Home, sweet project!

After two years of hemming and hawing, we have decided not to sell our house and just renovate here. AWESOME! Until...
What to do first? A pool? Painting? New siding? A mental institution for Sarah?
We have had quote upon quote upon quote and are more confused than ever. The siding quotes had more than an $8000 difference for the same product?!?!?!

The pool quotes were like comparing apples and oranges to mangoes and pineapples. One company refused to do salt systems, while another didn't offer anything else. One said to do solar powers for heating, while another said electrical heat, and still another said gas. We got different prices for everything under the sun, which all ended up with grand totals that were all virtually the same except for one company that was almost $10,000 more. How does that happen?

Painting? How can painting have that many variables that would affect quotes? One company that will call Kent's Painting gave us a fairly reasonable quote, but we had to be "smart consumers" and get more quotes. The second company, that we will call George's Painting, was $4,000 more expensive. Just to see what else we could get, we contacted a MEGA HOME IMPROVEMENT STORE to send out one of their contractors. They happily did, and the estimator pulled up in a truck that said Kent's Painting. (Wait a minute, didn't they already give us a quote?) And this quote was $8,000 more than the first. Huh?

After many Excedrin Migraine pills and confusion, we have decided to start with painting, and do the pool sometime before next April. Now we just need to pick a paint color....

So, I need another vacation.

Before you jump down my throat for saying that, hear me out. This is how my week has gone.

We got home Sunday and were so pleasantly surprised at how clean the house was. (After all we had new house sitter. I have known her for almost 20 years, but she had never watched the dogs for us.) On Monday morning I was doing laundry when Stephen asked me how much I had paid the house sitter, to which I replied, "I haven't yet."

Stephen said, "Well, she cashed a check from our account for $400." My heart sunk. I called her and asked her what the heck had happened. She made up some story about my garage door breaking and having it repaired. After I questioned her a little further, she admitted that she has a drug problem. After talking to her family, and expressing my concern, her parents paid me back, and gave us the money to have our locks changed. Apparently this isn't the first time she has done this.

I was so freaked out by all of this that I left my phone outside and didn't remember until after the monsoon. I was able to dry it out (in a bag of uncooked rice) and it worked just fine for two days. Today it gave up the ghost, completely unrelated to the very minimal water damage. (Thank God it was under warranty!)

Last night we had the doors open so Stephen could change the locks, and had the baby gates up to keep the animals, I mean children, contained. They were being too freaking cute for words, so I was trying to get some pictures, and Connor got a little wound up. (Imagine that!) He knocked the gate out of the door frame and Avery went flying. It was iffy there for a little while whether or not we needed to go to the Emergency Room. Our pediatrician said that there was a chance of concussion, but to monitor him closely and bring him in if he started acting odd. Thank God he is just fine!

Tonight we decided to go to the pool to unwind and wear the kids out. We got rear-ended. Yep, we did. It was extremely LOW impact so we checked the bumper, and let the poor kid go.

All in all, this could have been a much worse week. Everything could have been much worse, and cost us more time and worry, but all my relaxation has flown right out the window.

Ahh, home sweet home!

On day 6 we drove up to beautiful High Rock. It was Connor's first ride in a Jeep, and he LOVED all the "winding." It is exactly as it sounds, an extremely high rock that juts out and you can see for miles and miles and miles. Stephen isn't too keen on heights so he stayed off the rock itself and was a little sick to his stomach until I came off with the kids.

We then started our ride down to the Annapolis region. Our hotel ended up being directly across the street from an enormous outlet mall. (Poor Stephen.) We stayed at an Aloft by W. Easily the coolest hotel I have been in!

We got BACK in the car to go to Severn Park, Maryland to my cousin Maureen's house. She was brave enough, and kind enough to host my family for a reunion of sorts. On Friday night, the kids ran around her back yard with the spectacular Severn River as the view.

On Saturday there was horrific rain, so we went to the outlet mall (which was indoors) to wheel Avery around for his nap, and for me to shop!

Back to Maureen's for the reunion. Both of my sisters and their boyfriends, my brother, his wife and kids, and several cousins with their families were all in attendance. My cousin Maureen lives in a charming old house on the Severn River with amazing views, and a huge piece of shoreline. The kids swam, and splashed, and kayaked, and canoed, and sailed. (The sailing was a little dicey due to some extreme winds, but at least my nephew James has a fantastic story!)

Sunday began the longest drive EVER. Avery was very mad that he didn't have white milk to begin with, and Connor was a grumpy bear! Stephen and I passed the ten hours remembering our highlights of the trip.

Connor caught his first fireflies and had his first bonfire (complete with smores!)

Avery has learned to say " Eeeese" when any camera makes an appearance.

The water tower outside of our hotel was aptly described as a GIANT OCTOPUS!

Connor asked if he could take off his falling down shoes and put on his running shoes.

Avery got several new teeth!


We are eternally grateful to Umpin John for letting us destroy his house and being a wonderful tour guide of Maryland. Thank you Dave and Lisa for a great dinner and even better visit! Thank you Maureen and Richard for a wonderful solstice party, and adventures for my kids! Thank you to all (Mary, Dave, Bern, Annie, Kathleen, Sophie, Grace, Molly, Moose, Aunt June, Jim, Carol, James, Jude, Aunt June, Jim, Sue, Brenda, Peter, Tricia, Cassiel, Calvin, Tom, Barbara, Robbie, Claire, Nancy and Dad) for a wonderful trip with amazing adventures and unforgettable memories!

Days 4 & 5

Day 4
We have learned that Avery does not sleep well on vacation. (Or at home, for that matter!) After an excessively pokey morning, we all set out for the Baltimore Aquarium. Getting 10 folks out the door is no easy feat!

Momma was really grossed out by the snakes at the first exhibit at the Aquarium, but quickly recovered to enjoy the rest of the beautiful animals. Daddy was fascinated by the goofy long necked turtles from Australia. Both parents agree that the highlight of the day was seeing Connor's and Avery's reactions to the dolphin show. Everyone is pretty sure that Avery was trying to get the dolphins to take him home with them. Connor narrated most of the day, with his best statements as follows: "Momma, it is too bad I forgot my fishing pole at home," and "Umm, where are my woggle goggles? I can't swim with the sharks without them!"

After leaving the Aquarium, our little foursome went to Point of Rocks to see Daddy's long lost cousin Dave, his wife Lisa and their new baby, Dylan. They fixed us a wonderful dinner, and some much appreciated sangria. They have a beautiful home!

If Connor was the blog writer, he would tell you that the highlight of his entire trip has been peeping into a Dasani water bottle in grid lock traffic, while still in the car!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 5
We mobilized a little quicker today, and set out for DC. Our objective was to do the National Zoo and the Museum of Natural History, but we oohed and ahhed over the fantastic zoo for too long to make it to Natural History. (Oh, well, gives us an excuse to come back soon!)

Connor's and Avery's aunts waited outside the bird habitat, and missed Avery's newest word. DUCK DUCK DUCK DUCK DUCK DUCK. I think he has perfected this word after the six thousand practice tries today.

The cheetahs were beautiful and prowling, which had everyone excited. There was a brief monsoon while we were at the giant panda habitat, gawking at the baby.

We meandered down to the elephant habitat, and learned that they are renovating the zoo, so that the elephants can walk around the entire zoo, under pedestrian walkways and such so that they can migrate more like in the wild. How amazing will that be? Avery was terrified of the elephants and pinched his Momma a whole big bunch to make sure she understood. They have a baby elephant that was just playing and playing!

Next was the primate section, which is Connor's favorite, surprise surprise! There was also a new baby here, so don't drink the water at the National Zoo. The baby gorilla was heartbreaking, and her momma was so protective and so proud.

We took the train back to Hagerstown, and had a low key evening. We attempted to go to a beer garden, but the boys told us otherwise, so we grabbed some Chick Fil A for a taste of home, and got them into bed at a reasonable time.

Day 3!

Today was a bit more laid back, but just as entertaining. We slept in (as much as a family with toddlers can!) and went out to breakfast at Bob Evans. This was definitely the highlight of Avery's day. He had a fruit plate and ate Connor's french toast. Fatty!

We then went to buy our new favorite person a present, the Jonas Brothers CD. Our gracious host has a 13 year old daughter, which I highly recommend for anyone who has small children. There should be a store that sells them. They would make millions in the summer months alone.

Stephen then rode with John for a history lesson, while I followed behind with our favorite teenager, letting her jam out to the new cd. (BLECH) We drove over to the site of the Battle of Antietam, but both boys were taking a snooze so we did the driving tour. It was still chilling to think of all the young men that lost their lives that day.

We came home and packed up for the pool. It was a tad chilly for the adults, but Connor seemed to miss that memo. He was a little heart broken that he wasn't "big" enough for the water slides, but quickly recovered to play in the wading pool for quite some time.

Onto the grocery store! We picked up a ton of food for our outdoor feast, and came home to grill some delicious flank steak (thanks John!) and have a bonfire and fireworks. My kids want to live on "cation." Who doesn't?

Vacation: Day 2

We had originally intended to blog daily, but let's face it, folks. The kids had us FAR too exhausted to even look at a computer yesterday.

We got on the road around 10:30, after having to make an emergency stop for a forgetful friend. (You are welcome, Christina!) Before we had hit Dalton, we had two potty breaks and knew we had a long day in store. Stephen was thankful that I had already booked a room in Roanoke to break our 10 hour drive into two days.

After the first initial stops (a Wendy's with no changing station + very gross diaper, and Momma stepping in some gum), the trip began flowing much smoother. We had a ton of scenic entertainment, starting as early as our neighborhood. There was a wild turkey running down our street as we left! As we entered good ole Tennessee, the very first billboard was for The Optimist Teen Center & Dragstrip. (Seriously, are you going to send your teen to a dragstrip?)

Connor was engrossed in Cars on the portable DVD player. He kept saying, "Momma, I float like a Cadillac, and sting like a Beaver." Close enough! He dozed for a little while, and awoke yelling "My weiner won't stay down!" God Bless little boys, and their parents!

Avery was not such a happy camper without face time with his momma.

We arrived at our hotel and immediately had to sample both the indoor and outdoor pool. Once the entire family was completely water logged, we went to Red Robin (YUM!) for dinner. The whole family was asleep before ten.

This morning after a quick breakfast we hit the road again. After two quick potty breaks, again within the first 40 minutes of driving, we settled into our drive and quickly arrived in Hagerstown, Maryland, at our dear friend John's house.

He has a large, large yard that Connor ran himself ragged in, and lives very close to "horseys" so our little man was thrilled. Avery took a nap, and we then went to City Park. The park was gorgeous, and had lots of ducks, geese and swans to feed. Connor and Avery were entertained at the playground by John's patient and sweet daughter.

We hope to have another busy outdoor day tomorrow!

Summer

Yes, summer has finally arrived here in good old Marietta! We went to the pool today with some friends from preschool, and I had my hands full! Connor was as adventurous as ever, while Avery was exactly the opposite. Imagine that!
Connor did brave the diving board for the first time ever, and completely tuckered himself out in the process. Maybe we should live somewhere with a pool that is useable year round...