Friday Erin took Liam along to work for a few hours while Jax and I stayed home and I did bills. After she got home I mowed the front yard. We ran out to do errands later and to take Liam out to dinner at his favorite restaurant; Applebee’s, to celebrate the upcoming football season. I had been waiting until payday to get a new office chair on sale at Target. We also needed some frames for a poster of Batman Liam had and also a Boxer print I got Erin for Christmas.

 

When in Michael’s I thought we could get some materials to decorate the wagon for football day the next day. We all had a nice meal at Applebees.

 

It helped because we had a letter from the lady who was our photographer a few weeks back for family pictures. She locked us out of her website for breach of contract. Erin and I printed her watermarked pictures so we could shuffle them around our coffee table to see which ones looked good in a storyboard so we could them place an order. When Erin emailed about that I guess the photographer had had enough of us because we criticized her work and we had had enough of her and her ego and inability to be effectively communicate. I made an appointment for us to go to Target. I for one have had enough to do with photographers for a long time.

 

Friday night Erin and I worked on the banners for the wagon and made sure we were ready for an early start Saturday.

 

On Saturday we were out the door at 8 to head to Lancaster Park for team photos and a picnic. There was also a punt, pass, and kick competition. Erin had fixed the team’s jerseys during the past week to fit a little better as they were purchased to fit with pads.  Thus, they were HUGE on the little flag football players.   Liam, being the shortest, needed a few extra tucks in the shoulders.

 

I walked Liam over early and, ironically, we got photos from a photographer. This was more like a set up that schools do though, and it went smoothly. The team then assembled and had a team photo. I encouraged Liam to do the punt, pass, and kick which he did his best at. We then ate a little lunch at the league picnic and headed out as time was flying.

 

We were to be in the next county at 12:30 for the two scrimmage games the team was to play. Coach Billy had mentioned it would be neat for the kids to run through a banner so Erin and I stopped by the house. Erin had an old flowchart that was big. We got that ready with “Go Pax River Raiders” on one side and headed out.

 

After consulting with the coaches from another team we figured out where we were going to play. After a bit the rest of the team started arriving. In the first game the Raiders played the Beach Bucaneers from Chesapeake Beach. They were a small team and the Raiders got four scores to none. Liam came off for a bit after his ear got smacked but he was a trooper and got back in and carried the ball once for around seven yards.

 

Luckily it was not really hot but the sun was beating down on us. In the second game the Raiders played the Solomons Steelers and this team blocked harder and was bigger. It was a close hour long game with both teams getting two scores. Liam’s buddy, Eric, made a nice “tackle” grabbing the flags of a runner who was about to break away. The kids were exhausted by the end of the second game. We stopped and let the kids play in the moon bounces that the league had put out. It seems to this point the whole family, including Jaxson, is enjoying Liam’s football. We are all very proud of Liam for being such a good sport and trying so hard. He is still smiling and having fun and he has very good coaches working with the little ones.

 

When we arrived home we ordered a pizza and our friends, Bill and Janet, brought their daughter, Roselia, over for us to watch. Ro and Liam get along great and had fun playing. What was funny was watching Jaxson. He was enamored by her this visit and followed her everywhere yelling O-E-Lia. Erin and I plopped our sunburned bodies on the couch and I watched NASCAR as Erin drifted off. Bill and Janet stopped in a little after 11 to pick up a sleeping Ro.

 

On Sunday Erin made a nice breakfast and then we all went to the dog park. Rita did not last long, but Cleo got a good run in. Ash wandered around to get pats on the head from the humans.  The park was pretty busy and there were even a couple of boys for Liam and Jax to play with.

 

We then dropped the dogs off and took the kids to the Town Creek playground as they had asked to go the day before. We enjoyed the morning and playing with the kids as well as doing maintenance on a couple of our geocache hides. We then stopped by Bay Books and got a couple of books for the kids and ourselves including one half price on making a Will. We stopped and got a few groceries.

 

I then watched the Indy Car race while we ate dinner. The kids were pretty tired. I played Batman and Robin with both of them and then Mom got them ready for bed. Erin was so tired she went to sleep too and I watched a show about the world’s largest woman . She lives in China and badly needed surgery to save her life.

 

Back to work today.  Erin’s going to take Jax to the doctor to get his staples out.  Liam has football practice today, and we hope to get a game schedule. 

Friday night was (don’t hit me) just plain CORNY!  Russ harvested his corn, and we all had a good laugh.  Not exactly sure why, but the ears were pretty dinky!  Kid-sized would be an appropriate description.  We probably should have picked them last week, but just kept thinking we should wait for them to grow more.  Nope, they were short.  Still, we made a big deal about it, and in reality, they weren’t too bad.  Then I met my friend, and fellow football mom, Lisa down in the South part of the county for the League’s fundraiser….. BASKET BINGO!!  We actually had a great time.  She won an ugly clock which she tried to sell at her yard sale, with no buyers.  It was the source of many a joke throughout the evening.  I fared a little better, winning a basket with some Aussie wine in it as well as an Outback gift certificate!

 

 

   

It was nice not having to get up quite so early on Saturday.  Once we all got up, fed, dressed and awake, we got in the van to go to the mall in Waldorf.  It’s about an hour drive, so it gave Liam a chance to break in his new (ok, it’s used) booster seat for the van.  

We had to go to the Men’s Warehouse, so Russ could get fitted for the tux for his friend’s wedding.  Boy there were some spiffy duds in there!  Wow.  After that, we went to Kay Jewelers so I could get my diamond cleaned and inspected.  We were about to do some window shopping, when I got a phone call from Dawn who was trying to see the Stacy Bahr Pictures we had taken online.  The mall was crazy, and finally, I just told Russ that we should go somewhere else for lunch, and then just head home.  

 

By the way, if you didn’t see our professional pics go to https://www.staceybahrphotography.com, choose the speed you wish to view pics at (usually html), then click on “Client Proofing” and then put in our last name, all lower case, as the password.  You’ll be able to see a slide show of the pics.

 

So, after lunch at Pizza Hut, we were happy to just head home for the afternoon.  I tidied up the house a little bit, and got the pack & play set up.  We were going to babysit my friend/coworker’s three kids for the evening.  They all arrived around 7:00, and the kids all raced to the basement to play.  They all had a good time, and Russ and I enjoyed the chaos complete with little baby.  I finally got them all settled down around 10:00, and their folks picked them up around midnight.  We were happy to do them the favor, because they’ll be watching our boys while were at Paul’s wedding in September.

 

 

 

Sunday, it was nice not having any commitments again.  I set to work on some “costumes” for the boys’ daycare.  Loida asked me to make some (as I’d offered a few months ago) and I just like the challenge.  I got a pattern for a simple jumpsuit, and figure I’ll use that as a basic template for various themes that Liam and I came up with – Flash, an Angel, Batman, Fairy.  Russ and I came up with the idea of using Velcro to add a variety of patches so the costumes can be even more interchangeable.  So, it’s a family affair that we’re all having fun with.

 

Because the boys had played SO hard the night before, they were on the mellow side for the day.  Jaxson went with me to Walmart to get a few groceries.  The boys also needed some pajamas.  Sometimes it’s nice to have one on one time with each of the boys.  Then, since the Gift Certificate to Outback was due to expire soon, we promptly went to dinner there!  It was SO good, and the boys were pretty well behaved.  

 

Since I’m a little late getting this week’s blog online, I’ll share a couple of things that have happened already this week.

 

Early Monday morning, around 3:30 am, I heard a thump, and Jaxson crying.  I figured he’d fallen out of bed, but didn’t worry too much because we’d laid big pillows on the floor.  I went in, didn’t even turn the light on, scooped him up off the floor, put him back in bed, snuggled him for a few minutes and when he stopped crying, returned to bed.  Innocent enough, right?   Well, around 6:45 after I’d taken my shower, and gotten ready to go to work, I was bringing up the boys breakfast.  They like to eat it at a little table in our bedroom.  That way, Russ can lounge for a little longer in bed while they eat and watch tv.  I went to go get Jax, and noticed that he was in the middle of the bed, and there was blood on his sheets and pillow!  Instantly, but gently, I woke him up (and was relieved when he opened his eyes!).  I took him in the bathroom for an inspection.  Sure enough, he had an inch long gash in the back of his head.  Obviously, he didn’t have a concussion, but after a discussion with Russ, and a phone call to Mom, I decided that it was big enough to warrant a trip to the ER regardless.  He got two staples.  UGH. 

 

 

Monday night, Liam had Flag Football practice.  The team got their football jerseys.  THEY ARE HUGE!  Liam’s hangs to his calves and the sleeves go down to his wrists.  Someone messed up the order a little.  So, since nearly EVERY kid’s jersey needed altering, and I have a serger, I volunteered to shorten them up a bit.  Before I could think twice though, I realized that they all (about a dozen) had to be done by EARLY Saturday morning for pictures… and the two games later that afternoon!

 

  

 

Tuesday was uneventful, but I did get started on the jerseys.  It went pretty fast once I got going.  The shoulders will still be big, but at least they’ll now be short enough to tuck in without them looking like Santa Claus.  

 

This weekend will be all about football.  We’ll be babysitting again, but this time, it’s just Liam’s friend, Rosalia, so that’ll be a piece of cake!

Liam’s practices went well this past week. One funny thing though now that the kids know each other better. When the coach would talk to one kid and had his back turned to the other kids they would all start hugging. It went on through practice and the coach had to make them stop so they would listen. It was cute but we had to tell Liam that high fives and fist bumps were more appropriate.

 

On Friday Erin worked around the house to get us ahead on chores since we were going to be gone for part of the weekend. I went in to work to make up hours. When I got home we loaded up the car to go to Baltimore. A co-worker, who was going to Disney World, had a bunch of tickets for the Oriole’s Ranger’s Friday night game at Camden Yards. We got four of them and were most appreciative. Meanwhile Kate had contacted us about a trip into Baltimore this weekend to meet up. We decided now to just spend the night up in Baltimore because it was the same as gas prices to get a room.

 

The drive up to Baltimore was not too bad. When we arrived at the park we were pointed back around the Football stadium pretty far from the Baseball Park. Luckily we were wearing the kids in. Erin had a Babyhawk Mei Tai for Jaxson and I had my home made mei tai for Liam on.

 

We followed the crowd in and had great seats down the first base line. I even brought a glove along just in case a flyball came near by. A couple balls landed in the section next to us and the same kid touched both but missed them. Camden Yards was beautiful this wonderful Friday evening that felt more like September than August. The field was beautiful and a few co-workers were also in attendance. My next door cubicle neighbor brought his family including his nephew who was Liam’s age. They all enjoyed playing toys together and shared cotton candy that my co-worker got.

 

The Oriole’s had a great evening winning 9-1 and Kevin Millar hit two home runs. After the game there was an incredible fireworks show that rocked the stadium. It was wild hearing the concussion of the fireworks roll through the skyscrapers. It was sort of reminiscent of fireworks rolling through the hills up home home in Northern Pennsylvania. It was a great amount of fun even though I don’t watch much baseball these days. Seeing a game at the ball park was VERY cool. Erin loved the Esskay Ball Park hot dog I bought to eat. She took a bite that led to a few more. We got back to the vehicle and were at the Days Inn in Glen Burnie within fifteen minutes.

 

We settled into the hotel room by 11:30. Liam was hopped up on sugar from the Cotton Candy so it was close to one by the time I got him to sleep.

 

On Saturday morning we went next door to a Krispy Kreme donuts where you can get the donuts while they are warm right off the line. The boys really enjoyed eating the donuts and we were off to Baltimore about 10.

 

Getting back into the city was quick and easy.  Finding parking wasn’t. Neither Erin nor I really researched the parking. Unfortunately I made a bad turn and we ended up heading south on 95 right back out of downtown. After a frustrating 10 minutes I got turned around and headed back in. I learned that the best was into the inner harbor is I95 and the best way into the stadiums is MD 195, the Baltimore Washington Expressway. We finally got to a parking lot right across from the inner harbor. The prices were posted AFTER you got in the lot. YIKES $26 for the day. I went to back out of the cattle chute into the lot but a car was already behind me. The lot was VERY close and convenient to the Inner Harbor so we whined and moaned, okay I whined and moaned and we stayed.

 

We walked across the Inner Harbor over to the National Aquarium and picked up our tickets from will call. Kate called right about then and said they would be a few minutes late as they were caught in slow traffic on 95 as they were driving down from the Philly area. We decided that Liam would go on in with me to get to the Dolphin Show on time.

 

On the way up the escalator right after we got there I lost my grip on Liam and his legs split on two steps of the escalator. He then lost his balance and fell straight back hitting his head on a step. At first I thought it just scared him but he was really screaming in pain.

 

I felt his head at the top of the steps and my hand was red with blood. I knew that we needed to get first aid to check it. As I was heading back down the escalator Erin and Jaxson were coming up. They quickly followed and we went to the information desk. The kid behind the desk was new and momentarily panicked but recovered and called it in. The security officer arrived and we went up to the first aid room and cleaned Liam up. The gentleman was very sweet to Liam and after cleaning up the blood we all saw it was only a small cut. Liam recovered and we actually made it into the show on time. Erin and Jax showed up right as it started.

 

The dolphins were a lot fun. The show was only 20 minutes or so but they dolphins went through hoops and did incredible leaps and a few other tricks as well as played off to the audience. Kate and Rich arrived near the end of the show and we met them at the door to give them their entrance tickets.

 

The National Aquarium was PACKED with people and I took a couple of people breaks in a few corners but it was quite fun. Jaxson loved the fish and Liam loved the company of his Aunt and Uncle. Some of the highlights of things we saw were a marmoset and a shy sloth hiding in the tropical forest. The Australia exhibit with the huge waterfall was very cool. We had lunch on the fourth floor of the Aquarium which gave us a great view of the inner harbor and also allowed Liam to take some pretty cool pictures. We saw very large stingray and some neat sharks. There were also cool displays of local fish as well as tropical fish and a live coral reef.  We paid a visit to the gift shop where the boys got T-Shirts and I got a neat book on Baltimore. Liam picked out a scuba diver with a pontoon boat and Jax got a tractor trailer rig with a shark on it.

 

We then all went people watching in the harbor. We saw lots of colorfully dressed people who looked like cartoon characters everywhere. Erin inquired with one of them and there was an Japanese Anime convention called Otakon in town. We also saw a pirate ship with kids on board in the harbor. Liam wanted to ride in a dragon boat with Aunt Kate but the lines were too long. We walked around the harbor and stopped for Ice Cream and walked up to the Body Works and the Science Museum. They reminded us to bring the kids again for other museums to visit as they get older.

I spotted an old carousel and knew the kids would love to ride. Aunt Kate and Erin got on with the boys and enjoyed the ride and I got some great skyline shots of Baltimore. I am a buff of skyscrapers so I enjoyed taking shots of the buildings during the day which was about a 10+ weather wise.

 

It was starting to get late so dinner was calling for MANY people on the inner harbor. We all talked about the Hard Rock Café but I suggested we just go through all the buildings and see what restaurants had on the menu and how long the lines were and the wait was. We put our name on one list for Mexican/Seafood but then found another Irish pub and grill with the same wait in another building. They called our names in only 15 minutes and we were sitting in the restaurant with a nice view of the harbor. Jaxson had crashed hard but awoke to the smell of the food.

 

We all enjoyed catching up with each other and loved the delicious meals even though the wait was just this side of long. The waitress was very sweet and Jaxson loved sharing Mommie’s Bangers and Mash. At last we all bid adieu to a wonderful day and promised a phone call when we arrived home. We had just got home when Kate called and said they arrived, proving the travel time was an even split. It was a wonderful day and I am glad we all take time out of  our busy schedules to do that. Liam loves the attention of his Aunt and Uncle and Jaxson is starting to see his relatives as special people in his life too.

 

On Sunday we had a very quiet day. Erin had us caught up on chores so I played with the boys as Erin took the dogs to the dog park. Erin later went to Joann Fabrics with Liam who enjoys the trip and helping his Mom pick out fabrics. The daycare provider had asked Erin to make a few play costumes.  Jaxson and I hung out and played cars and chase. We both like splitting the kids at times to give them one on one time. Late in the afternoon storms came through and Erin spotted and photographed a rainbow. She got to show the boys what a real rainbow looked like.

 

We had pizza for dinner and watched a national geographic show about the Hammerhead Shark and how they have been discovered to be a schooling fish. After bedtime Erin and I watched a bit of the Olympics with the Women’s Gymnastics. Coach Billy for the Pax River Raiders called and said the team will now start practicing at an elementary school a little closer to our house starting on Monday night. It was a wonderful and unexpected weekend of last minute plans that was a lot of fun. I love watching the boys with their relatives. It is very special to us that Kate and Rich find time to meet up with us to enjoy a day together.

 

 Next weekend I should get to Waldorf to get my Tux fitted for Paul’s wedding, We also talked to my Mom and she sound like she is getting unpacked and settled in and loves the place. I had Liam get some postcards and him and I worked on them after dinner to send out to a few relatives to show them where he went to the aquarium. Both boys looked really cute in the National Aquarium T-Shirts this morning. Liam couldn’t wait to show his buddy Chase his shark shirt.