It’s always a great weekend when we get visitors – particularly Mom and Dad, aka Gramma and Granpapa!  We’d been getting Liam excited all week.  Because he loves the BooBah show (on PBS) there is a character on there called, “Grandpapa” so naturally he found it the perfect name to label his GranDad with!

So, on Thursday, Russ and I gruelled through work, as Mom and Dad made their way to Southern Maryland.  They arrived just after the cleaning lady had left.  I arrived home early from work just behind them.  Liam ran right into Gramma’s arms with a big smile. 

That afternoon, we just caught up on things, while Liam started in playing with Granpapa and Gramma.  Then we took a fun trip to Petco, just to be amused by Liam’s enthusiasm for all the critters.  I had to get dog food too.  We returned home, and Russ arrived home from work shortly thereafter.  After we opened some belated birthday presents, Russ made quick work of throwing some steaks on the grill.

    

That evening, we attempted to watch the Ted Danson version of Gulliver’s Travels.  It was pretty hokey, and exceptionally long, so we only made it through the first hour or so. 

Friday morning, Liam had a doctor’s appointment for a check up and I had a doctor’s appointment for a check up.  However, the check ups were in two different towns.  So, we all split up.  Russ took Liam to his appointment, Dad stayed home to work on our dining room ceiling fan, and Mom and I headed to Leonardtown to go to my appointment.  I knew I had to get my pregnancy glucose test, so it was nice to have her company, seeing as though it takes an hour to process.  After my appointment – got to hear the baby’s heartbeat loud and clear! – We went to the health food store in Leonardtown.  They have a pretty good selection of gluten free products, so Mom picked up a few things to try, and I got some natural eardrops for Liam.

   

We returned about the same time, and found that Dad had miraculously fixed the fan, and had moved on to the water heater.  Wow, it was amazing how much sediment came out of that thing!  Needless to say, with a new heating element, we now have plenty of hot water!!  Then Dad and Russ moved on to some other house related tasks, and Mom and I kept Liam occupied and out of the way.  It was such a blessing to have all the help.  We really all worked together to get a few items on our list checked off.  It means a lot to have their advice on things, and it gives us the confidence, wisdom and security that we’ll need in the months ahead.  Russ and Dad decided they’d like to take on the challenge of installing a new storm door, so we made a quick trip to Lowes together supplies.

Since we all put in a long day, we decided without hesitation to go out for dinner.  We planned to head down to what was “Evan’s Seafood” down on St. Georges Island, where we had our rehearsal dinner.  It was a pleasant evening drive, and we saw a couple of osprey.  Unfortunately, when we arrived, it was only to find out the place was closed for the season!  ARGH!  So, even though the dinner hour was quickly passing, we chose to go to the Lone Star Steakhouse instead.  The wait for a table was about a half an hour, but we chose to deal with it, instead of going all over the county for dinner.  The meal was really good though, so we were pretty satisfied, even though it was a late meal.  Liam surely was put to the test, but with the help of our understanding waitress and mother of a two year old, he made it through with an impromptu batch of fries. 

Once home, since we knew it wouldn’t be wise to go to sleep right away with a full stomach (with the exception of Liam and Dad) Russ, Mom and I stayed up to watch a pretty good movie with Jodi Foster, called, Flight Plan.

Saturday, after a quiche breakfast, and an amusing (but gross) incident involving Liam and a little diaper exploration in his crib, Dad and Russ began the door project.  It was a good thing the next-door neighbor had just installed a similar model, as it was used frequently as a reference.  Mom and I found ourselves staying out of the way by playing with Liam upstairs.  Finally, after realizing that the door project was going to turn into a lengthy one, we decided to do what many bored women do – go shopping!  Unfortunately, after only hitting one store, my cell phone rang with the request for a new hacksaw.  Knowing that the project would be delayed without one, Mom and I begrudgingly headed to Lowe’s once again.  We delivered the hacksaw, put Liam down for a nap, and then returned to our adventure.  We went to Pier One, and I found a lovely Pitcher that I fell in love with (but refrained from buying), and Mom got some fake poppies and another red flower to put in her pitcher in the kitchen.  Then we made the short jaunt across the parking lot to Bath and Body Works.  It was nice to not have men around so that we could take our time trying out the free samples, and reading the labels.  Mom got some lip balm, and I got some hand sanitizer and really fragrant Eucalyptus Spearmint hand wash for home.  It was a really fun time. 

Once home again, we were happy to see the men with the door actually hanging and nearly finished.  Once they found a stopping point, we piled in the truck to take a drive.  We aimed for St. Clements Island.  The day was fresh, although a few raindrops fell.  We reached our destination, and began poking around.  This was one of the first landing points of the Maryland settlers.  There also happened to be a Geocache nearby, and even though we didn’t have a GPS, Russ and Dad found the camophlaged container fairly easy.  While they were searching, Mom, Liam and I were happy to find the museum not only open, but free to the public because it was “Maryland Day!”  So, it was a bonus to actually visit the grounds AND museum.  We took the long way home, so Dad could see the South end of the county.  This gave Russ and I an opportunity to scout out the area for possible new (used) home locations.  We were pretty tired when we pulled into our parking spaces, but found just enough energy to get some grilled Salmon on the table for dinner. 

 

Dad worked really hard, so it was no surprise when he declared that he was heading to bed.  Russ, Mom and I stayed up once again to watch a movie with Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick.  It was a remake of the old movie, The Stepford Wives.  Incredibly quirky.  Can’t say that it was a bad movie, but we couldn’t really say that it was a good one either.  Let’s leave it at entertaining. 

Sunday morning came to fast.  Once again we were up early to make breakfast, but we knew that every last minute had to count for Mom and Dad were soon to head north again.  They left about 8:30 or so. 

It was a wonderful weekend.  We worked hard, but we played hard too.  In fact, Liam was SOOO tired on Sunday, that I could only attribute it to playing so hard with Gramma and Grandpapa.  He stayed awake while Russ and I put the finishing parts on the storm door.  However, later he slept soundly in a sling, as Russ and I walked around Lowes (yes, AGAIN) to gather some more supplies for the next weekend’s bathroom floors projects.  We also got some new light fixtures for the bathrooms as well.  Nothing fancy, but more contemporary than what exists now.

That afternoon, Russ watched the race, and bowling, while I used some new stain on the bathroom cabinets.  Seemed to work pretty well.  Liam took a good long nap.  Russ tried out his luck by installing one of the bathroom lights.  Actually, it went pretty smoothly, and that’s a good thing, because there are two more to do!  After the lighting was finished, Russ and I decided to call a halt to everything, but just hanging out together.  It was a nice weekend, and we were sad to see it end.

March 14 - Liam's Birthday - see his pages for pics...

March 16 - Erin's Birthday - I loved everthing I received, and appreciate the time everyone took to remember it!  I love the scarf and earband from Dawn, the Wynken, Blinken, and Nod figurine from Mom, the shoes from Brian and Joe, the cool card with a pug on it from Kate, the shoes from Marcie, and the Beatles CD, the Nursing necklace, and the VERY special bracelet from Russ and Liam!

 

 

We packed in a LOT this weekend.  Probably too much, as both Russ and Liam now have minor colds.  Still, we were long overdue to get out in the woods, and we did it up right!

 

Saturday morning I woke up around 6:10.  I proceeded to go into my closet, pick out some clothes, return to the bathroom, turn on the shower, and sit on the toilet.  I began thinking about meetings that I had scheduled for the day, and couldn't remember anything, because I suddenly discovered that it was SATURDAY!

 

I tried going back to sleep, but my brain was already awake.  I gave up and continued reading the latest Harry Potter book.  Around 8:00 I got out of bed, and began breakfast before checking to see if Liam was awake.  Liam was eager to get up, so we ate some waffles together before Russ joined us.  We had a lazy morning, but needed to get going around 11:00 to head for a Geocaching Event dealing with the new part of the hobby - Geocoins.  Though Russ and I have avoided this part of the sport (they can be pricey, and we're just not into coin collecting) we did find it interesting, and the excuse to have lunch at Bear Creek with some Geo-friends proved irresistable. 

 

As expected, the lunchtime event was fun, and we learned a thing or two.  Even won a couple of coins as door prizes!  It was just good to see some familiar faces.  We'd recently put up all our MD caches for adoption.  The reason being is that with the prospect of getting the TH ready to sell, our weekends just aren't allowing time for caching in general - much less cache maintenance.  We just had so many, and were thrilled to hear many other geocachers were willing to take them over for us.  We'll still have a few stragglers, as well as our PA caches, but it was just time to weed down the responsibilities a little - at least for a little while.  So the event also allowed us to touch base with our cache adopters and personally thank them.  It was nice because many said things like, "Oh, that was the first cache we found, so we'd love to take care of it..."  or "Hey, that one's right by me, and I'd be honored to take it over for you.."  That's cool.

 

We departed the event a little early, and refrained from caching with visitors to the area because we had to go home and get ready for Playgroup.  I was scheduled to host, although, the playgroup meetings are dwindling, and I didn't expect too many participants. In fact, I really only expected our friend (and fellow cacher), Jodi, to attend. 

Our expectations proved correct, and though Jodi was the only one to show with her kids, Caleb and Abigail, we had a wonderful time.  She'd brought a neat bubble making machine for Liam's birthday, so the two boys had a dandy time playing with it in the front yard while we talked.  Since, Jodi's husband, Carl, had to work that night, Russ and I invited her to stay for dinner.  It was a simple taco dinner, but we all had a great time. 

 

On Sunday, I actually woke up KNOWING it was Sunday, but I couldn't linger with Harry Potter for too long, as we were meeting both Carl and Jodi (and kids) for a day of Geocaching in the county North.  AND WHAT A DAY IT WAS!!!

 

We started out around 9:45 and headed just a tad North of Prince Frederick.  We had radios, so it was fun using them as we caravaned along.  Our first three caches provided us a dandy hike.  I experimented with my new Korean Baby Carrier, called a Podeagi.  It worked pretty well with Liam on my back, but he is getting quite heavy now-a days, and every time he leaned back, it was rather difficult to keep us both comfortable.  None-the-less, it's good practice. 

 

 

We decided to grab some lunch at KFC and plan the next few cache adventures.  The next couple we attempted were some tricky micros in a parking lot.  We DNFed (Did Not Find) them both.  If we'd commited the remaining day to the parking lot, we'd probably have found them, but the woods were simply to much of a temptation on this bright sunny - albeit brisk - day. 

 

We found a couple other easy ones in town, and then headed back into the nature area to log a few more.  Finally, we did one last doozey of a hike up at the Double Oak Farm that we enjoy.  That was probably the hike that did us in, as we are all stiff and sore today.  We wanted to find just one more in that park, but the light was fading, and we knew we'd better head back home.  We just had had so much fun, that none of us really wanted it to end. 

   

 

Once home with a pizza though, we were glad to have a hot bath, and a cozy bed to crawl into.  Liam's nose was running, so we started to think that maybe we pushed him a little to hard over the weekend.  With a dose of meds, he began asking for his crib, and was soon fast asleep.  Russ stayed up to log many of our finds on geocaching.com, and download the many pictures we took over the weekend.

 

It was a short one, and we packed in a lot, but were glad to have made the memories.

Well, it was about time we checked on KID #1 in PA.  So on Friday after breakfast, we headed to Doylestown.  We arrived in the early evening and just enjoyed spending some time with Marcie.  Liam was glad to be out of the truck, and went straight for Grandmom's toys.  He then found himself entranced with her collection of buttons, and played with them for about a half an hour!  Noah had plans with some friends (and his girlfriend), so he was to join us the following morning.

   

 

We knew Saturday would be a busy day, so we were up and around and out the door by 9:00am.  We picked up Noah first.  Liam was simply DELIGHTED to see him.  He got all excited as soon as he saw Noah come out the door.  It was really touching. 

 

Then we headed for the Montgomery Mall so we could get some "2 Year" pictures of Liam at Sears.  His photo shoot was a lot of fun, and even though he was tired, he hammed it up for the cameras.  We've already got some printed copies, so expect them soon, or feel free to check them out online!

 

After the photo shoot, we went straight to Best Buy so Marcie could pick out her long awaited Television.  She found a nice SONY LCD, and after comparing our notes to what the salesman said, we decided on the purchase. 

 

Then it was about lunchtime, so we all grabbed a quick bite together at Burger King.  We made a round-about detore into Sellersville, so we could get an upgraded Cable Box at Comcast that would be compatible with Marcie's new TV. 

 

 

 

Finally, we were on our way back home in time to get the TV set up, and ready for Kate and Rich to arrive.  The TV proved fairly easy to install, but we needed an adapter for the cord.  So while Russ and Noah went to fetch that, I put Liam down for what I thought was a nap.  He was quiet, and I proceded to hook up the cables as best I could before Russ and Noah returned.  When they got back, Russ went into the bedroom where Liam was supposedly sleeping, only to discover that he'd been amusing himself with the contents of Russ's overnight bag that was open on a nearby table.  He was covered in deoderant, and had made quite a collection of lotions, and such.  Fortunately, Russ arrived just in time to prevent his use of his razor!  Needless to say, we gave up on the nap.

 

Around 5:30 or so, we ordered some Pizzas, and got things ready for a little Birthday party for Liam.  Kate and Rich arrived around 6:00 just as the Pizza arrived.  Thus, we settled in with our casual floor picnic, and found ourselves deep in chit chat.  After the pizza, we brought out the cake, and found Liam's attempts at blowing out the candles about as amusing as his attempts to eat it!  Needless to say, the boy loves cake!  Then, as tradition dictates, Liam got to open a few birthday presents.  Kate and Rich got him a couple of really nice books.  Grandmom got him a neat wooden truck that doubles as a sort of workbench, we let him open the football that he'd fallen in love with about a month before, and Noah got him a noisy - albeit - totally fun, truck!  Liam had a dandy time, and despite not having an afternoon nap, stayed up without much fuss until Rich and Kate left around 9pm.  All in all, a VERY busy day, but really fun.

 

  

     

 

Sunday, as could be expected, we just didn't do a lot.  In the morning, we had an easy breakfast (mostly of leftover birthday cake), and played with Liam while we read the paper, and watched a movie on the new TV.  We needed to go pick up a set of box springs from the mattress store for Marcie, so we managed to venture out in the rain to accomplish that before wrapping up the weekend. 

 

We dropped off Noah, and Liam began to cry as we pulled out of the cul-de-sac without him.  There's nothing like a brothers' bond, is there?  The trip home was long - and even longer as we got stuck behind an accident for about 15 minutes - but we arrived home in the evening.  We threw in a couple loads of laundry, downloaded some pics, and called it a weekend.

 

BTW- to see Liam's Sears Portraits online (and order) click HERE.  When you are at the Sears site, enter 41834b103121070 as the Log In, and TKSY268KF as the Password.  You might have to set up a free account, but at least you can see the pics.  Email us if you need help.

Actually the weekend sort of started Thursday night as Erin, Liam, and I went to the Leprachan Lily's consignment sale on Thursday evening. It only occurs twice a year and becuase Erin was a volunteer for cleanup on Saturday evening we were able to come a day early for first pickings and a discount. Liam and I spotted te Blue Boohbah right off the bat.

While Erin shopped for Maternity wear I looked for onesies and sleepers for the new baby as well as some shirts and shorts for Liam this summer. We got a whole pile of clothes as well as a couple of DVDs and the Boohbah for a GREAT price. Since it was running late we ran over to CiCis and had pizza.

 

On Friday evening we went over to see Jodi and Carl as they had invited us for dinner. They are transferring to Norfolk in April and we sure will miss them. Carl and I went to get Pizza and we watched Liam and Caleb play. We also got some baby holding time with their daughter Abigail who is three months old. Liam enjoyed Calebs toys and they both enjoyed watching the Wiggles together. We had a good time and will have them over before they live for dinner.

On Saturday I helped Erin get clothes off the attic. She was sorting out what the new baby could wear of Liams. Hand me downs are a good thing.

On Saturday evening Liam and I prepared and had dinner together while Mommy went to help clean up and inventory the consignment sale. Liam and I watched monster trucks and then got cleaned up and had some sing along time before bad. His vocabulary is rapidly advancing. New words are coming out all the time and he will attempt to say anything you say. He is now counting and knows some of his letters. The learning toys Sue got him at Christmas have been a big contributor. The most fun I have is when he imitates animals. Erin arrived right after he went to sleep but he was still awake so she rocked him to sleep. She had another pile of clothes but got them for half price.

 

On Sunday Erin worked on some sewing projects and made Liam a little sling for his dolly. I worked on the computer and played with Liam.

Late in the afternoon Liam helped his mom bake quiche's for work on Monday. We had Orange Roughy for dinner and then watched a very disturbing movie called the Devils Rejects after Liam went to sleep. It was about serial killers and I don't recommend it. I watched the end of the Oscars. Those award shows are so boring that I was surprised I even watched it. Curiousity I guess. All in all a relaxing weekend.