Tour de Bebe

It has been just over a week on our "Tour de Bebe".  We have already been many places and have seen many people.  Our plan was to visit as much family and friends as we could before flying out to Japan.  Luke will be unable to come back to the U.S. much at all once he starts work out there, so he really wanted to see everybody and show off the new baby.  :)

Our trip started off 2 1/2 hours from Jacksonville in Savannah, GA to see some Coast Guard friends we made in Pensacola (Daniel and Sarah Lavender).  We had a great time visiting with them and holding each others' babies and eating some yummy food.

Bye Jacksonville, FL!

Our next stop was in Burke, VA to see Luke's Uncle Steve, Aunt Maribeth, and the cousins.  We spent a few days in Northern Virginia with them.  We even took a trip into Washington, DC to see the monuments at the National Mall.  We took Bronson to the Capitol and took a picture, so he will know he really is an American.  He even pooped all over the Library of Congress (A story to be told on a later date).  Aunt Maribeth took Bronson one night so that we could go out with cousins Katie and Steven.  We had a great time with them!  I realize now that I don't have many pictures of them, which I am bummed about. :(

Great Uncle Steve

While we were in the area we went up to Annapolis, MD to see Marijo, Luke's sponsor while he was at the Naval Academy.  We hadn't seen her since Luke's graduation, so it was great to catch up with her.  We also had lunch with our friend Heather.  She was super excited to see Bronson, and we loved seeing how big Eva had grown and hearing Liam's progression in conversing.

On Sunday, we went to our old church in Baltimore, MD (Brooklyn Bible Chapel) and visited with all of our old friends from there.  We went out for pizza with Don and Jean Brower (They counseled us before we got married.) and Todd and Michelle Brower.  It was fun to talk nursing with Jean and Michelle.  Luke had a great time talking "Navy" with Don.  :)

Next stop:  Hamilton, OH.  We stayed at Luke's cousin, Ruthie and John's/Aunt Becky's on our way to Indiana.  Bronson got passed around John and Ruthie's 7 children.  Samuel made Bronson look tiny.

Second Cousin Samuel

Great Aunt Becky

 We have done a lot of driving.  This is just the beginning of our long road trip.  I think by the end of our road trip, we'll have driven around 3,000 miles.  Once we get to Atsugi, Japan, we'll have traveled 12,000 miles in 30 days!  We've had a great time seeing everyone and passing the baby around, but we're excited to get to Japan.  I'm definitely ready to be done living out of a suitcase. 
...To Be Continued