Philadelphia

We traveled to Philly a couple of weekends ago to visit with family and to introduce Matteo to my grandmother. It was just a three day trip and there were lots of folks to see. The plan had been to set up camp at my sister's - but my poor nephew came down with a high fever and tonsillitis the night before we arrived. Instead, we parent-hopped between my mom and my dad's houses. We saw my sister and brother-in-law a few times throughout the weekend, but we only got to see Max on our last morning there...




He cracked me up clomping around in my hiking shoes.



Something about the way he's standing here reminds me of an illustration in Where the Wild Things Are. I haven't had a chance to look to see which one.

We began our trip by driving directly from the airport to "The Home". My grandmother was feeling good that day and had a really nice visit with the boys.




Matteo and his great-grandmother got a chance to bond a little.



They had no problem connecting.





On Saturday, my mom hosted a little gathering for some family and friends - otherwise known as - Matteo's "meet and greet".









As usual, there was lots of food...



- and lots of love...



The highlight of the trip was connecting with my high school friend Jenn. On Sunday - we met up with her and her three kids - including five-month old Michael - Matteo's new best friend.



We hung out at the Elmwood Zoo - which turned out to be a great place to visit with each other.

Luca horsed around with Angelo and Belle...





...while Jenn and I caught up.



Debbie was the designated kid wrangler. A necessity that day.











We did our best to get a nice group shot of our rag tag crew at the end of our visit...





It was a great trip and we were all worn out by the end of the weekend. But - only some of us got to sleep...