream place for dessert, we ended up going into a restaurant and sitting at the bar Mother’s (a restaurant that Justin and I went to once pre-kids) and the girls ordered a scoop of ice-cream. Vanilla ice-cream for Avery, chocolate for Harper, and lemon sorbet (fancy, fancy) for Emerson. Emerson also told her famous joke to the waitress: “What did the pencil say to the other pencil? You are looking sharp today.” That caused Avery and Harper to attempt to tell a joke, which wasn’t funny, but they were cute. The waitress in turn told the girls a joke: “Why did the banana go to the doctor? Because it wasn’t peeling well.” Justin and I were both super proud of Eme for her courage to tell the joke to the waitress. After dinner and dessert, it was bath time for these girls at the condo. All three girls took a bath in the master jetted Jacuzzi tub where they were all giggles. Yes, that is a glass tan on Avery’s face! And YES that face is SO Harper. Isn’t she so stinkin adorable? This is seriously how she looks 75% of the time making me just want to constantly eat her up and making it so easy for her to get away with everything!!! She knows she is that cute!
Saturday morning we woke up early and made our way to Port Discovery. We debated walking with the strollers, but the forecast was calling for rain so we decided not to chance it. We arrived at 10:30, took a lunch break at The Shake Shake (our first time with the girls). Harper slept through lunch so we stopped in Panera for a coffee and to buy a little more time for Harper to finish her nap. While we were in Panera, it started storming….the rain was literally blowing sideways. We awaited the storm to pass (Harper had woken up in the meanwhile and eaten her hot dog and fries) and then headed back to Port Discovery where we stayed until closing time! 
We ALL had an awesome time playing on the three story urban treehouse (a.k.a. massive indoor playground), making art, role playing in the gas station/convenience store, cooking and serving food in the diner, exploring the temporary Korean exhibit, playing on the train, reading, exploring, and playing all the random other games. I didn’t know how long the girls would last…I was thrilled we made it to closing time! The girls were exhausted by the end of the day!
Sunday morning we decided to go for a walk….the destination was a coffee shop but Justin and I wanted to walk long enough to get a “workout” in. With both strollers, we headed towards the inner harbor. I’m so glad we walked as we saw so much more walking the harbor from the condo. We realized that some more trips to Baltimore were in our future as there was so much more to do (paddle boating on dragon boats, touring submarines and ships, the science museum, and more!) We took a break from the heat for a few minutes. 
And we rode the carousel. We were the only ones on it and the girls were all loving life. 
Justin and I both rode it with them….I swear every time I am on a carousel with my girls for a few minutes in time, my mind forgets everything and the only thing on my mind is pure joy. Seeing and hearing the excitement in my girls faces and voices when they are on a carousel is so amazingly innocent and beautiful. It really was a great weekend. I love getting away because while at home, I always have the best of intentions to stop and smell the roses, I get caught up so easily in the never ending list of things that need to get done. In Baltimore, there was no list…we didn’t have a set agenda or a schedule we were trying to meet…it was just a girl and a boy and their three little ladies.
I savored each bite and had my don’t talk to me face on as I took in each bite of pure goodness. Seriously, the food was amazing and I look forward to this experience each year. The food is so good that it doesn’t even warrant conversation with each bite because that would just take away from the total mind body experience. 
