Oh Canada, Oh Canada!

This past weekend, S and I made the trek back east to visit my brother and his family in Ottawa, Ontario. Work has been crazy busy lately, so I wasn't able to relax 100%, but it was still a great trip full of quality family time.

Being from a big family, there is a 20 year span between the youngest and oldest.  As a result, my relationship with each of my siblings has really evolved over time.  This trip, I had the privilege of getting to spend time with my oldest brother Derek and his family, my younger sister Emma and her baby, and older brother Ben.  We even saw my mom (Grandma Jo Jo) for an afternoon before Emma and I made the drive up north from D.C. to Ottawa.  Overall, the little kiddies did a great job for such a long trip.

Once in Ottawa, we had fun walking around parliment, getting a delicious beaver tail, picking out pumpkins at a pumpkin patch and carving them later, walking around an awesome lake at a park in Quebec,celebrating Canada Thanksgiving with yummy raclette, and letting the cousins run around and have fun with one another.  It was especially great to meet the newest addition to Derek's family - baby G.  Coming back to work was really hard and I have a lot to catch up on, but it was totally worth it.