Our Summer, So Far

Picture number one with the shirt off - B working the slip'n'slide in the neighbor's back yard. This is how he remembers our veterans on Memorial Day.

No matter how many Animal,Vegetable, Miracles or Omnivore's Dilemmas a parent reads, it is hard to overcome the force of an excited four year old, confronting the General Mills trifecta at Costco. We have a love-hate relationship already with Costco, but for B it is only love.

Pic two with a shirt off. First watermelon of the year. Probably the first time A has had her own section of a watermelon.

Clearly, Annabelle should have her own melonballer.

Birthday 4.0

This picture is not from the birthday party, clearly. We felt like we had to include it if only for the Our Gang/Little Rascals-like depiction of a dislike for school. And B won't even go to school for another year and a half. And it wasn't even taken in a school; it was taken at the Arthur exhibit at the Children's Museum. And even if Barritt was in school, and it was a real classroom, look at the message on the board! Not unhappy news at all. Nonetheless, we thought the picture had to be shared.

OK. On to the birthday pics . . .

Yar! Barritt's birthday was a big hit, replete with two chocolate ganache pirate ships decked with 8 cannons, enough eyepatches to go around, and enough booty to fill several pairs of jeans, er . . . I mean a playroom.

We don't want you to be misled; more often than not one of these two seems to be upset about something the other did to them. Yet there are the nice moments where the depiction in a photograph defies reality in such a nice way that you hold on to them, portray them to the world, and mislead others into believing that you have perennially irenic cherubs. Annabelle in her Easter getup and Barritt with his mom-made shirt round out the occasion.

More pics to come later in the week. Lots of birthday party hikinks to detail.

Our Day in Rowan County

Sunday was a killer day - 70 degrees and sunny, and we weren't trapped inside the house or on a long car ride as we seemingly have been the last 50 Sundays. We hung out at the park in Salisbury, watched Dad race, and then went to the NC transportation museum in Spencer, NC. It was a fine spring day, and it left the kids exhausted as you can see. Annabelle went down mid-PB&J, as did Barritt. What kind of parents let their kids nap at 5:00 p.m.? The same kind that have to endure Barritt moaning in the room next door at 9:53 p.m.

On Tybee Time

Is it worth it to drive 6 hours each way, screaming all the way, to hang out at the beach with friends for 48 hours? Absolutely.

March Forth!

Well, it is really March 5th, but I've just realized that I lost my annual opportunity to take advantage of one of the greatest jokes of all time. Anyhoo, here are a few pics. More to come for sure next week, as we are supposed to have 78 degree temperatures and sunny weather at Tybee Island this weekend.



Interrupting a moment between Annabelle and Grady from across the way.



This picture isn't very good, nor is it very cool. However, this sweater that mom made is very good and very cool. While Barritt's first assessment of it was that it was "too yarny," he has taken to it in the past few days.

Local warming

Various shots from the last week. You can tell from the relatively undoctored color in the shots that there was a big shift in the weather over the course of the five days, spanning from snow to 70 degrees and sunny. You can also tell that we don't have photoshop; elsewise the residue of about 10 meals would have been taken right off of Annabelle's face.

 

 

 

 

 

Pancake Saturday

Maple syrup seems to bring out the devilish side of both kids.

 

 

 

Snow Day

 

 

Sure, technically it did snow so it was a "snow day", but was it really necessary to cancel school all over the county? After some hot chocolate and 30 minutes of bundling up, we ventured outside. As you can tell, there wasn't much snow to play with, but Barritt gave it his best, using the Hess truck as a snow plow. Go ahead at laugh at us, all you Yankee Barritts!

 

Make this for your next party. Thanks to Eddie Ross

Its a crudites platter made from a hollowed out cabbage with old-school sour cream and onion dip. The healthy angel on my shoulder, with her argument that vegetables are healthy and beautiful, barely won out over the hedonist angel on my other shoulder who kept chanting "Ruff-les. . . Ruff-les. . . Ruff-les"

 

 

Annabelle, v. 2.0

Annabelle, though she has been acting like one for about three months, is now officially a two year old. Yesterday was replete with cupcakes, social family interactions, tantrums, presents, jealousy, joy, fatigue, and celebration. Celebration and joyousness predominated however.

 

Please, Sir.

 

ALC requesting her seventh pancake.

Shenanigans in the Kitchen

 

Clearly, we are no longer resigned to using Dad's blackberry camera. Note the detail in our new aprons Mom made, our craft projects on the pantry door, and Barritt's devious nature. If you double-click on the picture you can almost hear B's laugh and Annabelle's shriek.

Overdramatic

Dad and Uncle Patrick, initiating their first annual post-Christmas climb up Roanoke Mountain. It isn't too hard to establish an outdoor post-Christmas tradition when it is 60 degrees outside. Regardless of next year's temperature though, there are big plans to have Uncle Sidney follow us in a support vehicle and shout at us from a bullhorn.