Tan-Man the Fire Man

My little man is 3 years old. On an average day, he makes me want to pull my hair out about a dozen times. Also, on an average day, I think about 100 times of how much fulfillment, personality, energy and happiness this little guy adds to my life. He is so spirited, so affectionate and such a wonderful addition to my life and our family. I love him so much. And what does Tanner love? Well, lots of things (and people), but, he especially loves fire trucks. Luckily, Dave's sister married a Fireman and they live locally, so we had a nice little hook -up for his birthday party! Here is Tanner with Lacey and his cousin, Jacque, sitting on the Firetruck.

And here he is IN the Firetruck!

Uncle Jack (the Fireman), is helping Tanner help his "patient" in the Ambulance.

After touring the Firehouse (a major highlight for Tanner!), we came back to the house for cake and ice cream. We were lucky to have Dave's parents, my parents, Aunts (2), Uncles (2) and Cousins (5) join in the festivities! So, after running 10 miles that morning, I quickly ran home and threw together this cake. I'm TOTALLY kidding! (And any of you that know me wouldn't believe me anyway! I'm about as domestic as a door post). No, Dave did not happen to marry someone with cake-making ability. HOWEVER, he did happen to make friends and keep in touch with someone who does! And lucky for us, she has her own little cake-making business in the vicinity, so we enlisted her help for Tanner's cake. I just love her attention to detail. The fire hydrant, the dalmation, Tanner's name on the license plate, Company #3 on the side, the Maryland insignia on the side, etc. And yes, the lights on the top really worked, flashing different colors. Very cool. Thanks, Tracy!

Happy Boy

After cake, we all took turns being "Firemen". Here are a few of my favorites..... Dave....

My Dad.....

My Mom......

And my Tan-man. Tanner, you are a crazy little guy and I love you a hundred million billion. Happy Birthday T!

10 Miles

Here we are just minutes after crossing the Finish Line of the Baltimore 10-miler. This is the 3rd year in a row we have run this race. It's a great distance. Long enough (and hilly enough) that it's a great work out, is challenging and requires training, but not so long that it requires donating all your free time to training and sucks the life out of you while doing it! 10 miles. Perfect. And I even ran it two minutes faster than last year........

Not that that is saying much considering last year I was almost 5 months pregnant with Riley! It's so weird for me to think about the fact that I was 1/2 way through my pregnancy last year at this time and now, just one year later, not only do I have a baby, I have a little girl that is sitting up, has a tooth, holds her own bottle, eats soft foods, etc. What a difference a year can make!

The Big Three Five

As many of you know, Mr. T and I share the same birthday. So, we decided to celebrate my birthday on Friday (the "actual day") and Tanner's b-day on Saturday. So, Friday morning, we headed to the Amish Market in Annapolis and had a wonderful home-made breakfast. And I have this to say - the Amish sure make a mean cinnamon raisin toast! Yum!

I never quite pictured me spending the afternoon of my 35th birthday meeting Clifford the Big Red Dog, but admittedly, I never pictured myself actually turning 35! So, this little outing was for my T!

That afternoon, Dave surprised me by taking a half-day off work. He picked me up at lunch time (leaving the kids with my parents) and whisked me off to have me pick out my new iphone! Don't know how to use it yet, but so happy I have one :) Then we got a baby-sitter and went out to dinner in Annapolis with my parents and Dave's parents.

Two of my favorite things: my hubby and Annapolis

After dinner, we headed down to the dock and had dessert at the Chart House. I love this restaurant. Dave and I had dinner here the night we got engaged and also had dinner here the night of our 5-year wedding anniversary. And, if you notice, I started and ended the day eating. My kind of day :) And I didn't even feel that guilty about it because I knew I was getting up at the crack of dawn the following morning to run a 10-mile race (which will be my next post!)

Phili

My parents both said they really wanted to visit Philadelphia while they were here. They have both been before individually, but have never been together because the last time they were here was before they got married. And they've been married for 38 years, so it's been a while! After doing Gettysburg on Monday with all 3 kids and knowing Phili would be a day full of tour guides, lines and going in and out of non-stroller friendly buildings, I decided to get a baby-sitter for our Phili day. And I must say, that was a smart move on my part! :) Here are my parents in front of Independence Hall.

Congress Hall. This is right next to Independence Hall and is where the original Senate and Congress "lived" for the first 10 years of our country's existence. It was fascinating to walk through this building. Dave and I visited Philadelphia in 2007 and saw most of this, but this was a building we didn't tour, so I was glad I got to do it this time around.

Another thing Dave and I did in 2007 was visit the outside of Betsy Ross's home. But this time, we decided to go inside. And wouldn't you know it? Betsy Ross was home and she was making a flag!

Elfreth's Alley - the oldest neighborhood street in the country that has had people continuously living here since it was first built in the early 1700's.

Liberty Bell

Benjamin Franklin's grave

Christ Church. This is the church where both Benjamin Franklin and George Washington attended on a regular basis while living here. We had a great day in Philadelphia and loved visiting all the historical sites of the founding of our Country.

Annapolis

So, Monday was Gettysburg. And Tuesday.... was Annapolis! Annapolis is my city in the entire state of Maryland. Every time someone comes to visit, I make sure to take them here. I think I've taken my parents to Annapolis every time they have come out here, but it never gets old! We took a boat ride (Riley's first!).........

We fed the ducks.....

We made silly faces by the dock......

And we relaxed. Wonderful weather. Great company. Perfect day!

Hodge Podge

We've had a busy few days! Saturday morning, we all went to Lacey's "Olympics" (her end of year "recital").

Here she is getting her medal. Yeah, Lacey!

After the Olympics, we picked up a baby-sitter and headed to Georgetown kid-free to spend our 6-year wedding anniversary. We explored the town, ate at the famous Georgetown Cupcakes (of "DC Cupcakes" fame for those of you that watch that show), shopped, ate, etc. We had 3 kids in 3 years and 10 months, so it's been a busy, crazy few years. But a wonderful busy, crazy! The reason why you don't see any pictures on this part of the post is because Lacey's head bonked my face as I was tucking her in to bed earlier this week and I have a nasty shiner.

And later that same day, my parents arrived! Yeah! Today, we all headed to Gettysburg. I had never been to Gettysburg prior to today and I've been wanting to get there, so it was a great reason to go with my parents in town. It's a long day for three little kids, but we still managed to see quite a bit and enjoy beautiful weather as we learned more about the Civil War. As you can see, it's been non-stop around here lately...... Must be Summer!

Seven

Riley was born on November 7th at 4:07pm and now she is 7 months. Seven is her number! As you can see, her big milestone since her 6 month post is that she can now sit up by herself! If you recall, I posted on her 6 month post that she had yet to roll over. Well, that hasn't changed. Sort of. Two days after her 6 month mark was Dave's birthday, so we hired a baby-sitter and went out to dinner. The baby-sitter texted me at dinner that Riley had rolled over! She was in bed when I got home, but I excitedly put her on the floor the next day for her to show me her new trick. Nothing. Tried again the next day. Nada. Needless to say, I have tried in vain every day since May 9th to see her roll over (which she apparently did several times that night from front to back for the baby-sitter). But she has never done it again. I guess it was just a special treat for Dave's birthday! So, she has only rolled over one day in her life and she still doesn't have any teeth, but she has the cutest toothless grin you've ever seen! She loves to be held, loves to be fed, loves the Baby Bjorn and loves Baby Mozart. And she loves her mama. The feeling is mutual :)

Bowie Baysox

Lacey and her friend, Emma

Riley's first baseball game

Tanner and Ryan (son of the family we went with) holding up their baseballs that they got at the game. Granted, Tanner wouldn't look at the camera, but you can still tell how happy he was by how he is triumphantly holding his ball! He wouldn't let anyone else hold it and he slept it with it last night.

SAFE! Tanner crossing home plate. Do you know what I love about Minor League Baseball?

1) $18 paid for our parking (free) and entry for our entire family into the ball park

2) There is a moon bounce ($1) and a carousel ($1) that the kids loved

3) You have a much better chance of catching a baseball (note picture #3). Not only did Tanner get a ball, but so did his friend.

4) If you happen to go on "Fireworks night", which we did, they put on a phenomenal 15-minute long fireworks show that rivals any 4th of July.

5) After the game, the moon bounce, the carousel, catching the ball and watching fireworks, you get to run the bases on the field.

Now, anybody that knows me knows that I'm a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan. But, honestly. You try getting all of that at a major-league game! And if you do, I guarantee, you paid more than $18! Go Baysox :)

Great White

Does the face match the shirt or what? This is Tanner in heaven since he is a shark from head to toe!

If this post looks a little deja vu it's because I took the kids to the "Face Painting lady" last month too. And Lacey wanted to be a butterfly.... again. It's 95 degrees today, humid as all get out and just too stinkin' hot to do anything outside, so air conditioned Kids Club it is!