Boston to Denver to PHILADELPHIA!

C: After a big welcome back to America in Boston we headed to Denver for some quality time with the family.  A too short week spent with my lovely sisters, nephews and brother-in-law, and a great lunch with the Johnsons.  

The first rain we've ever seen in Denver

A very happy 3rd birthday for my nephew

His favorite book

A great week of fourth of July fun and birthday party magic and it was time to head back home.  After a very nostalgic lay over in the Cleveland Airport (which I'm convinced has always and will always smell like cinnamon rolls) we finally landed in Philadelphia.  HOME.

Settling back into Tyca it's crazy to think we were here a little more than 9 months ago getting married.

E: I think we both are feeling that everything about the trip felt very well timed. We were undoubtedly feeling quite sentimental during out last few days abroad, trying to process the fact that there would be no more hostels or camping or figuring out how the heck to get across a new foreign city with nothing but a poorly labeled free map and an address in a foreign language (and a compass). After nine months, 23 countries, countless different beds and countless more incredible (and occasionally far less than incredible) meals and snacks, the predominant feeling for us has been that we've just been fantastically fortunate to be able to pull this off (with so many thanks to everyone who helped us make it happen) and are now simply enjoying rejoining our families and friends with all sorts of summer-y goodness.

What better way to kick off our Philly-return with the Strathmann family's 10th annual Capture the Flag/Pig Roast (3rd year with the full pig). It's great to get back to cooking, and after an almost too perfect to be true upcoming 2 weeks in New Hampshire, we'll both be happy to get back to our old apartment and back to work. But in the meantime, we're going to soak up every ounce of this good, humid American summer.

A rainy 6:45am wake up to put the pig on

Flipping the pig, 5+ hours in

Players

Spectators

Off comes the pig

10+ hours of crispy deliciousness

E&C:  It's hard to know how to end this blog and really how to end this trip.  We've gone around the entire globe (and then some with our added on trip to Denver) in less than 9 months and we're almost unable to comprehend how to really come back.  We feel incredibly lucky to have had this opportunity and to have such wonderful friends and family who helped us out with this trip--  thank you all again, it's hard to imagine having a more loving community to return to.

That's all (for now).
Thanks for reading and lots of love,
Cindhu & Elliot