10 on Tuesday

1. Well, no posts for a few weeks- what can I say, It's been a crazy summer! Here's what we've been up to:

2. Ocean City! We loaded up the kids and hit the beach. Aside from crazy traffic and a screaming toddler, it was awesome. The kids searched for sea shells, jumped in the waves, buried each other, and Joe helped me build a "mini pool" for Susannah. It reminded me of when we lived in Maryland and we planned a beach outing for the youth, we showed up, along with all the other leaders and their families, but no youth. We decided to go anyway and eat all their food. I remember the Jacobsons, Minnicks, Warners, and Galans were all there... Don't recall who else. I also remember that Orange got sunburned so bad he had to go to the hospital. Way Fun. Anyone have any photos of that day? I love the beach. Some photos:

3. While we were there, we hit the boardwalk and gave the kids each $2 to go nuts with. Annie bought a key chain and a coin purse. Ben got a sword, and after much deliberation, Rachel got a seashell treasure box.

4. My parents came to visit! We spent some time in Baltimore with them for a few days and they came and stayed with us for a few days. Having them stay was wonderful, but after they left, I remembered a children's book we read as kids:                                                                                                                     

It's a Yiddish folktale about a man who lives in a small cottage with a big family. He tells his Rabbi that he just can't handle the chaos anymore, so the Rabbi tells him to add different animals every day. Of course the chaos gets worse and worse until finally, the Rabbi has him remove all the animals. The man is so happy to have peace, he doesn't realize that everything is the same as it was before.

The point is, it was great to have my parents here, and after they left the apartment felt much bigger and things didn't seem quite so chaotic:)

I had to become an Amazon Associate to get the photo link I envisioned for this post. And still, it isn't quite what I imagined.

5. While at the Inner Harbor, Annabel and my Mom saw some small fish and crabs. Annabel was determined to catch one. I said no. Annabel turned to Grandma, "Maybe we could just come in the morning and catch one and spend the day with it and then let it go?!" And my mother, who I have yet to see utter the word "no" to a Grandchild, said, "SURE!" The next day, using a net she fashioned out of some fruit packaging and a scalp massager, she caught a crab and spent a fabulous day with it.

6. Susannah grew quite attached to my Dad and quickly began wrapping him around her little finger by smiling sweetly and saying, "papa".

7. We also managed to fit a lunch in with Kari and Chris. It was so fun catching up with them and seeing little Fiona who is a little bundle of sweetness. I had to restrain myself from nibbling on her neck and elbows.

8. QOTD: Annabel: "Kari and Shelley are Dad's sisters and they are our Aunts!"
Me: "Yes- and when you grow up and have kids, Rachel and Susie will be their aunts and Ben will be their uncle."
Rachel: "Maybe if I have a little boy, Ben could give him his sword"
Ben: "Ummm..... I'm still gonna need this sword when I'm a grown up"

9.Confession: the other day while reading a book to the kids, I searched for 25 minutes for a cat hidden in the picture and never found it. That's not the worse part. After I finished reading the book, I had to get online to look 2 words up. Really.

10. We are planning our trip cross country. I'm getting a little carried away with the plans. My trip included: One last day at the beach before we left, stopping in Hocking Hills state park in Ohio, stopping to see Dan and Jill in Michigan, the Iowa State Fair (it's supposed to be the best state fair in the country!), Stopping to see Robert and Summer in Nebraska, Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, Crazy Horse, Yellowstone National Park, and The Grand Tetons. Joe says that's insane, and I didn't account any time for actually driving. We also disagree on what is really, "on the way". In my mind, if it's between here and Idaho, it's on the way. Joe sees it a little differently. We're currently in negotiations, but so far, One last beach day, The Iowa State Fair, and Michigan are all out. I'm holding strong for Hocking Hills, the Chaffins in Nebraska, and Mt. Rushmore.

Apparently, skipping a few weeks in a row leads to very wordy, anecdotal posts filled with nostalgia. So a kudos to the few of you that actually made it to the end of this post!