Brown Bookstore and Dave and Gina's BBQ

---

A very early morning For Rosie allowed Steve and Grandpa to take her out of the room and down for breakfast so her loud excitement would not wake up Tory and Nathan. After breakfast, Rosie went back and played with Nana in the other room, which was a huge lifesaver several times during the trip. This allowed Steve to go back to bed as he, Tory, and Nathan caught up on sleep until about 9:30. Since Rosie woke up so early she was able to an early nap, so Steve, Tory, Vivian, and Nathan decided it would be a great day to go out and visit Brown, Steve’s old college alma mater.

Before heading to Brown the group stopped to get Tory some breakfast at Wendy’s and some beach toys at The Dollar Tree store for later in the week and at the pool. At Brown, they drove down the famous Thayer street, went to the Brown bookstore, then walked through some of the department building to the main green. There was a good amount of time spent at the bookstore, as it seems like everything there is something that Steve wanted. When it was only the 2^nd trip back to college in 13 years since he graduated, many of the Brown themed items and clothes are very tempting. He picked up the usual stuff from vacation such as refrigerator magnets, coffee mugs, and hats and some great matching Brown t-shirts for him and the kids. Nathan said he didn’t want to go to college there because it was too much walking, but at least he was entertained by construction trucks paving the street.

After Brown, they all went back to the hotel room and got ready to head over to Dave and Gina’s house in Cranston to celebrate their daughter Emma’s 3^rd birthday. Dave grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and there was plenty of other food for everyone. All of Grandpa George’s family was there, including Tara, Ron, Zachary, Zoey, and Jenn and Matt with their kids Christian and Antonia (Nathan’s best playfriend) Aunt Ann and Uncles Dave, and even Gina’s parents. Nathan and Antonia become instead buddies and played great together with the help of Tory, Antonia’s speech was very advanced for a 4-year-old. 2-year-olds Christian and Rosie played next to each other but mostly on their own. Everyone loved holding Vivian and commented about how calm she was.

---