I could not love thee half so well, loved I not Baltimore

At the last minute, last week, Casey and I decided to go see my brother Joey (Casey's sister Katie's husband) graduate from Dental School. Casey's parents couldn't go after all, and we felt we should show some support, especially as we represent both sides of the family. So we split our kids up with Wendy and Kate, took Rosalie along and flew away to Birdland. (That's what they call Baltimore, on account of their local teams, the Orioles and Ravens.)
Joey was surprised and delighted to see us, as Katie hadn't told him we were coming, just for fun. And the very next day we got to go see all the pompous circumstances of Joey becoming an official DDS. We managed to get a blurry shot (from the balcony to which baby bearing families were shunted) of the hooding of the rare lavender banded dental grad. Go Joey! I mean Dr. Joey!

And for the rest of the week, we had lots of fun hanging out with Joey, Katie, and Luke. Actually, they didn't let us hang out much, they felt we should use our time more productively. So we toured Baltimore's inner Harbor, Washington D.C., the Dental Museum, the Dental School, Johns Hopkins, the local Aldi store, several restaurants, the church in Hampstead, etc.
At the Washington Monument on the Mall in Washington D.C.

Rosalie and the bugs at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Yes that tarantula is as big as her head.

This is where Joey has been learning his trade. He looks kind of official in that white lab coat, don't you think?

Rosalie was ambivalent about Luke. He looks exactly like one of her dolls that she loves to hold and pat, but every time she tried to heft him, she realized he is bigger than she is, and that bothered her. But she really took to Joey. Every time he walked by or talked she just giggled.