GREAT Summer Weekend!

Last weekend we had a great time!

On Friday evening we had our friends and old neighbors over. We all had such fun that evening that it left us wondering why we never got together when they lived in the neighborhood. Here are a few pictures of the kiddos together...

Mckenna and Kera

Kiddos watching Monster's Inc.

Mason and Abby

Saturday we woke-up to rain but that didn't stop us....we all got into the car and headed to the Port Discovery Children's Museum located in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. This was a very big and fun museum. It will take a few visits to see everything. The girls really enjoyed it! As soon as we left Abby was asking when we could go back.

Saturday evening we headed out to historic Ellicot City for dinner. Historic Ellicot City is very cute and quaint. I see us spending some more time there.

For dinner we went to the Ellicot Mills Brewery. Not only was the beer and food good but the girls were very well behaved....what more could you ask for.

Saturday was also Billy's 14th birthday. WOW, 14! He did not do as well with the birthday hat as Chewy did.

On Sunday we wanted to take the girls to a park but we were a bit tired of our usual parks so, I looked online for a new park to take them to. What we found was, Wheaton Regional Park. This park is AMAZING! I have been to many playgrounds in the last 3 years and none of them can hold a candle to this place. We all had a great time and can't wait to go back!

What a fun family weekend!

New Jammies!

There is nothing like a new pair of jammies!

July 14th, 2012

Old Town Alexandria

On Sunday the 8th we headed to Old Town Alexandria to walk around and for lunch. We had a nice morning, even with it being boiling outside. The girls loved posing in front of the old buildings...

Notice what the background is on this one...lol.

After a nice lunch at the Union Street Public House, our usual dinning spot in Alexandria...

...we walked around a bit more before we headed home. While we were walking around the water front Abby decided to take a few pictures with her play camera.

This is what she was taking a picture of...

It was a very nice, but very HOT morning.

4th of July

I was a bit worried that we were not going to have power for the 4th but, thankfully, we did. We had a lazy Wednesday morning but, as soon as we were all up from our naps, we headed over to our friend's the Hughes' for some 4th of July fun. Here are a few pictures from our afternoon...

Thank you Stacy for the tutus for the girls!

Abby, Jack, Kera, and Emma

After we left the Hughes' we stopped at the only firework stand that I had seen in the area. I am used to firework  stands being on every corner so finding only one was a bit odd for me. Abby was really excited about the fireworks! For a few days before the 4th she was fondly remembering our 4th of July from last year with our friends in Vegas. We all had a GREAT time at our pool and then lighting fireworks into the evening.

Abby WAS excited about the fireworks until...Jim stared to light them...

...then, she hid behind the door.

It was a relaxing and fun 4th. I am excited for next year when Kera will be able stay up and watch fireworks too.

65.5 Hours & 1st Hair Cut

On Friday June 29th a big storm came through our area and knocked our power. Not only was our power out but, so was the power of 500,000 other people. And, of course, it was in the middle of a heatwave! The storm was so monumental that there is already a page dedicated to it on wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2012_North_American_derecho .

The storm hit for us around 10 pm on Friday night. The girls and I were actually already in bed; Jim was up watching TV. When Jim looked into the back yard he not only noticed the rain and the constant lightening but, there was also a green ozone hue to the air. He came upstairs and told us all to go the the basement, just to be safe. At 10:30 our lights went out and we didn't know when they would come back. We spent about a half hour downstairs before we decided it was safe enough to go upstairs.

Luckily there were pockets of our area that had power so, on Saturday we decided it was a good days to get hair cuts. Jim had one and Kera had her first ever hair cut!

Kera before:

Kera during:

Kera after:

With the power being out we had no way to cook so....breakfast and lunches we could do at home but by the time dinner came around we had to go out. The little food we did in the house went bad quickly. We tried to put things into the freezer or into our cooler but with the heat there was little use.

The first night Jim and Abby slept in the basement. It was about 20 degrees cooler down there. Kera and I slept upstairs were it was nearly 90 degrees.

On Sunday our gym had power so we all headed there for the morning. Jim and I got our workouts and we spent some time at the pool with the girls.  While we were there we took the opportunity to charge our cell phones.

Sunday night it was back out to dinner, Dave & Busters. We thought that we could eat and play a few games but it was hectic with the girls and they didn't have enough games for the little ones. Abby didn't want to sleep in the basement again so...Jim slept on the basement (which was cooler than the rest of the house but, starting to get warm) and the girls and I were upstairs in our rooms.

On Monday Jim got to head to work where they had power. The girls and I were left suffering at home. We had talked about going to Jim's office but we were expecting our window repair man. Late morning we were given a GREAT gift! Our next door neighbor got her hands on a generator and she let us use one of her plugs. I had NEVER been so happy to turn on a fan in my life!

The power turned back on at 4:30 Monday afternoon and I was literally jumping with joy! It was a VERY long 65.5 hours...not that I was counting. We were actually some of the lucky ones. There were some people that didn't get their power back for a week.

Trelo Returns

On June 26th and 27th our friend John Trelo was back in town...looks like we will get to see him monthly! This time, instead of bringing candy it was 3 bags of chips! As we snacked on the chips we still had candy left over for a sweet treat. It has been GREAT having John come to town!

Not the best picture but it does show how comfortable the girls are with John!

Father's Day, Part 2...Bowie Baysox

On Saturday June 23rd we all headed out to the Bowie Baysox game for our annual Father's Day minor league baseball game. We had high hopes. On the way to the game Abby was very excited...she was talking about the players hitting and catching the ball and her being able to clap. When we got there we learned that it was Star Wars night; all the ball park staff were dressed up as Star Wars characters, as were many of the spectators. As we headed to our seats the girls noticed that there was a carousel at the ball park; the girls remember the carousel VERY fondly from Ocean City. As soon as they saw it they became obsessed with going on it. We told them they could go on it later and we continued to our seats...

Things were good for about 10 min. Lets just say...we did go on the carousel and then we left. Jim has asked me to never get him ball game tickets for Father's Day again.

Chewy Turns 6

On June 22nd Chewy turned 6!

I can't believe that our fuzzy boy is that old already! It seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home!

I can't believe how much Chewy has gone through with us...getting married, 2 kid, 2 moves...in these past 6 years! I hope you are with us for a LONG LONG time!

Picnic At Starbucks

On Tuesday's after Abby's swim class the girls and I have been going to Starbucks. Well, on Tuesday June 19th happened to be a beautiful sunny day and Starbucks was SO crowded that all the tables were taken...good thing I keep a blanket in the car!

Father's Day, part 1

Father's day this year was a bit hectic, a comedy of errors. On the Saturday before Father's day we set out to go on a hike in the Catoctin Mountains. Unfortunately, we left the house later than we should have and after we had been driving for about an hour we discovered that we were still 40 miles away from where we wanted to go...NOT going to happen! We decided instead to go to Seneca State Park, a place we have been several times before. Once we finally got there we had a very nice short walk and played on their fantastic playground.

On Sunday the girls gave Jim their gift, a painting craft they had made with paint, their hand prints, and pictures from father's days past.

They also gave Jim tickets for the Bowie Baysox, a local minor league baseball team. Going to a minor league for father's day has been our tradition the last several years. Abby also did a father's day mad lib....here is how it came out...

Dear Papa,                                                                       Father’s Day 2012

 You’re great! You’re as nice as a ­­­­­bunny, as handsome as a jaguar, and as wonderful as hotdogs. You’re so strong. I’ll bet you could even lift a big red ball at Target!

A day without you is like having to eat  spiders all day long.

It was so much fun when we went to the park. Let’s do that 3 more times. If I had all the money in the world I would buy you an animal. But for today, I’ll just give you 10 hugs and 10 kisses.

 Happy Father’s Day!

Love,

Abby

The rest of Sunday was really low key. Chewy had a hair cut...

...and we relaxed and grilled...

Happy Father's day Jim! The girls and I love you very much!!

Where did our baby go?

Kera is definitely not a baby anymore!

Pretty soon she will be able to reach the pedals.

Soccer

Ever since we have come to Maryland Abby has been in soccer and she loves it! It is the first activity that she has done where she asks me to sign her up again. One of the reasons Abby has enjoyed it so much is because of her friend Emma. Well, unfortunately, June was the last month that the girls had soccer together. Emma and her family find out in July where they are moving next. We wish them the best of luck but, they will be missed!

Ocean City

On Friday, June 8th after Abby's soccer, we headed to Ocean City, Maryland. Jim had a conference there so the girls and I tagged along.

When we arrived in Ocean City we checked into the hotel and then headed right out to the beach. Unfortunately, this was not a good experience for all involved. As soon as we got out to the beach Abby had a combination temper tantrum/anxiety attack.This is the only picture of Abby that I got on the beach...

...notice she is at the far back end of the beach by the back fence. Kera on the other hand loved the beach..

After our attempt at some beach time we headed back to hotel for dinner.

On Saturday morning, Jim had to go his conference and I was going to attempt the beach again but first, breakfast...

...pancakes, banana, and popcorn, Abby's request.

After breakfast we headed to the hotel playground then an attempted walk on the beach. Again, Abby had a fit about the beach. Looks like we will be spending our time at the hotel pool for the week rather than the beach. The beach looked really nice from our hotel room...even Abby thought so.

Even without going to the beach we made the most out of our time! Every morning we would get up, have breakfast, go to the playground, and then to the pool. Here are some of our pool pictures...

There was even an indoor pool...for the one day of rain we had...

We had some other fun times too. We went to a VERY messy crab feast.

I know I am biased but I like dungeness crab so much better!

We also had lots of fun on the boardwalk! Both Abby and Kera went on their first rides and they had a blast!

Abby's first ride!

Kera's first ride!

The girls had a lot of fun and enjoyed all the rides that they went on.

And of course, there was ice cream!

We had some much fun that we had to make a second trip to the boardwalk!

Even though it was disappointing that Abby would not go to the beach this was all and all a good trip. Jim accomplished what he needed to at the conference, the girls slept better in the hotel, and the girls had a lot of fun...what more can you ask for?