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!