Ocean City and Chastity.

Over the weekend, we trekked across Maryland and part of Delaware to go to Ocean City with our weekend party group. 

We crossed the Bay Bridge, which fascinated Oliver and terrified me. The trip took hours longer than it should have because of traffic, but once we got to the beach and rented our beach umbrellas I decided that it was worth it. 

Though he hated the water, Oliver loved playing in the sand with his dad all afternoon. He also enjoyed gathering shells for one of his collections (he has started collecting collections). 

When the rain started, we packed up and headed towards the boardwalk. We were only going a few miles, but we sat in traffic FOREVER (like and hour) because the bridge on MD 50 was broken and needed repairs. 

I started to worry that maybe we would be stuck in Ocean City for the night, and that we were going to miss giving the talks that we had been assigned in church the next day...topic: Chastity. Clearly, having to spend the weekend in Ocean City would have been perfectly fine with me, thank you very much.

For the first time in, oh...ever, we did everything and anything that struck our fancy. We enjoyed the full Ocean City culinary experience: treats from the Fractured Prune (doughnuts), Thrasher's French Fries, Dumser's Ice Cream, and The Candy Kitchen. We were not disappointed.

We eventually made our way back to the car and got our place in line on the clogged road leading out of town in the opposite direction. Pretty soon after that, we learned the the bridge had reopened. We flipped a U-turn and cruised on out of town.

We got home late at night, bathed our tired, crying children and stayed up until 3:00 am finishing my talk crashed in our soft, soft, sand free beds.

Though we probably spent as much or more time in the car driving to, from, and through Ocean City than we did actually playing, our one day vacation was truly one for the books. 

And in case you were wondering...I have it on good authority, from a large sample of kind, complimentary, supportive people in our ward that, despite the somewhat awkward assigned topic, and the number of times I had to say the word "sexual" in front of the entire ward congregation (8), our talks were the bees knees, and that I am funny. And that feels pretty good.

MingoChicken (Reprise): An Update on Everyone's Favorite Flamingo

I was transferring all our photos from various camera devices and found this little photo strip of Oliver and MingoChicken selfies. I had to share. 

In case you have wondered, MingoChicken is doing well these days. At the beginning of the month, Oliver informed me that MingoChicken had grown and hatched some baby chickies of her own. Oliver told me all about how she would nurse them under her wing.

For two weeks, he walked around with cupped hands telling me all about the chickies: how they were feeling, whether they liked our current activity or not, what they thought about the food we were eating, etc. I had to hold doors open everywhere we went so that the baby chickies didn't get left behind (they had a difficult time learning to fly fast enough to keep up with us). I haven't heard much about the baby chickies lately, but they still come up every couple of days.

My mom and I were talking about the time I bought that silly flamingo while we were on vacation. I was really too old to enjoy stuffed animals, it was the beginning of the trip, and really, a very silly purchase if you get right down to it. However, I must declare that the flamingo has been worth every cent that I paid for her and more when I think of what a fun friend she has been for my favorite little boy.

In My Favorite Dream:

Can you even imagine how many delicious chili dogs I could make with this gargantuan can of the worlds best canned chili??? I simply love Sam's Club.

Sticky Fingers

 Our new name for Alice is Sticky Fingers. She likes to grab at everything. We put her on the table while Oliver was opening his birthday gifts, and she was in sticky finger heaven. There were so many new things on the table for her to grab at. 

While this is cute, and funny to watch while completely supervised at the kitchen table, it gets to be sort of a nuisance when she grabs my skirt from her car seat and is still holding it when I lift the car seat to balance it on my hip.

Mr. Four

About ten months ago, someone asked you when your birthday was. You astounded me when you answered them with a resounding, "July!"

As it had been quite a while since we last discussed your birthday, I was amazed that you remembered. The rest of your third year was full of similar surprises. You were constantly reminding me what a great brain you were carrying around in your thoughtful little head. The greatest brain in America.

You also gave me a run for my money!

You threw many a tantrum. You found out all of your Christmas surprises. You cried through EVERY. SINGLE. BATH. The list goes on, my young friend.

This year, you put me to the test, and though I'm still not sure that I passed...the jury is still out...I can tell you emphatically, that I am so happy that you were born!

I love your little voice, and your contagious laugh. I love your bouncy little walk, and your never ending imagination. I love your snuggles and your helpful attitude. I love the way your are constantly looking at me with those blueberry eyes and telling me that you love me.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Four!

Baseball

We can now cross Camden Yards off our list! We joined our friends at an Orioles game and we had a lot of fun. Oliver especially liked that all of the garbage cans outside the stadiums had big football helmets for lids. He was also very smitten by these huge oriole's bobble head things.

We were really only there from the third inning (traffic) to the seventh, which is when Oliver pointed to the sky and told us that it was dark, so we needed to take him home and put him to bed. We got to see the O's play the Yankees.

I'm telling you what, though. When you go to a baseball game, you need to take Shelly with you. She had a two pound bag of peanuts to share, and a box of Cracker Jacks for everyone. We thought that was awesome until she pulled out the container of chocolate chips cookies she made for the game as well.

Also, you should consider trying the "Maryland Dog." That's a hot dog with Mac and Cheese and crab on top of it... When you do, tell me how it goes. I was too chicken to try it myself.

Six Months

My friend Alice, at six months, is more fun than she has ever been. She rolls everywhere. She laughs at everything. She is starting to be very grabby. She still loves Oliver the most, and I'm a close second. She is small... I mean, really small. We're talking 12 pounds here. But she's happy and easy going and does not act like a starving baby. She sleeps through the night, for crying out loud.

 

Speaking of sleeping... she now sleeps in her crib in Oliver's room and the pack and play has been put away. Don't worry. I'm OK with it. After six months, I'm slowly starting to feel like myself again. My ability to keep my emotions in check and see logic through the haze of irrational thoughts floating around in my head is returning. I also find that I'm enjoying the little things in life again. It feels pretty great.