The B-HIVE: A Visit from Tio and Tia

Paul, Max and I were thrilled to get a visit from two of our favorite Utah residents this past weekend: Tio and Tia (Uncle John and Aunt Sandy). We have been anticipating their arrival on the East Coast since shortly after we moved here. The only bad thing is that now it is over and we have to wait almost an entire month until our visit to UT before we can see them again.

Max just loved the two of them. He and Tio had a lot of fun.

Uncle John had a great time on Paul's dirt bike. (I'm sorry, Tia, if one of these becomes his next toy). He hopped on the bike, took off at top speed, and then we didn't see him again for like 15 minutes or longer. I think he has officially ridden it in PA more than Paul has (sorry, babe).

We actually ventured outside of the confines of the West Chester area and headed into the city of Philadelphia for the first time (we live about 25 miles west of Philly, but this takes anywhere from 45 mins to an hour on a good day). It was really nice to get out--and by that I mean go somewhere else--as the massive trees that surround this area can tend to get a little claustrophobic when you are accustomed to living in the wide open desert.

Our goal in Philadelphia was to try a famous Philly cheesesteak (although here in PA you drop the "Philly" and just refer to them as "cheesesteaks"). We did our research and discovered that the two most acclaimed spots were Pat's and Gino's. On the advice of one of Paul's colleagues, we decided to try both--getting a half a sandwich at each so we could compare the two.

Our first stop was Pat's, and I was immediately impressed with the crowds--this must be the place to eat. To place our order, we had to stand in two different lines that were both very long. They must run on reputation alone, because customer service was definitely not a priority. At least we were lucky enough to get a table. We all thought the cheesesteaks here were very yummy (and GREASY), but the fries seemed to be the standout.

Even Max enjoyed the sandwich.

Geno's was right across the street and seemed a little less crowded but a lot more "cheesy" (pardon the pun, but it did look like it belonged in old downtown Las Vegas) so I was prepared for it to be the runner-up in this culinary contest. I was sadly mistaken, however, as the four of us unanimously favored the sandwiches here (although we still preferred Pat's french fries).

After all of this eating we decided to wander around the hisorical part of downtown Philadelphia. We saw Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and walked around Washington Square. Aunt Sandy and I even found some cute little boutique children's stores to browse through. All in all it was a wonderful day--good weather, good food, and good company.

On Sunday we drove down to Washington, D.C. I was really excited to do this as it had been around 16 years since my last trip to the nation's capitol. Uncle John's father, who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, is buried in Arlington, so this was our first stop.

Looking across the hills at all of the rows and rows of headstones was very monumental, and it was quite enlightening to walk through some of America's history and realize that you are surrounded by memorials of our nation's honorable war heroes. Of course our appreciation of this was only fleeting, as Max was ever eager to trudge through patches of grass that were off limits and run and yell at the top of his lungs during the Changing of the Guard. He definitely had some pent-up energy after the long car ride so we could hardly blame the little guy.

Our next stop was the Lincoln and Vietnam Memorials, and at this point I realized that this trip to D.C. would not foster the same types of memories as my excursion 16 years ago. A toddler (at least my rambunctious toddler) does not do well at museums and monuments while hanging out in a stroller all day. I think for our next trip this direction we will have to hire a sitter for Max. That being said, we ended up calling it a day after this and left for home without even seeing the White House. We did do a drive-by of Capitol Hill, at least, and it was nice to spend the day visiting with Tio and Tia.

Look how pissed off Max is in this picture. Bless his little heart--he does not nap well on the go, and I think it was after 4 pm in this picture. He was tired.

Tio and Tia's trip was very sadly over before we knew it. They kept promising they would come back, so we are going to hold them to it. We miss you two!!

Here are just some random pictures of what we've been up to since the last blog. Nothing too exciting outside of our wonderful guests, but photos of Max are always fun.

He has a very suspicious chocolate goatee in this picture...