The Smithfits: A quick trip to Delaware

Samantha and I just got back from a visit to my parents in Delaware. We hadn't been planning to go to Delaware for a while, but my mom offered to pay for a plane ticket (Samantha's last free plane trip) since her and my dad hadn't been able to get out to Minnesota and couldn't forsee a good time they would be able to.

It was great hanging out with my sister Maraina, and brother Dalton. They were especially excited since Sammi could not only SAY their name, she knew who the name belonged to and used it all the time. When Raina would come home from work Sammi would see her and say "Hi Reina!" in a very excited manner. She also would constantly be looking for people if she didn't see them. "Where's bampa/Reina/Dalton/gamma?" was an often heard phrase. In the morning Samantha greeted the still dead house (between 6:30-7:30am) with a yelling "HE-WO!" And at night when it was time for prayer she'd go around telling everyone that it was "prayer time" even if they were already kneeling in the circle. (She also told everyone where they were to sit at dinner and then would push in their chairs). Control much?

We were amazingly lucky with the weather. When I checked the weather before I left it said thunderstorms the entire time. However, most days it was quite clear (and hot and humid) so we spent a lot of time at a friend's pool, and even got a good day at the beach.

I was also able to catch up with a lot of old friends that aren't usually in Delaware. Some have moved back and others were just "passing through" very randomly at the same time I was there. I was even able to see my best friend from college who moved to New Jersey for grad school. (Apparently it's a good school... but the moment I drove off the Delaware Memorial Bridge I smelled something funny... )

I wasn't very good at taking pictures since mostly we were just hanging out. I know Maraina has some of Samantha swimming in the pool, but all I have really is some of the beach. Sammi loves sand, and she loves water, but she didn't really like the waves. She's more used to lakes where you can actually go wade out into the water. Here are some fun shots of her figuring stuff out though.

Running from the waves