The trip up went surprisingly well. I expected with such a late start that we would get caught at the I-95 interchange just South of Washington, but traffic was light the whole way up. Colette was kind enough to sleep through the entire trip. Pasta and Neon fared well even though they had much less space in the back seat.

Colette (my sister), her beau Shawn, Brendan and my parents were here when we arrived. Shawn was taking on (and beating) Brendan and my dad in a game of tennis when we came down the driveway. But everyone stopped to say hello to Colette.

Colette (my daughter) woke up right about the time we arrived, and has managed to stay awake all afternoon and evening. She’s a happy baby, content as she’s passed from one to another. By dinnertime she needed the pacifier. Jean, my mother and I took turns holding her while everyone ate. We’ve tried putting her down for the evening, but she’s probably not going to go to sleep until closer to midnight.

It’s great to be back in Philadelphia. Colette will finally meet all of my brothers and sisters, as well as her Great Uncle Kevin. She’ll also meet her cousins Sabrina and Molly. I think that meeting will be particularly interesting. From what I’ve heard, Sabrina hasn’t quite understood the concept that she’s got another cousin. She has one cousin, on her mother’s side of the family, but Colette will be her first cousin on her father’s side of the family. My mother has told me that when Shane tries to tell his daughter that she has a new cousin, she insists that she already has a cousin. That’s as far as she’s been able to go. I’m sure that she’s even more confused because her new cousin has the same name as her aunt, whom she knows well.

More tomorrow…