Wild Wings vs. Chik-Fil-A

Last night, we all went out to dinner for a last pre-baby outing with no diaper worries or high chairs or other baby trappings. We went to the Wild Wings downtown and as we were waiting for the food to arrive, Cady and Maddy had a most interesting conversation. It went something like this ...

Maddy: This has been the best day EVER!!!!
Cady: Yeah, I love Wild Wings!
Maddy: Yeah, me too!
Cady: Look at all the TV's!
Maddy: But I like Chik-Fil-A too ...
Cady: Yeah, Chik-Fil-A has a slide!

Now that's a tough choice: TV's or a slide??? Which would you choose?

On the countdown to our little #3

Having been so lax with the blogging, it perhaps has not been stated clearly that I AM EXPECTING another little girl!! She is due on August 4th and lately I have been wondering why in the world I insisted that we not have another "winter baby". My main reason was not wanting to be so housebound, which winter necessitates and a newborn exacerbates. I thought that I would have more freedom, having a baby in the summer.

Well, that may be the case (still don't know -- check back in a few weeks!) but for now, there sure is a whole lot of HOT-NESS!!! It has been an exceptionally hot summer so far and being pregnant, whew, I don't think I've stopped perspiring for the last 2 months!! All I can say is that I sure am ready to have this little girl ... although she'd better wait a little longer because we still haven't picked out a name. There are a few on the table but none that, at this point, we are jumping up and down about.

Cady's lemonade stand

Cady has recently grasped the concept that to buy things, one needs money, as well as the accompanying concept that Mommy won't always just give her a dollar for the dollar store! She has seriously uttered the words "I need some money!" several times recently. (Amen, sister!)

So while we were up in Maryland last month, Cady took advantage of the opportunity to hone her entrepreneurial skills and set up a lemonade stand at one of Mom and Pat's newly constructed produce stands. She set up on two different days and she had a great time. Maddy's contribution was to hound each and every customer with repeated "Want some lemonade?" until they succumbed to her winning smile. Cady would then carefully pour, add ice and of course take the MONEY. We did take a moment to snap a picture of Cady with her very first dollar! And in the spirit of true generosity, Cady shared her dollar with her sister so they could both go to the dollar store and get a treat!

Happy Birthday, USA!

I'm going with the notion that "late is better than never" so here goes with our July 4th celebration ...

We actually celebrated on July 3rd this year because our little hamlet here in SC doesn't do Sunday fireworks. We had some good friends over for a delicious BBQ, complete with potato salad, hot dogs, corn on the cob and lots of FLIES (sheesh). We all had fun hanging out but the highlight of the night was definitely the fireworks!! Ray had bought some "little" fireworks for the kids so they had a blast with the Sparklers. But let's be honest here, the person who loves the fireworks the most is RAY!!! He lights up like a little kid, or MORE than a little kid. Bottle rockets, sparklers, and the ones that are like artillery shells (I'm not sure what they're all called). After the fun in the front yard, everyone except me (almost 9 months pregnant ... I was pooped!) headed over to the nearby park for the city's fireworks display. The girls had never witnessed anything like it before and they came home THRILLED!!

A month in Maryland

As is apparent from the Hebron Carnival entry, we are spending some time up "north" visiting family this month. We're spending most of our time in Salisbury but last weekend, we trekked down to Virginia Beach to hang out with Daddy Ray and Grandma Weezie. Even though they live right on the beach, we spent most of our time AT THE POOL. The girls have always been hesitant pool-goers but last weekend, they fell in love!!! Wow. Thanks to "noodles" they were floating all over the place, and then Cady started pushing herself, jumping off the side but keeping her head above water, then going under, then all out swimming under water. It was amazing that she made these strides within about an hour timespan!!


Some other notable things that Cady has learned on this trip so far are:
standing on her head
crossing her eyes
driving Nana & Pat's Barbie car with expertise

Hebron Carnival

Went to the Hebron Firemen's Carnival last night with the family. Fourth or fifth time now. For those not in the know, Hebron is a town here in Maryland about the size of a walnut. Maybe 1,000 people live there. (Last official count is actually 807, I just check wiki.)

However, their fire station and fire trucks would make the NYFD jealous. And here's why: apparently "games of chance" are perfectly OK there with one small caveat, you have to be at least 16!!! And by games of chance, I mean chance. Picture if you will a giant wheel with numbers on it, a table with said numbers on and a sign that says "All bets must be placed before wheel is spun." Sound familiar? Granted, you could only bet a dollar per number; but still- 16 years old and you can play all you want. Then there's the $10,000 raffle at $10 a ticket (to be awarded the last night of the car-nee a few months down the road.) If the thought of winning cold cash doesn't make you reach for your wallet then there's the raffle for the 30-30 rifle. Mind you, the entire carnival- rides, food, games, restrooms, picnic tables, etc. is setup around the main attraction: B-I-N-G-O! And if you win five times during the course of an evening you get your pick of what appears to be the remains of Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward, both of which are now rotting away in department store hell awaiting K-Mart's arrival. Sorry for the long sentence.

Did I mention this was put on by the local fire department? I tend to think of safety and caution when one mentions a fire department. Probably a field trip ingrained this on me. Safety be damned at Hebron! If you want to hold your infant child in one hand and a lite cigarette with the other while enjoying a spin on the Tilt-A-Whirl or Scrambler, go right ahead. Seriously. Ok, I'm kidding about the cigarette, the attending car-nee will hold it for you and if you are related to them there might be a drag or two left when the ride is over. I did take my three year old daughter on both of these rides. Don't tell her, but she is kind of a runt standing 36" tall. When the Scrambler door closed, she was eye level with it. Maybe that's why you're supposed to be at least 42" tall, so you can see what's going on. On the Tilt-A-Whirl she leaned against the side and stretched her little legs across the bench, not bothering to hold on to anything.

We had an awesome time and will be going back next weekend.

Disclaimer: Ray is now the family's offical blogger.

At the behest of my favorite sister, I am taking over blogging duties for my little fam-damn-ly. (Side note, Jen just passed by and announced, "What!? I may still blog sometimes." Please note her last entry date. "And monkeys may fly out of my butt." - Wayne Campbell)

As my first official act I give this little warning about myself : I am self-centered, crass, mean-spirited, a sore loser, reckless, overly opinionated, and often refer to people who don't look like me as "brown". To this day I hold a grunge against my own parents for not buying me cotton-candy at the circus when I was 4. F-O-U-R! I am now 34. Don't cross me.

Smile,
Ray