Road Trip Part One: Maryland and New Jersey

Rather than following their belongings up I-35, Dahlia and Jonah took a circuitous route to their new home. They stayed in three different states during their long road trip.

Their first stop was Maryland, where Jonah enjoyed meeting his great-grandmother for the first time:

Dahlia and Jonah also spent an afternoon at Cabin John Park with their step-cousins Lucy and Madelyn. Dahlia loved the slides at the park and was especially impressed with Madelyn's stylish glasses:

Lucy made sure that Dahlia didn't miss out on any of the fun, even lifting her up so she could "drive" under the gazebo:

After all of that playing, the group had worked up quite an appetite. It was time for dinner! Step-cousin Max met them at the restaurant, and he and Jonah immediately engaged in a little male bonding. Here Max is saying, "Welcome to the family, Jonah! I'm so glad that another male grandchild has finally joined the clan!"

After spending a couple of days in Maryland, the next stop was New Jersey, where Dahlia was reunited with her cousin Abigail. The two of them picked up like they had just played together yesterday, playing an energetic game of Connect Four before heading outside:

While Abigail and Dahlia played with each other, the two newest arrivals to the family, Eloise and Jonah, compared notes about how their parents were treating them:

Eloise told Jonah all about one of her favorite toys -- an exersaucer. He couldn't wait to try it out and was thrilled when he did: "You people have been holding out on me! This is awesome!"

Meanwhile, Dahlia (and her trusty blanket Mimi) saw Jonah in the exersaucer and figured out yet another way to torture her little brother: "Hey, who turned out all the lights?"