Keeping my promises

In my lost post, I promised pictures from our trip to Ocean City would be uploaded soon. Well, I am not one to let my promises go unfulfilled. So, without further ado, go and check the latest photos from our trip to Ocean City.

Massive gallery update

It's been a while since I updated my gallery. I know you all are anxious to see the goings on of the Brown clan, so I got my butt in gear and added the following albums for your enjoyment:
Our trip to Detroit in June
Fourth of July at Tony's
Two more pictures added to our new landscaping
My parents' visit in July
The infamous Deck project with possum entrance hunting extras
Lauren in the month of June
Lauren in the month of July

Ocean City should be up soon as well.

Fun with Wave Runners

On one day during our vacation, six of us (Mom, Dad, Scott, Josh, Adam, and myself) rented Wave Runners. The company from whom we rented these had a nice area to roam around. Josh and Adam had never been on Wave Runners before and were tentative at the start. But, once they got the hang of it, they were zipping around like the rest of us. Of course, I won. Now, we weren't allowed to race (with good reason, they cause accidents). However, after we all got in, I found that, even though we all had the same Wave Runner, I got mine to go the fatest at 50 ... mph? ... knots? I forgot to look at the units on the spedometer. Either way, I went faster than anyone else.
What else did I learn? That you have muscles running down the front of your thighs that have the capability of being pulled. Now, what harm is there in pulling a muscle you don't use? Nothing, except I found out the muscles are pulled were ones you use to do just about everything: Standing, Sitting, Walking, Lifting, Standing still. Apparently, these muscles were very important. And it was an excruciating two days while I learned this very important lesson: Don't pull those muscles on the front of your thighs!

Wouldn't it be nice

Wouldn't it be nice if Blogger and LiveJournal played nice? Sorry about the mix up with the feed on LiveJournal. For some reason, it not only truncated my post, but then pulled a bunch of old ones. Guess it wanted to make sure you all knew I was still alive.

We are back!

We are all back home now, acquainting ourselves with our old routines. Vacation was fantastic. In the 25 years I have gone to Ocean City, this year was the best ever, weather wise. Temps were in the mid-80's all week with not a drop of rain in sight. While the ocean was a bit cold, it was very calm all but one day.
I do have to say we are very fortunate my mom found the condo we stayed in. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo. Not only that, but it has a giant common area. For as many people as we had over (12), it never felt cramped. My brother and his family (including my 3 week old niece, Alexis), were able to spend most of the days with us. My mom could not have been happier. You could just see her soaking up the togetherness.
Lauren did pretty well. There were some off days, but that's to be expected. We didn't follow our normal schedule very well, but she trudged through it. On the whole, she was her pleasant self and was particularly fond of watching the Wiggles episodes I burned to DVD. By the end of the week, my dad was getting Wiggle-saturated. But, Lauren loves watching the shows and dancing to their songs.
My cousin Maria and her husband Joel stayed with us as well, and Maria taught Lauren a little song:

Five little monkeys sitting in a tree
teasing Mr Alligator, "Can't catch me!"
Along comes Mr Alligator, hungry as can be
Snap Chomp Chomp Chomp
Four little monkeys ...

It's really a horrible song, but Lauren loved doing the hand motions that accompany it. When the monkeys tease, you put your thumbs on your temples and alternate waving. You also clap you hands when you do the chomp like an Alligator opening and closing its mouth. When we would eat out, she would start doing the hand motions to Maria to get her to sing. It was very cute.
One thing that was new this year was home cooking. We never really cooked much in Ocean City, usually because we either didn't have a kitchen or it wasn't big enough. This year, with 12 people, we thought it might be a good idea to eat some meals in. Unfortunately, my mom is not a great cook, so that task was left to Debbie. We had 2 dinners in and a few breakfasts which were all fabulous. Everyone really enjoyed the cooking and, I think, it made things on my brother's family a little easier. Alexis was a bit fussy and unpredictable, so eating in was a lot more convenient for them.
That's all for now, but stay tuned to learn about Fun with Wave Runners!

Pools are fine. Oceans ... not so much.

Lauren had a lot of fun in the pool yesterday. She would hold onto me while I bounced up and down. That made her giggle. She then got into this mood where she didn't really want me to hold her. She didn't even want mommy to hold her. She wanted to go walking around the pool. We tried to explain the problems that occur when a 33" tall child tries to walk in a 3-4' deep pool, but she rebuffed out attempts at rationality. She figured if she was tall enough to stand in the water on her own at the steps, she was tall enough to do the same in the middle of the pool. Unfortunately, the water was pretty cold, so we couldn't stay very long. When it was time to go, she vehemently lodged a protest through her blue chattering lips. We figured it best to ignore that. Otherwise, she'd be a popsicle come dinner time.
We hit the beach again today, with Lauren getting a little braver. She ventured a little closer to the waves, only because Honeybear was holding her and I was swimming in the ocean. She was content to play in the sand and get mommy all grungy and dirty. Maybe I can get her in the water tomorrow.

Miss Crabby Pants

Since everyone else is taking a nap, I thought now would be a good time to make another post. I got to hold Alexis for an hour or so today. She is quite the sweetie and pictures will be forth coming. She LOVES the outdoors, especially the sun. When she started fussing, I just walked out onto the balcony and sat in the sunlight. She let out a little sigh and went right back to sleep.
For the most part, Lauren has been good. Today was a rough day though. Debbie and I have not been as scheduled with her nap time and I think it caught up to her today. Yesterday, we went to lunch after going in the ocean. So, this meant a 2:30 lunch. Lauren just leaned against mommy and went to sleep before our food had arrived. I held her for most of the meal, eating one-handed. Towards the end, she woke up and was pleasant for most of the day. But today brought fussiness, crying, and general temper tantrums. So, at 1:30, it was nap time. Hopefully, this will put her in a better mood for the rest of the day. My cousin Maria and her husband Joel are heading down to stay with us and we would like Lauren to not be a Miss Crabby Pants.

Sorry Dad, not a chance in hell

Well, we all made it to Ocean City safe and sound. Getting through security at the airport turned out to be not much of a hassle. We got to O'Hare at 11:30 for a 2 pm flight and were through security by 12:00. All that was lost in the process was some water for Lauren.
The weather has been fantastic and looks to remain that way for the rest of the week. Yesterday was the first time I can ever remember leaving all the windows in the condo open and being comfortable. With the travelling and driving to Salisbury to see my brother, today was the first time we got to the beach. Last year, Lauren had a great time in the ocean. This time, not so much. Well, that's not entirely true. As we approached the ocean, she looked at the water with its crashing waves, turned to me and said: "Sorry dad. I know you love the ocean and all, but there is no chance in hell I'm getting in that!" *sigh* Maybe next year.
My niece, Alexis, is a real cutie. She is so tiny. She also has a nice set of lungs on her. It's hard to remember Lauren being that small, though that was only 20 months ago.

Mr Handyman strikes again

What a weekend! It has taken this long for me to recover. From what? I felt this weekend, what with its 100 degree heat with 90% humidity, would be a good time to start putting boards on the deck. With my parents out here the week before, my dad was kind enough to help me pull the old boards off the deck. I was glad to have the help because that was just a bear of a task. We were fortunate the weather was nicer too. While putting boards on the deck was quite a task, removing the old boards was a lot harder.
So, now I'm about half way done. Mostly, thanks to my friend, Dave, who was kind enough to assist me on Sunday, where we both reached a nice Medium Well in the 120 heat index. I certainly can see the end of the project and Debbie was just happy to be able to take Lizzy through the back door again. Pictures will be forth coming. I promise.

Uplifting

No matter how bad you feel. No matter how bad your head hurts from coughing and sneezing all day. No matter how exhausted being sick makes you. There is nothing more uplifiting than coming home and having your child run towards you with a huge smile, arms wide open, screaming your name. That will brighten anyday.

Even though she's the one who got you sick in the first place.