Sharkeologists

OK, so I made up the term, but it works, right?! Today I had the brave notion that I could handle taking all three kiddos to the beach by myself. It was only a little over an hour away, and we were just planning to stay for a couple of hours to hunt for shark teeth and fossils at a great spot we read about on this blog http://www.kidssavingnature.org/ . It's called Brownie's Beach and is near the town of Chesapeake Beach, MD, which I had never heard of. As I scrambled out the door with three kids, extra clothes for them and me, snacks, colanders for sifting, sunscreen, bugspray . . . you get the picture--I turned to Dave and said, "This is either a great idea or an astronomically terrible one."

Fortunately, it turned out to be a fantastic adventure for all of us! The beach was a nice little slice of clean and natural shore line on the Chesapeake Bay. It was not crowded at all, and the water was calm and shallow. Friendly people, beautiful weather. We'll definitely go back again soon. This time I'll bring: my zoom lens, a bathing suit (had on quick-dry shorts & tank, but a suit would've been better), more snacks, and some friends!

A highlight for me--I met a mom with 4 kids (ages 2, 5, 7, and 10) who had just returned from a cross-country journey with her kiddos, sans hubby. He is in Afghanistan and she wanted to do something special with the kids, so they drove & camped all the way from Fairfax to Yosemite and back. My new hero. Dave better talk some sense into me before I pack the kids and head to Maine to check out Acadia!

Here are some pics from the day, including our collection of finds. There are tiny sharks teeth, one dental plate from a ray, and a few other interesting things. The kids looked in the sand for about 10 minutes, then let themselves swim, run around, and climb the cliffs like the nature-loving kids they are.













I had to include this picture--I mean seriously, how much would you pay to have abs like this kid?!

Look out Lindsay Lohan . . .

. . .I'm referring to the Lindsay Lohan of 2005's "Herbie Fully-Loaded" movie, not the Lindsay Lohan of detox and anorexia fame, although I do realize she is one in the same ;) Following the example (and over-the-phone crafty advice)of a friend of mine who 'pimped' a ride for her friend's son, Casey & I changed Marley's Little Tikes Cozy Coupe from this:



to this:



It was a fun project and helped Casey get over the 'blues' he was feeling when Dave & Keller went out for a 'date' today. He kept saying "Daddy & Keller are the ones who are missin' out now. They are going to be so 'yealous'". We worked hard--removing stickers/tape/glitter glue, scrubbing, prepping, painting, and adding the finishing touches.



He was so proud to show it off when the guys got home. He hid in the shed and when I opened the doors, he came cruising down the ramp to show it off. Keller & Dave had an incredible day which included: Natural History Museum, Ford's Theatre & Museum, dinner with our friend Brianne, and then the icing on the cake--kayaking on the Potomac, exploring Roosevelt Island, and swimming in the river. And yet, when Keller saw our new Herbie car, there were a few tears shed over the missed project! He already has ideas for how he'd like to do one. We picked this one up from the neighbor's trash a few months ago, so we'll be keeping our eyes out at yard sales, etc. for another. The funniest part is that the boys are both really too big to ride the car, but they are totally excited about it anyway.

In other news . . .

We had a fun visit with the Canady family yesterday and I think Marley has her first boyfriend. But maybe not. She was into it at first, but then . . .

"You won't be needing this, babe" (as he removes the foam baseball bat from her hands)


"How YOU doin'?"

Happy Birthday Mom

(Another post from Dave, the Dad of the house)

I just want to let the world know it is a very special day today. My mom (and the kids Grandma Nancy) is celebrating a special milestone birthday today.

When I got married years ago, I wrote my mom a note about all she has meant to me. I won't replay that note here. But, I told her that no one else has supported me and been there for me every single time I needed it like my mother. She raised two boys virtually on her own for many years while working full time. And, now that Holly and I are walking the same path raising our 3 kids, I'm continually amazed at how she was able to pull it off. She taught me so much about how to approach life with dignity, commitment, and perseverance even when the cards are stacked against you.

My mom sacrificed so much for us. For instance, she helped me travel all over the place as I got older when she never had the chance. I guess it is typical that I didn't grow to appreciate fully how much she had done for us until I'd grown up myself and started trying this parenting thing myself.

My mom and her husband Bob are now planning to take a cross country trip in a few weeks. I'm so happy that she is now able to make a trip like this. And, we've put together a birthday gift for her to take along on their journey.

I love you mom. Happy Birthday.

Mom/Grandma Nancy's Birthday Gift:


We put together a bag of essentials for her multi-week cross-country trip later this month. Goodies we included: national parks book, flashlight (for late night map reading), binoculars (for viewing the wildlife in the parks), heavy duty stainless steel water bottles, a book on CD to help pass some of the long un-interesting stretches of highway, a journal to take notes as they travel, and the ultra important road snacks. All stuffed into a totebag that they can throw on the back seat when they hit the highway!

If a picture paints a thousand words. . .

. . . then hopefully these pictures will suffice in place of a real blog post. Since we brought Juno into the family, I have been impersonating a 'morning person.' I somewhat happily hop out of bed around 7am every day now to take a 30-60 minute walk with her, sometimes pushing Marley in the jog stroller for the jont. The upside is that Juno is responding quite well to 'doggie fat camp' here, and is also becoming even better mannered on the leash. The downside is that rather than being cranky until 9am or so, as has been my M.O. for the majority of my life, I am now cranky at night. No witty blog post tonight, just captions. Can't guarantee the wit factor on them, and they are out of order, but here you go.

We harvested some salad goodies from our tiny garden tonight. Our garden has steadily shrunk as our family has grown, but we had some nice spinach, cilantro, and also some beautiful strawberries(before the damned slugs ate them).






The Rigbys spent the 3rd of July here for an early Independence Day celebration. Marley showed Aunt Heather just how seriously she takes the notion of "independence." After an hour or so, Heather asked how it was possible that Marley had inherited my stubborn independent nature.



*"I have TNT and I'm not afraid to use it!"


We live at the pool in the summer, but this year it's been a little tricky to take pictures. I don't know, something about 3 kids, 4 towels, 4 lunches and a ridiculous array of snack foods, sun screen, flip flops. . .the camera just isn't making the voyage very often. Here are a few that I've managed to snap:




*These next two are of Keller in a Watermelon Eating Contest with the lifeguards and other kids at the pool. I love the look on his face in the second one, kind of like he's realizing the intestinal distress he has just brought upon himself.



Juno has fit so well into the family, and in truth, she is so much like Layla in some ways that Dave and I have agreed that someday when we're old, we're going to remember Layla/Juno as the pug mix who seemed to live forever!


*Now you never have to wonder why the cushion on our chair is smooshed flat. This is a move that she definitely learned from Layla through some strange communication from the doggy world beyond.

*Juno's old family had this humongous crate for her. It is big enough for two labs to fit in, and she kind of uses it like a doggy condo. We have a smaller one for her, as this takes up half the living room, but she looks so darn comfy in there that we hate to downsize. When I told the kids we were thinking of switching to a smaller crate, Casey's first response was "YES!! Then we can have this one just for us to play in?" (And no, he is NOT naked--he's wearing red boxer briefs that are somehow well concealed by whatever gadget he is holding)

*What's wrong with this picture??

Family Photo Shoot

My friend Marilyn has started her own photography business and she was kind enough to do our family photos for us on Father's Day. Getting ready for a family picture is no small feat. After scouring stores for inexpensive (read: kids may never need them again) "dressy" clothes, I pulled together 5 outfits that I thought worked pretty well together. I took a huge gamble and dyed my hair the day before the picture--an especially risky move when I couldn't remember which shade of hair dye I had used in my last attempt to at least blend the stubborn grey hairs that pop up on top of my head as if shot out of a jack-in-the-box. We picked a time and place and went for it. The wind was wild at times (so were the kids), and the lighting was challenging (ditto on the kids), but Marilyn did an awesome job of capturing memories for us. I am really happy with the pictures, especially the one of Dave & I above. We haven't had a professional picture taken of the two of us since our wedding, almost nine years ago. If you're in the NoVa area and need a photographer, check out her website: http://www.marilynoconnellphotography.com/ She also gives classes so you can learn to move your camera off of the dummy settings once in awhile!

Some favorites:

Be nice to girls . . . sometimes

This evening I took both boys and a buddy of theirs out to dinner and to see the new Ice Age movie. On the drive there, we passed a kindergarten classmate, who happened to be a girl. The boys started going on and on, in their 6 & 4 year old macho manner, about how they don't like girls, girls are only good for scaring, etc. I told them that someday they would see things differently and they might think the girls are pretty. The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Keller (to his friend): "You have to be nice to one girl when you're a grown up."

"Buddy": "Why would I do that?"

Keller: "So you can have kids. You have to marry one to have kids. You wouldn't be here if your dad didn't marry your mom."

"Buddy": (thinks for a minute) "Well, are you gonna do that?"

Keller: "Yes, I'm going to have kids."

"Buddy": "No, I mean be nice to a girl."

Keller: "You have to if you want to marry one. Just remember that when you're a grown up, OK?"

"Buddy": "OK, I guess I can be nice to one sometimes."

Me: "So Casey, what do you think about that?"

Casey: (very excitedly) "I got two nuts in my package."

I nearly veer off the street in our calm residential neighborhood and yell "You have WHAT??"

Casey: "I got two nuts in my package, look."

I do a quick check in the review mirror and breathe a sigh of relief when I see that he is holding up two acorns from the Ice Age 3 happy meals the kids had for lunch earlier. These boys are already to blame for grey hairs and frequent urges to imbibe. What the heck will I do when they are teenagers??