Dinner with Friends

 July 3rd, we met up with Diane, a friend of Jon's, in Baltimore.  She has known Jon for more than 25 years.  They met when they were both in school at Manchester College and have managed to stay in contact sporadicly over the years.  I met her at our wedding about 10 years ago, which was also the last time Jon actually saw her.
 She and her girls live in Ft. Wayne, IN but were on vacation out here on the east coast and wanted to meet us for dinner.  So, our family headed up to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore where they were staying for a few nights.

The National Aquarium, off to the left

Jon and the munchkins walking in Baltimore

The munchkins checking out the Harbor

Jon and the munchkins

We arrived a few minutes early so, we sat down near the National Aquarium entrance, the place we had agreed to meet, and waited for our friends.

I took a few shots of some flowers nearby to pass the time.

Jon and Diane

 Diane and her daughters Lily, Isabelle, and Cecilia

Sissy, Buddy, Lily, Cecilia, and Isabelle
Our kids had never met her girls before this evening, but they all played together so well.

 The kids having fun running around after dinner

 We also walked by a few memorials for the Marylanders who died in the September, 11th attacks in 2001.  The memorials were located in front of the World Trade Center Building in Baltimore.
This is some metal from the World Trade Center building in NYC.

The memorial read, "Together we remember the people of Maryland who perished on September 11, 2001."

Here are the memorials for the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA.

 Three granite pillars to memorialize those who perished on Flight 93 on 9/11.

Three big pieces of limestone from the Pentagon to remember those who died at the Pentagon on 9/11/01.

Sober reminders of a sad day in American history.

On a more cheerful note, we all had a wonderful time meeting up with Diane and her girls in the Inner Harbor.  Hopefully, we'll all stay in better contact in the future.