it’s become an annual tradition — sarah comes to visit Frederick the week after jackson’s birthday. and this year was no different.
we started out the week with a bang at the urbana carnival on monday night. crispy french fries, chicken and lemonade were followed by creamy soft serve ice cream and some games.
on tuesday, aunt molly took a break from work so she and sarah could meet a real, live author. deborah wiles lived for many years in nearby urbana and has since found success writing children’s novels and picture books. we listened to her speak about her writing journey, then sarah and aunt molly each purchased some books and waited in line to meet ms. wiles. what a nice woman she was! she greeted each of us, asked us about ourselves, shook our hands, and signed our books. aunt molly’s friend, tom, even took our photo while we spoke with her! sarah said maybe she’ll be an author someday.
later that day, jackson, molly and sarah went to kids eat free night at california tortilla, and enjoyed yummy tex-mex cuisine. jackson couldn’t stop saying “que-sa-dee-ya” or just “dee-ya” as he ate!
on wednesday afternoon, we all took a long walk to the baker park pool for family night. in total, we walked almost two miles to the pool and back! whew! we all needed a dip after that!
thursday was a stay-at-home day, playing with play-do, reading and just hanging out.
on friday, aunt molly took a vacation day from work, and treated sarah and jackson to a trip to the catoctin wildlife preserve and zoo in thurmont. what a day! it was one of the hottest and muggiest on record, but we all had a great time, anyway. we saw so many different kinds of monkeys, watched a bear, and sarah even threw some food at a bunch of deer and goats. (no worries — we didn’t let them eat out of her hand!) after a quick hot dog lunch, we walked through the creepy snake house and scoped out some way-cool tortoises.
we ended up near the safari area, where sarah saw her first live camel, in person! when aunt molly asked sarah whether she’d like to ride it, her eyes got huge. it was a big yes! after sarah bought her ticket, jackson showed an interest in riding, too. the nice lady who worked with the camels told us it was ok to put jackson on the camel with sarah, for free!
after some more monkey-observing and a long browse at the gift shop, we were headed home. aunt molly bought huge lemonades for everyone and we were all so grateful for them, and the car’s air-conditioning!
on saturday, sarah again braved the crazy heat to help aunt molly and jackson shop at the farmer’s market. we had to wait in line so long at the meat stand that all the corn on the cob was grabbed up before we could get there! ugh! we could hardly believe sarah’s last day had arrived already!
on sunday morning, we all woke up early to drive to baltimore, where we met up with sarah’s long-lost family. another way-too-hot day greeted us there, so after a nice lunch, we decided to head home.
it was another successful, fun visit from sarah this year. special thanks for all her help, her positive attitude, and for teaching aunt molly how to make some way-cool bracelets!
can’t wait for next year!