I’m so glad we had the opportunity to travel to Florida to see Richard, Patsy, and all of Brent’s siblings as well as most of their families. It has been a long time since everyone has been together, and it was great hanging out and visiting with everybody.

We headed to Kennedy Space Center one day with Brent’s brother Scott and wife Kelly, and his brother Michael and girlfriend Kim. To our disappointment it is no longer free to enter the main part of the museum. We hung out and took pictures outside before going to Ron Jon’s Surf Shop.

Hayley was nervous at first about Buffy, Richard and Patsy’s dog. She warmed up to her after a while, however. All three of the girls seemed to be very excited about Buffy and Mufasa (Mike and Kim’s dog), and spent much of their time playing with them. I think they’d really like a pet.

We went out to Texas de Brazil to celebrate Richard’s birthday. The selection of meats which the carvers presented to us were delicious. I tried wasabi for the first time and did not care for it. It was my mistake to eat a spoonful without knowing what it was.

We played several games of Pit and Hearts while we were there.

We were going to stop in Manhattan on the way home, but the weather was unfavorable. We stopped in Washington D.C., somewhere I have never been. We walked the National Mall. It was cool to see the White House, Washington Monument, Capitol Building, and other famous landmarks. We plan on taking a more thorough trip to D.C. and New York City by train.

I’m glad I was able to take off work and school for a week to take this trip. Unfortunately, I did still have to do homework, study, and take three on-line tests. Richard was kind enough to set up a computer at his accounting office for me so I could take my anatomy and physiology exams uninterrupted. I really enjoyed reconnecting with family we haven’t seen or talked to in a while, and to meet my new sister-in-law, Kelly, and my niece and nephew, Cathryn and Blake.