So, Baltimore, Then

The business trip went well, and we actually wrapped up the press check way, way ahead of time — original estimate was late Thursday, which means mid-Friday, but we were done early Thursday morning. Managed to finish up the last bit of business Friday morning and caught a flight to BWI, putting me at Raphael and Charlene's a day earlier than planned.

Walking into their house Friday, was welcomed with a wonderful dinner and sat down with the girls (Ava, Lana, and Ellie) to eat. But then it was time to head outside for soccer practice with Ava. That soon turned into just running around and spinning around in the late summer evening.

Saturday morning (after letting me sleep in, catching up from the press check), Raph, the girls, and I headed to a local church for their book sale. We all took our time poking around and came away with some finds. Back home, to pick up Charlene, and then off to Ava's first soccer game.

Instead of the usual soccer game of little kids swarming after the ball, this league has them compete 3-on-3 on "micro-fields;" that setup, plus frequent substitutions, means that the girls get a chance to actually play and show off their skills. That's Ava in yellow on the left doing just that.



Back home to cool off and rest up. Lana and I spent some time with the books from the sale.



Raph and I had planned dinner out at the Cattail Creek Country Club. So, after a little family movie night, we headed over there to eat and drink and hang out, closing the place down.

Sunday morning came, and we were on the road to Baltimore for the Baltimore Comic-Con. There before the doors opened, so we were well positioned to get in to meet some of the creators we wanted to see; overall, I was luckier there than Raph. We checked out some of the dealers for a while, then headed off to Capitol City Brewing to meet the Bankos for some lunch.



We had a great time, catching up, and they passed along some birthday surprises for me.



Back to the show, where we stayed 'til the end, both coming away with some pretty good finds.



We met up with the rest of the family (and Raph's sister and nieces) at El Azteca for some margaritas and dinner. Continued on for some ice cream, where we could sit (and the girls could run) outside. Back at the house, got to see Raph's new winery facilities, but then we called it an early night. Because Monday started awfully early.

Thanks to Raph + Char for being such great hosts.