Visit from Mackenzee

Since we aren't able to make it to Lompoc this summer, we have been looking forward to the chance to  host my cousin Mackenzee for her first visit to the East Coast since our wedding.  We were looking forward to seeing her and introducing her to Nora!  She is the youngest cousin on our side of the family, but on her mom's side, she has four younger cousins, so she has spent a fair amount of time around babies.  Nora took to Mackenzee immediately, and though our everyday lives must be fairly boring to a teenager, we did our best to keep her occupied.

On the first day of her visit, Nora, Mackenzee, and I took a trip down to Annapolis.  We wandered around downtown, stopped in some of the shops, and spent some time sitting down by the water in the shade.  It was a bit hot for being outdoors too long, but since Kenz says it is "way too cold" in Lompoc, she seemed to enjoy the sun and heat!

Over the weekend, we got to spend some time with Vickie while she had a break from work.  On Saturday afternoon, the three of us went to see the Orioles play the Tigers while Billy stayed home and hung out with Nora.  It was fun for me to have a day out with the girls, and it was the first time I've managed to make it to a baseball game this season.  The Orioles had a decent lead from the first inning onward, but the Tigers tied it up late in the game and we got to see some exciting extra-inning play.  In the end, the Orioles won with a walk off home run in the bottom of the 13th, so it was a perfect ending to a fun day.  All the ladies in our family are currently experiencing a bit of an obsession with TOMS shoes, and all three of us happened to be wearing them at the game, so we had to snap a picture. : )  Mackenzee is an Angels fan but ended up being glad she decided to wear Orioles gear because, she informs me, the Orioles have "a lot of hot guys" and "all the Angels are old."

Evidently I didn't snap any photos, but on Sunday all five of us went duckpin bowling.  I won the first game and Vickie played well, and in the second game, both Billy and Mackenzee broke 100 and Vickie and I lost our touch.  As always, Nora enjoyed looking at everything around her and trying to figure out what we were up to.  Sunday night, Mackenzee spent the night with Vickie in the city.  They went to see Spiderman at Harbor East, and apparently the movie was good and it was the nicest movie theater Kenz had ever seen.

On Monday, Nora and I went up to Canton to meet up with the girls and let Nora experience her first swim day at Vickie's pool.  I had no idea how she would handle it but she ended up liking it quite a bit. At first she was unsure about the water and only wanted me to hold her, but eventually she let both Vickie and Mackenzee walk her around in the pool.  Then we took turns holding her in a standing position on the pool steps, which she thought was even better.  By the end she was jumping up and down in the water!

On Tuesday, I was hoping to take the girls on a Potomoc boat cruise past the monuments in DC, but since temperatures were supposed to exceed 100 degrees, we decided on an indoor activity instead.  After I gave her a brief description of the different museum options, Mackenzee chose the Holocaust Museum, and I was again reminded that it is impossible to go there on only one day's notice.  So instead we went to the Newseum, where we saw exhibits about 9/11, technology in the news, sports photography, Pulitzer Prize winning photographs, and the First Dogs through the years.  Nora was a trooper, and so was Mackenzee when I made her pose in front of a piece of the Berlin wall, which she had never heard of.  The most interesting thing for me was talking to Kenz about what news events she remembers and which were before her time, but the exhibits were cool, too.  There was an entire wall of front pages from newspapers around the world on September 12, and I wish I'd had more time to stand and look at them.  They also have a portion of the radio antennae from the very top of the World Trade Center there and it was pretty surreal to think that had been so far up in the sky and had come crashing so far down.

Today we hung around the house for the most part, though Vickie did join us for lunch before Nora and I took Mackenzee to the airport.  It was a lot of fun to have her here because she's a great kid, she's up for anything, and she was really good with Nora.  It was also an interesting experience for me because, at 15, she's exactly halfway between my age and Nora's age.  Plus, I know my dad would have been happy that Kim and Craig decided to let Mackenzee make the trip, thrilled that we four girls got to spend some quality time together, and thankful that Billy helped us make the most of our time together even when he was super busy with work.  I feel like I say it a lot, but I know how fortunate Nora is to have so many adoring family members who are invested in her life, and I'm glad she got to spend the past week with one of the ones she hadn't gotten to meet yet.  Down the road I look forward to hearing Mackenzee say "I remember when you were barely learning to crawl!"  : )

Thanks for making the trip, Mackenzee!!  We'll see you real soon on facetime. : )