Maryland Vacation Part 2 Meeting everyone

Holly and her kids, Deanna (and Deanna's fiancé, Burkley), April and Michael greeted us with lovely a sweet sign, lots of hugs and laughter.

They had plenty of toy cars, crayons, toys from their youth, etc for Gregory to immediately play with :)  Below is a picture April, Gregory and Deanna:

When we arrived, all of the animals were either outside or in cages.  They did a slow introduction.  It felt like they had a petting zoo at their home.  It was great.  First introduction was the guinea pig, Darla.  She was super soft, but she shed a lot.  She was very content being held.

Next was the hamster, Noodles.  Love that name.  Noodles was fun to hold and Gregory would run up screaming in delight.

They also have three dogs.  Rocco came in first.  He is a chill dog, the one that gets along with everyone.  He came in, sniffed and sat down.

Then came Bella.  She was a rescue dog.  I remember seeing her years ago.  She is so much healthier and happier now!  She came up to us, shy, but cool.

The last was Vinnie.  He's the largest and most protective of the dogs.  He barked once and calmed down.  The last time I saw Vinnie, he barked a good few minutes at me, but this time he saw that I was Gregory's Mommy and Vinnie accepted me quickly.  In fact, when Gregory started to cry and I picked Gregory up, Vinnie barked at me to make sure I wasn't hurting Gregory.  It was sweet.

Holly and her family said this was the easiest introduction they have ever had with the pets.  It went smoothly, quickly and I was relieved.

I didn't have time to unpack and Gregory was thirsty.  Deanna shared something very special with Gregory.... her childhood sip cup.  Only, there's more to the story... Deanna LOVES her sip cup and even through college years, if she was sick, she would use it as a comfort.  And she NEVER shared it.... until Gregory came over.  How sweet is that?

Deanna and Gregory with her sip cup.  It really is a cool cup, because it has a space in the middle to hold.  Wish they made those types of cups now.

We decided to go to the park close by... but by the time we go there, Gregory was already asleep.  We brought him home, had supper, made plans for the week and went to bed early :)

My cousin, Holly, holding Gregory and her daughter, Deanna

More Maryland vacation stories to follow....