Z WELCOME HOME TOUR - EAST COAST

Z landed in JFK and headed off to New Haven with Becca. There they spent a lovely afternoon with Elizabeth Magenheimer and Jerry Coffey at the beloved Huntington Street abode, and even got to take a swim! Aunt Laurel and cousing Lyndsay drove down from Storrs to pick them up to take them to see the Metzgar clan.


It was about this time that Z began to feel the heat. As a January baby, she had not really experienced summer yet, since it was winter in Africa. And let’s just say she was not pleased. I was not present, but I have heard that it was in Aunt Laurel’s car that she began to express her displeasure.

So in a cranky and hot mood, Z visited with Aunt Laurel, Uncle Russ, Kent and Lyndsay. The next morning she saw her grandparents, Mimi and Papa Metzgar, where she grabbed Papa’s nose, and her other cousins, Cali, Jake and Juliana.

Then off to Wellfleet in Cape Cod to see Seth, Chuck, Aunt Nilsa and her Massachusetss grandparents, the Shepsles! Seth got to squeeze her a lot, and she met some “FORKS” (Friends Of Rise and Ken) and also a “DORK” (Seth says that’s Nilsa, since she is the Daughter Of Rise and Ken). Z also took in her first drive-in movie, which was "MAMA MIA!" with Nilsa, Rise, Seth, Chuck, Becca, Somi (Nilsa's dog) and Chandra.



While on the Cape, Charlie visited Aunties Paula and Anne in Truro who used to live around the corner in Cranston – we will all miss them so much!


Z and Becca finished off the Cape Cod tour with a visit to Kate Doak and her crew of twins. Just think…twins. I have a shiny new respect for these brave parents…Kate and Sam, Jill and Steve, Angelina and Brad…what were you people thinking?

After a near miss on the highway which Z Charles slept through, Becca returned the old green Jeep to Aunt Betsy’s driveway with a new hood which, of course, is blue and doesn’t match – then onto the airport where Z had her first all-out airplane freakout on her way to her new home in Chicago!