Road Trip Volume 3

It's been a while since my last Road Trip update, but we've been busy having a great time. Last Wed we travelled north.Although we weren't able to keep up our state picture streak (oddly enough they don't have a welcome area in Maryland as you exit Washington DC) we did get this great picture of The Big Guy (for all of you who doubted he was really with us!):

When we pulled into this Wendy's for lunch The May Queen had just fallen asleep (the ONLY sleep she's done in the car to date) and I had tried to gently wake her up with a "time for lunch," to which she opened her eyes and went back to sleep. But when we stopped she opened her eyes and exclaimed," Cool! I want a frosty." Now we know what it takes to wake her up!

We continued on to Philadelphia, where we stayed with my college roomie, her husband and their little boy (19 months old). It was so wonderful to hang out with them again - we spent a lot of time together when we all lived in Philly for the 3 years after we graduated. And it's wonderful to see what great parents they are now. The May Queen was very sweet with their boy. We had a very relaxed time there, enjoying trips to the park and a local orchard where we fed deer and other animals. The May Queen also went across the monkey bars all by herself for the very first time. Mom and Dad and their backs are breathing a big sigh of relief.

Abby also got her first taste of a Philly Cheesesteak.

Yum.

On Saturday I headed up to NYC with another friend for a girls night, and that is a whole other post...

While I was up there The Big Guy and MQ took in a few historical Philly sites.

The next morning I took a train out to New Jersey where I met up with my family and had brunch with an old friend and his family (again, fun to see how great a dad he is to his adorable children).

We then continued on to Rhode Island (again, no welcome center in Connecticut as you exit NYC!), where we stopped for an early dinner with a family who moved away from Louisiana earlier this year, and then continued on to Massachusetts, where we are now staying with my sister in law.

Whew.

(even without the photos, The May Queen is enjoying adding the states to her magnetic map as we add them to the list! Right now she has been to 24 states - no all on this trip, of course!)

musings at the park

I'm hanging with friends in a suburb of Philly, a very college town, liberal place. We were at the park today and I noticed something:

Where I live now, the majority of the moms at the park have perfectly coiffed hair and meticulously applied makeup. They are usually in their yoga pants, and have just come from a tennis match at the gym. The park is their stopover before they take their children to dance class.

Here, the women wear no makeup. The grey shows in their hair. They are in comfortable but not necessarily trendy clothing. When they leave they are off to walk to the library, where their kids will pick out their own new books for the reading program.

I feel much more at home here.

There are a lot of things I love about where I live. But I think I just put a finger on why I haven't made a close friend yet.

Road Trip Volume 2

double double toil and trouble

We've been teaching the May Queen some magic potions on this road trip. OK, she's really learning about clouds at this GREAT science museum (The Museum of Life and Science) in Raleigh, NC that my Aunt and Uncle took us to. We spent nearly 6 hours there, and could have spent more. It was very hands on, and very diverse. We've been having a great time here. The May Queen adored my cousins (high school aged), and they were excellent at entertaining her (Uno, Wii, coloring, a secret clubhouse, playing with the dogs...). Getting here we were able to bring The May Queen into two new states.

It also just so happens that a friend of mine from high school JUST MOVED HERE (the moving van was arriving TODAY) so last night we were able to go out for drinks and catch up, which was a lovely addition to the trip.

Tomorrow we have another long day of driving to bring us to Philly, but fortunately The May Queen has been a stoic little traveler. And I still have a bag of tricks.

Road Trip Vol. I

We're off to a good start to our Road Trip. We left Thursday morning at 9:16. The May Queen was very happy. At 10:28 she asked "How much longer?" and so began our next 7 hours of "are we there yet?"

Three states later we arrived at our first destination, my aunt and uncle's house outside of Atlanta, GA. We've been having a great time here. We enjoyed the Zoo, where this panda was kind enough to pose with The May Queen before showing off with a somersault! We were also highly entertained by this kangaroo and her baby, whose legs you can see sticking out of the pouch!

Although I was very disappointed that the "swim the sharks" adventure was all booked up, it was still pretty cool to see whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium. As you might imagine I could have sat there and watched them all day, but we did see the rest of the place, too, and really enjoyed the Beluga whales as well.

While we were waiting for our time to hit the aquarium we girls played in the park while the boys went on a tour of CNN (known in our house as "the daddy channel").

We've also enjoyed swimming in the neighborhood pool, watching fireworks from the back patio on the 4th, and roasting marshmallows around a campfire tonight. My uncle and I subjected The May Queen to all sorts of old campfire tunes, from "I'm a little piece of tin..." to her new favorite "Going on a Lion hunt."

Tomorrow we head off to North Carolina to visit more relatives, and The May Queen will be able to add a new magnet to her state map - she's never been to NC before!

Multiple Choice

If you will be attending Blogher, please read option A.)

Everyone else, please read option B.)

A.) I am in such a jealous snit that you are going to Blogher without me. You will be listening to fabulous bloggers speak, participating in forums and going out for drinks with even more fabulous bloggers. If it's anything like I heard about last year there will surely be boob grabbing and more swag than you can pack in your suitcase. My jealous rage prevents me from reading your blog, or even being able to post on my own blog.

B.) I am currently on the road with my family for our long anticipated Road Trip. We left on the 3rd. We are visiting friends and family in Georgia, the Carolina's, Philadelphia and Massachusetts. I will be sneaking away for a girls night in NYC with a friend, which will include taking in a show and going out dancing, and the next morning will be having brunch with my high school boyfriend and his wife and 2 kids. I will surely have tales to tell when I return. Unfortunately I had to mark my google reader as "all read" before I left, for surely the posts will number in the thousands by the time I return home after 3 weeks away. I may get a chance to stop by now and then, but probably not much. Catch you later!

Goodies Galore - and The May Queen's debut as a photographer

There was about a 2 week window last month where it seemed I was winning all sorts of drawings and such at blogs across the nation, and I've gotten some great stuff! As I said last week, I've been remiss in posting about it in my NOT AT ALL LAZY summer blur. But I am trying to put that right, because really, you gotta check out the loot. How did I get so lucky? And why didn't I buy a lottery ticket while the luck was hot?



In all honestly, pretty much everything I won was for The May Queen, so maybe SHE should have bought the lottery ticket, although I don't believe that's legal. I could have let her pick the numbers, though, like my grandparents always did with us.

This week the May Queen has been enjoying taking pictures with her brand new Discovery Toys Slide and Shoot Digital Camera, won in a mother's day drawing from the fabulous Susie J.

She instructed my husband to tickle me so she could take a picture. My husband more than willingly obliged.
She thought it would be fun to get a picture of me first thing in the morning. Ack. She took pictures of her toy creations.

However, the cat remains her most constant and reluctant muse. Yesterday I heard her insisting "Shakespeare! Look at the camera!!!"



There's no flash on the camera, and the resolution isn't good, but there's no question that she's having a ball with it. She loves that she can wear it around her neck and take pictures all she wants. We admittedly haven't played with the software that came with it... maybe when we come back from vacation. Speaking of vacation, this will be great for her to have on vacation, and she's really looking forward to taking her own pictures. Oh, and it's pink. That was a high point. Here she is checking out her latest shot.
(FYI - the price listed on the box is 39.95, which I think is steep for a camera with such low quality. You can get cameras with much higher pixels and a flash and a zoom, etc for not much more than that, but it is really nice to have an easy to use camera for her to start off on, and maybe once she gets used to this and gets better, I'll pass my old camera on to her. Plus, it does come with software, which, as I said, we haven't played with yet.)


This adorable barrette was won from a drawing at Jen's review site. As promised it was both adorable AND stayed in The May Queen's super slippery fine hair. And it sparkles. (don't mind the green hair. That's from swimming every day at camp. But here's a tip: cover the hair in tomato sauce and let sit for 10-30 minutes, wash hair and... NO MORE GREEN! How did people learn these things before google, I ask you?) You can't see the barrette in this picture very well, but she is wearing it. I couldn't pass up a chance to show her off with her daddy. And yes, the family resemblance is scary. She has my pointy chin, but otherwise looks nothing like me.

And finally, on our road trip I hope to read this book to The May Queen. Magpie had an extra copy, and passed it on to us. When I opened the package the picture on the cover instantly brought back memories of reading it as a child. I hope reading it on our road trip creates some fond memories for the May Queen. It is all ready to go with a bookmark I made just waiting to hold our place.

Thank you all very much! During a very busy and hectic time it was great fun to open the mailbox and find your goodies there!

For Your Information

If you happen to be upstairs with your hair piled on top of your head soaking in hair dye, your face covered in a green mud mask, and completely naked... and your child is downstairs making elephant noises through her new snorkel... it sounds an awful lot like your child is screaming in agony.

I'm just saying.