Banick Family Visit

Hello Again!!

Well, I figured it was about time for another post! This one I am particularly excited to write because it is ALL about the Banick family coming to visit Teej and I. TJ's parents, Jan and Tim, arrived at the end of September and stayed a little over a week with us at our apartment in Everett. His twin sister Leah also came to visit but arrived in the middle of that week after visiting some other friends first in Ohio. 

So, where to begin. Well, Teej picked up his parents at the airport late one night after their long day of traveling to get here. It was so fun to see them and be able to show them our home as well as give them a place to stay. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up on how their flight was before heading to bed. Unfortunately Teej and I both had to work the next day so they decided to adventure over to Cape Cod, which is about 2 hours south of here. Teej and I had explored that area the previous week and thought they would love what it had to offer. Cape Cod is filled with little towns with fun shops and restaurants. The best part is that all the towns overlook exquisite beaches where you can just sit and enjoy God's beautiful creation. 

That following day was fun because I was able to show them where I work as well as give them a tour of the facility. I had a couple people to train that day so they both worked out and enjoyed the pool while I did that. It actually worked out very nicely that they came with me because right after I finished working we headed straight to Boston to meet Teej for dinner and then head to the Boston Red Sox game. 

I think Tim was pretty excited about the Red Sox game because we were playing the Baltimore Orioles, which is his favorite team. We unfortunately left the tickets in the car back at the train station so Teej had to run inside his office and print them off again before his work was closed for the weekend. :) We made it just in time! The game was really fun. It was a beautiful clear evening filled with fun people and the best hot chocolate I have ever had. It was a pretty close game until about the 8th or 9th inning when the Orioles took the lead and won the game. I think Tim was pretty happy when that happened. In fact, at times I actually felt like we were at an Orioles game because there were so many Orioles fans sitting around us with their orange hats and jackets. Overall, great evening.

The next morning was so exciting because we got the opportunity to go and pick up Leah from the airport! I was so pumped up to see her and get to catch up and hear about all she had been doing. That day the 5 of us all drove out to the house that Jan and Tim had rented in Gloucester, (pronounced "Glosta") which is along Cape Ann near the ocean. We couldn't check into the house until about 2pm so we picked Leah up and then headed to get groceries at Trader Joe's before heading to the house. The house we stayed in was located on the top floor of this nice older woman's house. It was so cute with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. The best part was the breathtaking ocean view from her backyard. 

That evening we explored the area around Gloucester and ate at this fun seafood restaurant for dinner. Gloucester was so cute and filled with lots of character. We really enjoyed everything it had to offer and of course took lots of pictures! On the way home we stopped to watch the sunset and decided to take jumping silhouette photos. That was probably one of my favorites memories of the trip. 

The following day consisted of us traveling to a couple different beach towns; Rockport and Newburyport. These are both places that Teej and I hadn't explored much so in a sense, it was new to us as well. Rockport was awesome with little shops and even better views of the ocean. Leah and I had fun adventuring off the beaten path a little bit when we decided to walk down this ladder and sit in an unmarked boat and take photos. We made sure it was attached to the dock so we wouldn't float away haha... Ok, it wasn't really that adventurous but it was still fun. 

Newburyport was another great time to explore. It was structured differently in that the buildings were mainly brick and were a lot taller then the previous towns we had been in. One of my favorite things that we did while there was walk through the biggest antique store I have ever been in. I thought about all my girlfriends from home and knew how much they would have LOVED it. It was located in what looked like it used to be a barn but was recently renovated and made into the antique store. The entire barn was completely filled with really cool stuff. 

We walked around the town for a while before finding a place to have dinner. The place we picked was awesome because it allowed us to sit outside on this deck overlooking the water. It was overall a great location with great food. That evening we came back slightly early and relaxed because I had to take Teej to the commuter rail for work SUPER early that next morning. 

Before leaving the house in Gloucester, Tim, Jan, Leah, and I all headed to the beach just down the road from us. It was another gorgeous day so we took some time and walked along the beach together and took some great photos. 

The rest of the trip Teej and I both had to work so the Tim, Jan, and Leah all went to Boston together and walked along the Freedom Trail, explored the North End and got a cannoli as well as many other things. It was such an awesome trip and Teej and I were so blessed to have them all here and see where we live and what we do everyday. We can't wait to see them all again in December! 

What's next? NEW YORK TRIP with Shannon and Paige. So, stay tuned. 

Oh, and thank you Leah for taking all of the photos so that I could use them in my blog! Love you!

"Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love."  Ephesians 4:2