The North Made Us Sick

...that's what Chip said anyway. The plague recently hit 185B Overbrook or I would have had the trip home recap up sooner.

First. Flying to and from on this trip was totally smooth. We took off on time and landed early both times. I know that this won't happen again for 76 years so I thought I should make a note of it.

It was really great to be home. First we popped into the Boathouse in Conshy and then spent the night with our friends Anne and Steve Hormell and got to meet little Miles, or as Chip calls him, The Champ. It was pretty cool to see my friends settling into parenthood with so much ease. They are already old pros.

And as you can tell from this picture Chip is ready to make that next step any day now:



Friday morning the crew at Tara's (Me, Chip, Tara, Matt, Aimee, Mark and Anne Marie) were out the door and on our way to Finnigan's bright and early. You cannot imagine my surprise when we walked in there at 9:45 AM and there was wall to wall people.

Fortunately, Rebecca, Steve, Christy and Chip were smart enough to move up a floor and saved tables and chairs for our whole group which grew to about 40 people this year.

I have said it before and I will say it again. This is just one of those can't miss days. Sure you have to take a day off of work, and yes you don't feel that great the next day, but its SOOO much fun. Everyone is in a good mood, flare is flying, and for me personally it was a chance to catch up with people I don't get to see very often now that I live in the Floribbean.



It really meant alot to me that so many people made the effort to be there this year.

Details about the rest of the day are a little fuzzy but I know I had fun and I am sure everyone else did too.

I spent the rest of the weekend with my friend Christy Smith who flew out for the weekend from Chicago, Christy and I went to Purdue together. She is a wonderful friend and I am so glad we got to spend some quality time together.

On Sunday before heading to the airport my parents hosted a small birthday breakfast for me with my family and also Chip's parents. I love melding the two families. Its also nice to see that everyone likes each other...that is always something to be aware of when putting all those family members in the same room...but hey, what's not to like :)

So that is the quick recap of our whirlwind weekend in Philly. Once we got back we both ended up missing more work due to illness.

Thankfully we recovered by this past weekend and were able to go to the Sold Out Phillies vs. Red Sox Pre-Season game here at Brighthouse field. I was telling Chip how much I like the fact that we picked an area that at least gives us a little taste of home now and then. Brighthouse field is a great place and its also home to the Phillies single A team the Clearwater Threshers.

Here are a few other shots from St. Patty's Day:


The Judds and The Mullarkins :)


Direct from New Orleans - Meggan's got the biggest balls of them all


My girls - and that English dude :)
Make sure you look real hard so you don't miss my earrings.