This Weekend.

We're getting back into a routine after having a wonderful weekend in Baltimore.

Sam is, shall we say, less than thrilled about not getting to sleep in bed with Mama and Dada. Jim is running blocker and "resting" outside of Sam's room. I expect to hear snoring at any moment. I expect Sam to continue playing with his trains and peaking out the door every so often to ascertain if Dada is still there and if he can attempt a mad dash into our bed.
Caroline, believe it or not, is already asleep. She is very excited for St Julie Day at school tomorrow. It's hard to believe there are only a few more weeks of school left. She is not looking forward to vacation at all, even if it means that Trippy will get here. We're already planning our library days.
We are very grateful that Pops let us borrow his new camera. =-) We have yet to receive anything that we were promised from Kodak - even after all that quality time we spent with customer service. Sheesh.

We have come to the conclusion that the best time to visit Baltimore is in the late spring/early summer. The weather is wonderful. Perfect for baseball. But, almost as importantly, it's softshell crabbing season. I do think that Melanie brought up a perfectly valid point when she says that she has trouble eating anything where the first directions to prepare include removing the face. But I still think that they taste so good that I can get over that quite easily. =-) We splurged a little and split an entree of crabs and some sort of concoction that included a stack of avocados, mangoes, crab, greens and a citrus vinaigrette. To say it was good is a gross understatement. It was wonderful. And we got to eat outside sitting right at the harbor. Doesn't get much better than that (especially when Sam and Caroline behaved so well)!

We neglected to do our research and see that the Preakness was also this weekend in Pimlico. Not that it would have made a difference to us (as long as there was a baseball game to be had), but it did make traffic a bit more challenging. It was very cool to see all the ladies walking around dressed in their crazy hats. We were able to work this to our advantage because the Inner Harbor emptied out after eleven AM or so. It was just us and the Cleveland fans (identified easily by the Cavs, Indians and Callahan Auto Parts t-shirts). We were able to get into a nice restaurant without a wait and were the only ones in the pool for the afternoon.


After some naps, we walked to the ballpark. We got to meet Mike & Melanie, Sarah & Mike and Jena, Shannon & Rhys.
Sarah needed some lessons as to how to actually sit in a seat. We weren't even drinking! I promise you!
Auntie Melanie enjoyed her time with Sam...
Sarah did, too (and I was so impressed with the t-shirt, Sarah!)!
Rhys loved wearing Caroline's new hat...
And Caroline, in typical Caroline fashion, enjoyed the lemons just as much as the lemonade...
It was nice to catch up, even if it was only for a little while.
Oh - and we did watch some ball. It was a good game until the Oriole's bullpen imploded in the top of the ninth inning.
We had some excitement within the first ten minutes of arriving at Camden Yards. Caroline and I were standing in the SRO area watching batting practice. I was purposefully staying out of the fray because I realize my mobility isn't quite as good as it used to be. And then what happens?!?! A ball gets hit over the fence and lands at my feet. Instinctively, I reached down for it and Caroline and I proceeded to get taken down by a mad rush of people in pursuit of the baseball. I landed on my bum (with more than a little cushioning), but CJ scraped up her knee and her elbow pretty good. After a good deal of carrying-on ("I need a band-aide. I need a band-aide. I see blood!!!!), we were herded to First Aide by a very nice usher. The staff was wonderful and Caroline got as many band aides as she "needed" along with the Baltimore Oriole's autograph. We were no worse for the wear, even though I ripped through the knee in my jeans (and they were one of the few pairs that fits - SHEESH!).
We walked back to the hotel from Camden Yards and caught the tail end of the Kenny Loggins concert. He didn't sound like he lost a thing.
Here is Sam relaxing after a long day...

The kids were up early and ready to go on Sunday:

We wanted to get in some exercise on Sunday morning and Caroline requested to go to the Katyn Memorial to pray. The fountain really seemed to make an impression on her. She asked a lot of questions that I wouldn't think a four year old would come up with. The longer I'm a parent, the less I know. How do you explain events like that to a child?


And then it was time to go home. We had to spend more time in New Jersey than I would have liked (it really does smell), but we had lots of ballgames and the Celtics to listen to.
Now it's time for bed. Please excuse spelling and/or grammatical errors. It's late and Trippy is going a bit crazy. I feel like I ate the Loch Ness Monster.
And I won't even talk about the Red Sox. Blech.