Meet Hazel

Hazel found me while I was shopping one Sunday afternoon.
She is a very safety conscious witch who insisted on a safety belt for the ride home.
Since arriving at our house she has been keeping an eye on all of us, making sure we are on our best behavior.
I am beginning to think she is the Emily Post of the witch world.
Her hair is always done and her legs are always crossed daintily at the ankles.
She would have made TT proud. Not that TT shared my love of witches but she would have made an exception for this beautiful lady!

A Very Happy Birthday

 A little bit ago I had a birthday and it was a most perfect birthday.

The day began with a code for free shipping from Lands End sent to me by my mom.

Then I found a mound of presents on the kitchen table.

With those presents was a wonderful card from CJ that made me smile, tear up and laugh.

The astrick at the bottom of the card leads to the back where CJ states

"in the whole wide world without exceptions. Anyone claiming otherwise will have to admit to being wrong. No Exceptions!"

He is becoming quite a character.

He makes me proud to be his mom.

Then on the way to work, Rosilita was playing.

On the way home it was Badlands.

Yes, I was listening to the all Bruce all the time station but this musical arrangement was like the stars aligning, rare and priceless.

Steve came home from work with flowers and a carrot cake from our favorite bakery.

Yummy.

Thanks for a great birthday.

46 is shaping up to be twice as good as 23!

A Buckeye At Last?

It's Saturday afternoon. I have just watched the Buckeye game. I am wearing a Buckeye shirt. I am no longer skittish about tornadoes. I am a Buckeye.

It was the lack of worry about tornadoes that clued me into my Buckeye-ness. This past Thursday we were looking forward to some rain. This summer was very unBuckeye like in that it was hot and dry, so when rain was forecast for Thursday I was excited. The grass is so dry that it hurts to walk on, okay maybe the acorns have something to do with that, but the lawn is brown. There are parts of town, just up the road that have green lawns, they have gotten rain. Last Saturday it rained a little here and down the road at the Buckeye game(yep, watched that one too) it poured. So Thursday afternoon when CJ tells me that the tornado sirens are going off, I mention that when we first moved here I would go to the basement whenever the word tornado was mentioned! We turned on the TV to find that the county just a couple of miles south was under a tornado warning and then a few minutes later we were too. Still it seemed silly to go to the basement, it wasn't raining. OK, it was raining out front but not out back. Weird. Even when the rain made it to the backyard I still was totally calm and never considered the basement. The rain lasted about .5 hour and it got a little windy. It was wonderful to enjoy the smell of a summer rain, I have missed that this year. The weatherman on TV mentioned that of our high schools, just up the road, had roof damage. And a friend was at CJ's school, just across the road, and said that she had hail and the rain was coming down so hard she couldn't see. Still not worried, the weather at home was fine.

Today, I wonder if I should have been worried or if it's just that I am now a Midwesterner. We took the dogs, Pia is visiting again, to the mountain bike trail for a morning romp in the woods. As we headed down the trail there was this oak branch laying across the way. Because it had the largest acorns I had ever seen we gave it a closer look. Where did the branch come from? There were maple trees all around but no oaks. Curious. Later we saw more branches down. On the way home we took the road that the high school is on and saw lots of trees down. At the high school there was a crane beside the building and roofing supplies on the roof. That was quite a storm, I thought to myself. When we got home, I opened the newspaper and right there on the front page was a listing of the tornadoes from the storm and one was at the high school, just up the road! Maybe I should have been worried, maybe I will go to the basement next time! Or maybe I am a Buckeye.

Dan & Swati Came to Town

Due to the passing of Uncle George we got to see Dan and Swati much sooner than expected. They came in to spend a quick weekend with us, much like the weekend we spent in Philly. While Friday was spent with funeral activities, Saturday was a day of fun.

Dan, Swati and I ran some errands. We got a new bolt for Steve's car, not exciting. Went to the Eddie Bauer Warehouse, exciting. And most important for both Dan's belly and Swati's boss, a trip to John Eagle Candies for what Dan has decided are the best buckeyes ever. Swati's boss is an OSU grad and she couldn't to back to work on Monday unless she had something Buckeye to bring back!

After our errands Steve washed the cars. How did we end up looking like Buckeye fans, I guess this is our true home now that we have the right color combo for our vehicles!!!!

CJ showed Dan his swords.

Swati had fun in the sun.

I napped.

Dickens had a photo shoot.

Then we all went to Cap City Diner for dinner.

And then to Jeni's for ice cream. There are no pics of the ice cream since we were too busy eating for pictures. Our flavors were, berry lavender, black coffee, buckeye, backyard mint, salty caramel and almond brittle. Yummy!!!

And now time to spoil the pets.

It was a great visit under some unfortunate circumstances.

Phones

Last year CJ quietly asked for a cell phone. We decided that when he was 13 he could have one. He never complained although he did mention that he was one of just 5 kids in 6th grade without a phone. So when I decided to upgrade my phone and plan to the 21st century he got one too.

So now there are just 4 kids in 7th grade without phones!!!

Smores at the Campground

Summer would not be complete without s'mores and an overnight (for CJ) at the campground. It took school starting before we managed to find the time. The next morning CJ was not eager to head home and back to chores and homework.

CJ loves hanging with Popa and Grandma Joyce.  I do too!

7th Grade

August 25th was the first day of 7th grade for CJ.

When he got home he happily reported that he liked his teachers.

Company Picnic

Each year Steve's company hosts a summer event. This year it was at Crew stadium. It was a great event. They had food, music and games for us before the game. The kids also got to go out on the field and play on the professional field. CJ found a praying mantis by the goal which he and Steve promptly moved to a much safer spot away from the playing field.

This was our first professional soccer game as a family. While Steve was still in a hockey mode, CJ and I found the game enjoyable. With a little more knowledge we may become soccer fans. Soccer like hockey is much more fun in person!

The UPS Man...

must love Tucker. We arrived home to a couple of packages on the front porch. On top of the packages was a bone for Tucker. Tucker's campaign to make sure everyone loves him is working!

Philly Quickly

Instead of straight home from Maryland we went north to spend 2 days in Philly. Our first stop was to see Bunny.

Her garden was quite pleasant in the warmth of August. We were very lucky that Philly was having a 'cold' spell while we were there. Like Ohio, Philly has been quite warm this summer.

CJ and Bunny had their required height picture taken. Almost, CJ, almost!

While we visited, Steve made the trek over to the shopping center to pick up cheesesteaks and hoagies. Bunny found her new favorite place and new favorite hoagie - the godfather. I had my old standby of a mixed cheese hoagie, yummy. Steve had a cheesesteak and CJ ate leftover ribs from his dinner on the bay the night before. Everyone was very full and very happy!

After rushhour we headed up to Roxborough where Dad, MaryKate and Furball were waiting on the porch for us. We promptly joined them and soon the porch was full of laughing and fun.

On Saturday Dan and Swati stopped by and we all went out for some shopping and lunch.

Each year Dan and Swati take CJ shopping to pick out his birthday present. CJ had forgotten that this had not yet happened and was excited to go shopping. For lunch we had cheesesteaks, go figure! CJ found out that fried onions were not a cheesesteak requirement and decided to try one. He liked it!

Steve found a model he liked while we were out. He and CJ put it together that night.

Then it was time to go home.

No matter how many times we do it, it is still a long drive.

A Week at the Beach

We arrived in Ocean City, MD about 9 hours after leaving home. Amazingly I drove about half the time, I love my car! We checked into the hotel and then hit the boardwalk. This was our first time in OCMD and were pleasantly surprised to find the boardwalk very similar to NJ in that it is made of boards and has shops the whole length of it. We were even happier to find that the restaurants tended more toward food and less to fries and ice cream. This is very important when living in a hotel room that has a fridge the size of a shoebox!

Ah, sand!!!

After walking the boards north, we opted for a ride in the tram car south towards the ferriswheel. After a delicious dinner at a wood fired pizza restaurant we headed for the kite store.

Way back in the '90's when we vacationed in OBX we always made several trips to Kitty Hawk Kites. The Kite Loft wasn't quite as big but it was just as impressive. We bought a new kite and despite the setting sun headed to the beach for some flying time. Steve gave CJ a refresher lesson. CJ hadn't flown a kite since our trip to OCNJ during hurricane Isabel. Flying a stunt kite is just like riding a bike, a few close calls and then all is good.

Day 2

After a big breakfast we headed down to the beach. It was a gloriously hot day and the ocean was a perfect temperature to cool us down after some hard work digging holes, Steve & CJ, or reading a book, me.

The waves were breaking too close to shore for bodysurfing so we spent the day jumping and diving into them. It was a perfect day! 

We eventually headed back to the room for showers and found that the hotel across the street had live music which was a great way to unwind and relax before a night on the boardwalk.

Day 3

After getting a little too much sun the day before (yes, mother I had sunscreen on) we decided to check out Assateague Island. Thank goodness for sunburn or we would have missed this amazing place. It's a barrier island that is home to 100+- horses on the northern MD side and 150+- horses on the VA side. They are wild horses that have adapted to living at the shore. The MD horses are in a National Park and protected by the government. The VA horses are owned by the volunteer fire department and the foals are sold off each year to raise money for the department.

While they are used to being around people they are still wild and let us know that they run the place. We stopped the car to take a picture of one of the  horses and he looked at us then walked in front of the car and just stood there looking at us until the Pony Patrol shooed him away. It was quite funny. The Pony Patrol is a guy on a bike with a fan of branches that he shakes to move the horses along.

The island has many activities available including, camping, windsurfing, crabbing, swimming, and hiking. We opted for hiking the half mile trails and learning about the ecosystems on the island.

Mussels

As we walked along the boardwalk in the marshes we found crabs everywhere. In the photo below there must have been 2 dozen that we counted in just a couple of minutes we stopped.

We also visited the forest which is where the horses gather when a hurricane approaches. The forest was quite a bit cooler and very quiet. It was a great place to visit and we recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

When we got back to the hotel we quickly changed and headed down to the beach. The water was colder and the waves were stronger than the day before. Steve and CJ saw many broken boogie boards in the trash cans. Yikes.

Still, digging in the sand and playing with army guys beats a day at school, even if the water is cool and the waves wild!

And there is always kite flying. The wind was quite a bit stronger and occasionally Steve needed to make sure CJ didn't get drug down the beach!!

Day 4

Thursday brought another beautiful day. We headed out to the beach early and stayed as long as we could.

The waves were once again stronger than the day before and the water was so cold that it took your breath away. Hard to believe when it was perfect just 2 days earlier. It was really hot on the beach so we did go in but not for long. It was funny, on such a hot day, to see everyone standing just at the water's edge. There were a few brave souls all the way in, they must have been from Canada.

So instead of playing in the waves the boys dug a hole!

Which got really deep.

They got reprimanded by the Beach Patrol for digging a hole deeper than their knee and had to fill it in!

After showers we headed out to dinner.

Steve and Cheryl made the drive down from Philly to spend a couple of days on the beach and meet us for dinner. It was just like old times in OBX and  brought back some great memories from the many vacations in OBX. We had dinner at a great place on the bay. Even though we could see the rain out over the bay we took a chance ate at a table outside.

Steve, Steve

Steve & Cheryl

Just as we finished dinner the rain started. We watched the storm over the ocean from a covered porch.

CJ tried really hard to capture the lightning. This was the best he could do with my little camera.

After the rain stopped we all headed out for ice cream,

It was a perfect end to a perfect day.

And, after packing the car on Friday we headed back to the boardwalk to get a hermit crab to finalize a great, great vacation.