First time to Deep Creek Lake

Back in March we 'won' an item we bidded on in a silent auction for the girls' preschool. It was a week at a cabin on Deep Creek Lake in Western, Maryland--- and I don't think anyone saw this one, because we were the only ones who bid and therefore got it for a fraction of what it was worth ($600 for a week, valued at something around $2800)!

Deep Creek is a really popular vacation destination in Maryland all year round with beautiful terrain,
the lake, and ample skiing in the winter. We have wanted to visit for a while and here was our chance for one week, with a 4 bedroom 4 bath lakefront "cabin" to boot.

So we hit the road for the 3.5 hour trip (a breeze compared to our recent cross-country trip) and met my parents at the cute blue house on the lake that exceeded our expectations. There was a well appointed kitchen, big stone fireplace, dining area over looking the lake, a bed and bath on the first floor (which worked nicely for my mom and dad), and 3 beds and 3 baths upstairs. The room with the two twin beds was perfect for the girls with pink beds, sparkly purple curtains and twinkle lights- even their own bathroom. The master was awesome with its own balcony and jacuzzi tub. There was a wrap around deck, its own dock, and an outdoor whirlpool- sweet!

My Dad relaxing by the fire

We had great weather a little more than half the time (and worth noting, NO mosquitoes the entire time). The first several days were beautiful and warm (but not hot). We chilled on the dock, tied up tubes so we could, well, just float, We swam and hiked. On our last day before the cool weather and rain came in Dave, my Dad and I rented wave-runners! I have to say I was surprised that my dad was willing to go- and he seemed to have a great time! I wasn't so sure I "should" go due to the beany baby I was carrying, but no one seemed to think anything of it so Dave and I shared one (we didn't get crazy though, so we kept the bouncing to a minimum).

We were lucky enough to be able to snag a pontoon one day as well. I had scoped out the marina with the best value rentals and they told me that they go quick. We had the pontoon for 4 hours. My Dad and I drove it back to the cabin to pick everyone else up (along with the tubes for towing). We explored almost the entire lake. And even though it was in the 60s, Dave and the girls hopped on the back and went tubing! It was great watching S & L's expressions back there for their first tube ride ever:)

We also went to the county fair that started during our stay. It was raining pretty much the whole time, but all the rides were running and there were no lines for anything. You couldn't really beat the $10 admission ticket that included unlimited rides on everything. We rode rides, ate food, and said hi to many many goats, bunnies, pigs, and cows. It was really fun (despite the weather) and kind of nice that the size was manageable to hit a couple hours. The last night we were finally able to hit the outdoor hot tub that we were finally able to get open- It was a great week!

Mother's Day Weekend- the Story that had to wait

Paul came to visit us for an extended weekend- finally! He hasn’t been out to Baltimore in years (well really
just 2 but it seemed a lot longer)! Dave and Paul hung out a watched some hockey at a bar as men will do on his first night. It was a long night for them and it took a while to drag the hubs out of bed the next day. Which was a big day for us. This was the day that we were finding out the gender of our new baby. What?? Maybe I am a little ahead of my story telling. At this point I was 17 weeks pregnant (now 30 weeks). Even though I am a self-proclaimed slacker of the blog posts, I could not post anything about this until I at least told my extended family in July.. and of course now its a bit after that.

So that Saturday night way back in May...
That evening Jen, Tiffany, and Ryan came over for a little party. A gender reveal party that is. The gender results were in early because due to my ripe maternal age, they do an additional chromosome test called Maternity 21. This tests for some additional chromosomal abnormalities (other than Down Syndrome). The extra result you receive on this test is whether you are carrying a XX baby or an XY baby. I had the results sent to me in a sealed envelope and handed it off to Jen. Several weeks prior, when I told her I was expecting, after her need to jump off the bay bridge had passed (due to the some 28 women she knew were pregnant at the time), she told me about the great gender reveal party trend. I naturally had never heard of this huge trend because I am so out of what’s ‘in’…so true.

So everyone gathered at our house and Jen arrived with a beautiful cake spattered with pink and blue fondant polka dots. I had food and drink and made people wait until dark to cut the cake to find out. We all chose a lea with the color of our guess. The girls and I were wearing pink leas, everyone else was wearing blue. I had been pretty sure it was a boy up until a couple weeks before the party when I started getting the pink vibe… we’ll see!

Dave, Lucy, Stella and I all sat around the dining room table with the cake in front of us. I cut one side, Dave cut the other side of the slice and began to slide it out. The knife slid out first and I saw a smear of blue. I thought to myself right away, bummer, I saw it too early! I wondered if Dave had seen as well. So as I was sitting there already knowing the gender and waiting to see Dave’s face, the entire slice came out. The layers of frosting were pink, pink, pink. What??? LOL It was pink. We are having a girl. Apparently one of the blue fondant polka dots got stuck to the bottom. I was ecstatic. I have everything, girl and I know girls, yay!!! But I know Dave was hoping to even out the playing field and I wanted that for him too, but we are not in control of our little babies and someone gave us another little girl who will be showing her tiny face in October!

The Great Trek to the Midland: Day Three

Day three: Peoria, IL to St. Paul, Minnesota! It’s been terribly frustrating these last three days to explain to the girls that we are indeed going to Minnesota, but that it will take a LONG time. When we hit the road in Baltimore I think it took all of 30 minutes before they asked if we were in MN yet. And then when we tried to explain the concept of staying in a hotel, not one but two nights, and in different cities- it wasn't exactly processing in their 4 year old brains. Or maybe they were just messing with us, which is quite possible. 

Today however, we were able to say that yes, when we are done driving we will be in MINNESOTA! The DVD player has been nice but we have only really used it once a day. I loaded their bags with new books (from the library, hopefully they stay in our possession, maybe that wasn't the best idea), and filled surprise bags with a few new goodies. The surprise bag they just got today, on day three. They have been really good, considering that they are, well, four. This is not to say that there haven’t been meltdowns; most the time involving a princess notebook  that fell on the floor, not being able to get something out of a purse, or a ponytail that isn't as secure as it was at the beginning of the day. Although, I can’t blame all the melt downs on my kids. My impatience hasn't always been a secret. I can only take so much of the continual asking why we are not in MN yet, even after I swear I explained it very clearly…at least 10 times. Or if I am hungry and there just seems to be NO viable options anywhere; all I can see are silos, corn, and billboards for things that are 70 miles away. Dave hasn't always been the happy pilot either, especially when someone is tailing us too close, the music isn't working correctly, or he just can’t find his sunglasses. But what can we expect on a three-day 20 hour road trip? I think by and large we did just fine. Oh, and I spent several hours catching up on this blog. Bonus.

So Minnesota, here we are for 3.5 glorious weeks! Please stop raining!!

The Great Trek to the Midland; Day Two

Day two we are headed from Ohio to Peoria, IL. Our car GPS and or phone GPS are completely different and telling us not only different directions but significantly different travel times. Seeing that our car GPS is out of date we should have gone by our phones! Everything in hindsight…. We stopped at the National Air Force museum in Dayton, OH which was quite the sight. Our old GPS tried to bring us there directly through the Air Force base (which naturally did not work, we were turned around at the checkpoint). We didn't have a lot of time to spend there but there were a LOT of planes housed in that place! We saw the plane that Dave’s Dad flew, a B-47- it was massive. They had planes from several different eras: the Cold war, World War II, and the early years (early 1900s). They had jets and bombs and you could even slide into the pilot seat of a few different models. We could have easily spent an entire day there, but we had to hit the road. We stayed in Morton, IL just outside of Peoria night two. We gorged on delicious Italian food in our room and quickly gave into our food comas and fell asleep.

B47 that Dave's Dad flew during the Cold War

Here we go again! The Great Trek to the Midland: Day One

This time it only took 5 hours to get out of the house. We always think we are ahead of the game but

 something always takes longer than we expect. Or we have forgotten to do something, it never made the list etc. The packing of the cooler always has to be saved until the day of, and while one wouldn't think that would be stressful, I can make it stressful! What do we bring? Will that Ziploc bag keep moisture out? Do we have to access that cheese while driving? What about the grapes? Maybe, and yes. Do we need the beer cold for when we get to the hotel? And should I bring some salad dressing for the salad I think I’m going to make that night? Yes and yes. Do we have enough ice? How many ice packs should I bring and how can I orient said packs to make sure they distribute the coolness to the items that need it the most? These are important questions; after all, we will be in the car for 8 hours. And then another 8 hours. And then one more span of 8 hours.

So the cooler is one thing. But then we need to make sure the dishes are clean, the car is packed, the chargers corralled, the mail is stopped, and the garden is tended to one more time. These are just a few of the last minute joys that end up taking, well, 5 hours.

We finally start driving.

This was the first time the girls got to test out the DVD system in the car, and to no surprise, it was a success. I have to say the wireless headphones are a blessing. Smooth sailing day one. We sleep in Zanesville, OH that night. There was a pool, we played, then ate, then hit the hay.

We did it. We bought a minivan.

Well, 6 short months after we paid off our Chevy Equinox, we traded it in and bought a Toyota Sienna, yes

a minivan. Despite the fact that we bought used, had a trade in, a chunk of cash, and a good interest rate (half of what we had with the Chevy), we still ended up with the same monthly payment that we paid for 5 years. Now we get to go through it again. And to top it all off we are now minivan owners. We are guzzling more gas, we are the family on the highway with the glare of Curious George from the DVD player shining through the window, the unpredictable speed shifts and a pile of bikes in the rear. We are they typical family, 2.5 kids and a dog, the typical family that inevitably buys a minivan despite what they thought were their better senses. However, we now have leather seats that clean nicely, 12 or more cup holders scattered about the cabin, numerous pockets, two glove compartments, and automatic side and rear doors. We have the DVD system mounted mid-cabin, hookups for video games, connections for phones and music, and even real outlets for real plugs. And we have space! So much space. For all our STUFF. In addition, our little Penny dog doesn't have to sit on the floor in the front by our feet when we are travelling. She actually has her own domain. So yeah, we bought a minivan, but we also bought into the family thing, and they work pretty nicely together I must say.

April Celebrations II: Easter

Lucy and the dying of the egg

Easter seemed late this year, towards the end of April. We went to the church at the girls' preschool which is fun since they are very kid oriented, and the pastor knows the girls quite well. We had to make an “emergency” pit stop for the bathroom on the way home. The closest thing that was open was a Dunkin Donuts (lucky us). So of course we had to buy something if we were barging in to use the facilities. We ended up staying in there a while talking with an older woman with some pretty cool red hair. She was very interested in our little red-heads.

When we got home the Easter bunny had come and left baskets under the girls’ loft beds along with the infamous trail of hidden eggs. They were scattered all over the first floor and in our mini back yard. Being the stingy mom I am (or in nicer terms, attempt at healthy-influence mom)- I placed a whopping ONE jelly bean or malted milk egg in each plastic vestibule. And then of course all the candy they found went into a special zippered bag for slow consumption over many weeks. I don’t think my own mother was so strict… I do however remember hiding candy in my bedroom closet fortress on the third shelf where only a child could climb to. It was often forgotten about. I recall coming home from college once and finding a pile of jelly beans next to a plastic pumpkin filled with Halloween rejects (like the black and orange taffy), that for some reason never made it to a trash can.

I also made Easter dinner. Since we usually are in Baltimore for this holiday, I am the cook. I spend an unnecessary amount of time perusing magazines and old cookbooks for what I am going to attempt. This was my third time or so making a ham. I am glad most of them are precooked! This year it was ham with a raspberry jalapeno glaze, mashed potatoes (with a hint of sweetness due to the white chocolate) and asparagus (with a lemon hollandaise sauce). For our post dinner treat we created handmade crepes with strawberries, ricotta, and honey. Sorry, no blog-worthy pictures available for this one!

April Celebrations I: My Annual Celebration

I am obviously still trying to catch up with my posts… My birthday this year was the first one that the girls understood what was going on. It was neat to see them so excited that it was my birthday; and it seemed genuine, not just ecstasy over their own ingestion of cake. There was a slight disruption during gift opening time though when Lucy barged right into almost tearing the first one open (note to my mom: the princess wrapping paper probably didn't help).

When my sister or I had a birthday, my mom would often get the other one of us a small gift to decrease the chances of a sibling meltdown. While naturally I will not have to worry about this on L & S’s birthday, the thought did cross my mind to get them something small on my day. I changed my mind. And it worked just fine. It might be different if there was another sibling in the mix however, especially if she had to watch both her sisters open gifts on the same day.

I started the day walking the girls down to the coffee shop so I could get my birthday drink and goodies. We met Dave down by the harbor around lunch. We did, one of my faves, Indian takeout, and then all had a hand in the creation of my birthday cake. It was a coconut white cake, which had a ‘fancy’ frosting that took about 25 minutes to whip. It was worth it!

Thanks Fam for a great day!

Big Kid Beds

We had a leaky roof in the nursery before the girls were born. We fixed the roof but we never fixed the ceiling in their room- partly because of cash but mostly because of the dust situation that ensues when fixing sheet rock.
The ladies had been in cribs up to this point because we kept saying that either we would just wait until we moved to 'move' them into big beds or we would at least have to fix the ceiling during the shift from crib to the twin bed. So, considering our great procrastination in moving out of this house, we decided it was time to fix that darn ceiling and surprise the girls with new BIG beds! (This happened in January, I delayed posting so we could 'surprise' Grandma and Opa when they visited...obviously the delay kept going for while after that as well)

Room with cribs (we had already taken out the dresser)

We moved the girls' mattresses up to the "Cheetah Lounge" on the third floor and they slept there for several days as Dave battled the ceiling with plaster, scraping tools, and a few choice words. But at the end it looked pretty good.

Before and After of one of the two monstrosities on the ceiling. 

Then came the multi-day set up of the beds. I had done a lot research on beds and had decided on a junior loft so that the space on the floor could be utilized (especially nice considering the already minute size of their Baltimore rowhouse room). We ended up going with our first pick, the IKEA KURA reversible bed. I loved the idea of a tent on top and for the price we couldn't go wrong. In addition, if for some reason the loft bed didn't work, we could flip it around. The only drawback of course if that it was an IKEA product, which meant it took FOREVER to set them up. After taking turns with the instructions, screwdrivers, allen wrenches, and some more choice words, this time for the Swedes, we got them all set up and let the girls check out their new sleeping (and playing) quarters with tents, twinkle lights, and more! They were pretty excited:)

Bag Ladies

So the new thing for the girls now, is meandering from floor to floor of our home carrying around many many bags filled with toys, books, dolls, and pretty much any tchotchke that happens to be in their path (I have found remotes, hair binders, brushes, cotton balls, plastic dinosaurs and coasters).  Usually it is 3 bags, sometimes 4, and many times it includes carrying additional items like a large plastic car or a stroller, or in this case a small crib and baby. They will follow me around the house and if I am doing chores I may only be on a floor for a few minutes, so really, its quite smart if their intention is to be in the same room as me, lol.

Stella on her way to floor 2 with her belongings.

In remembrance (or gratitude)... our friends Allison & Leo

No, they did not pass on to the next life... well, actually they are moving into to their next life... new job, new state, new weather patterns. 

Our neighbors for over 6 years and definitely our best friends 'on the block' locked their door for good this afternoon. This remembrance isn't really a good bye, but a thank you. I feel compelled to write on the first night of their darkened windows down the street.

Here's to you, you Steelers kids:

It was fall of 2007 that we bought our new home

It wasn't long after, they made themselves known

It started at first with a hi here and there

And then moved to chillin' in the cheetah lair

Our dogs loved both of them

Even if the love wasn't always in kind

But it was truly quite awesome

Neighbor pet-sitters, what a find!

And though maybe illegal

Here in Charm City

We had so many fires

With conversation, oh so witty

We were also admirers 

Of the helicopter lights

And listeners of sirens 

In the middle of the night

They drank craft beer

Which we found was rad

So we could stop drinking

Beer that was bad

We both started our lives on Eden unwed

And now 6 years later

we've all moved ahead

We have locked in our vows

And said our I do's

D and I added some ginger to our house

Now we'll see what they brew:)

I had such a great friend 

To track down in the eve

After a long day with kids

A fabulous reprieve

Now off you go

To the land that's tanner

Leo's land of screenplays

And Allison can cure cancer!

So good luck to you guys

Way out west

We will miss you a bunch

We wish you the best

Last night, sitting on the curbside lounge

Burns Night and The Haggis

The Haggis

Our fellow friends Tony and Michelle hosted a Burns Night this weekend and it was quite the
culinary adventure. I had never heard of Burns Night before so to bring us all up to speed I did some Googling. Burns night (and the Burns supper) is a celebration of the life and poetry of Robert Burns. He died at the end of the 18th century, and apparently the Burns annual celebration began shortly thereafter and has continued to this day. He was Scottish and a Burns night consists of eating Haggis & Neeps (turnips), drinking Scotch Whisky, and reciting Burns' poetry- all of which we did!

This is just part of the lengthy Address to the Haggis that is recited prior to serving:

 His knife see rustic Labour dicht,
An' cut you up wi' ready slicht,
Trenching your gushing entrails bricht,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sicht,
Warm-reekin, rich!

But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his wallie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whistle;
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thristle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinkin ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a haggis!

And then with a huge knife, the host slashes the haggis open. And of course many "toasts to the lassies".

What is Haggis? I had an idea but Wikipedia says it nicely: Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a sausage casing rather than an actual stomach.

They special-ordered it from a place in New Jersey that makes the stuff. I was glad to hear that, since it was made in the US, there were no lungs in the mix (since that is illegal here). They did get a vegetarian one as well.

Now, for anyone that knows me, I really had no intention of eating the real Haggis. However, I wanted to write about it, so i had to try it. And I did. I filled my plate with a little real Haggis, some vegetarian Haggis, and neeps. The girls plates also consisted of the same. I took a bite. It was really quite wonderful! It's no surprise Dave liked it, but the girls snarfed it down as well! We even had seconds (and my second serving was significantly larger than the first).

I have to say I am pretty proud of myself for trying it:)

Slainte!!