Derby Denied

I love demolition derbies.  Love them.

We were so excited to take the kids to the Cecil County Fair for the demolition derby.  

Seth and I haven't been to a derby in years.

We got there early, so we could grab good seats and a bite to eat.  

Hazel and Averett loved it, Hazel rode the train, and Averett sized everybody up.

We sat back and admired our sweet seats.  

The kids were quick to make friends around us - 

(call me shallow...but...)  I think their cute faces help a lot!

(I had my faith in teenagers restored, by the way a teenage boy next to us kept an eye out for Averett...making sure he didn't trip on the bleachers, eat candy off the ground, or walk too far away...AND he gave Averett his stuffed animal)

While we waited for the excitement to start, the wind started to pick up.

 and then, it got a LOT windy.

Along with the wind, the sky started to get black.  Like, REALLY black.  And when the thunder started to roll, in the (not-so-far) distance, we knew the demolition derby would be canceled.

We started towards the car as the lightning got closer, and sadly, when the torrential downpour started, we were nowhere near the car.

 (I know, I kept blinding Ave with the flash, but those dimples!)

The good news?  We were all laughing so hard and dripping by the time we got to the car, that we were half-way home before we realized the night was technically "a bust".

Fifteen Months

 

.. 26.4 pounds (73%) ..

.. 31.5 inches (62%) ..

(7.26.12)

Seriously?  I love you!

Thirty & Nerdy

Back in the college days (that were really oh-so-long-ago), I would invite all my friends down to my parents house for a summer BBQ.  (And because I was a typical college kid, this meant my parents did ALL of the cooking, decorating and planning - I just provided directions to the house).

 

It always fell near my birthday, so it always had a bit of a birthday party feel to it.  (Okay fine, it was totally a birthday party).  Anyways, if you know my mom, you know it is physically impossible for her to throw a party without games.  So somehow, the magical mom would convince twenty college kids that it was totally "cool" to play musical chairs.  And in the end, I have no idea how many chairs ended up broken as the game quickly became cutthroat!  

Well, Mom still throws birthday parties for everyone in the fam, however, 2000 miles is a little far for her to treat me to a party.  This year, because I turned thirty, and because I had a horrible case of the woe-is-me earlier this summer, I decided to throw my own darn party :)

We had twenty-ish of our friends over for a bbq,  and, of course, we played games.  

Holy ruckus!  I found and made up some minute-to-win-it type games, and complete chaos ensued.  

Oreos were creeping down peoples faces.

Ping pong balls were bouncing ev.er.y.where.

Bananas were swinging from heads.

Tennis skills were put to the test.

Jolly Ranchers were spit from the deck into a tiny bucket on the lawn, while the crowd chanted "Bucket! Bucket!"

(I hope our neighbors could tell that was a B...Hmmm).

I was so stressed.  Would anyone show up?  Was I totally lame? (Don't answer that).

Holy smokes, we had so much fun we didn't even take pictures!!! 

We had so much fun, that as Seth and I passed out on the couch after the last of our guests left, we were already planning the next one :)  We're thinking November, you know, BEFORE the holidays get too hectic...let me know if you need to be added to "the list" :)

Seth did set up a "photobooth" for me, so thankfully it is sort-of-kind-of documented. 

(and the theme for the night was "Thirty & Nerdy" - with the option to dress up...it's not often I take out my contacts!, and I don't think people realized Seth was "dressed up"!)

And then Hazel wouldn't go to bed, and wanted to come downstairs and see what we'd been up to...

 And, well, the camera was still set up after church the next day...

(I think if we cut and pasted our faces, we might come up with one decent picture!)

Thank you to all who came!!

Cousin-Twins

Averett's awesome, little, twin-cousin, Marianna and her Mom (Seth's sister) came to visit.  

We spent some quality time together and made sure to hit the fair for some delicious food and excellent music. The kids and Grandma H danced the night away.

People kept asking if Ave and Marianna were twins.  

I don't know why they'd think that, do you?

I mean, come on, Marianna IS two days older :)

Come back soon!!!

Thirty.

  

Thirty.  

I have officially joined the club.

In honor of turning thirty, I imagined this awesome, deep, profound post.  I dreamed of imparting the wisdom of my years and experience, the amazing knowledge I have gained and I was positive it would inspire my mass audience. 

Then I remembered, I have about 2 minutes to throw some pictures on the blog, my "mass audience" consists of three, the kids want some serious attention, I seriously lack in wisdom and deep thoughts, and well...I've already wasted 30 seconds.

So, instead, let's just say my first "set of 30" (because I intend to have at least two more) have been awesome.  

Thankfully I think life has been: 

93% smiles and good times (thanks largely impart to the greatest family, amazing friends (why did you put up with me??) and now the most wonderful family that Seth and I share)

5% crap-tastic moments (let's be real, life happens...bad days happen)

and then of course,

2% cringe-worthy memories (I did WHAT?! Oh gag.)

I feel very blessed to feel like I am exactly where I hoped to be at thirty, married to The Crush, two stinkin' adorable kids, best friends with my family, living on the East Coast, at home with the kids and most importantly, HAPPY.

I hope and pray the next thirty are just as amazing.

Oh, and just for the record, in case you were wondering...for my birthday, the kids and I met Seth at work for a picnic and then Seth took me to dinner and gave me a necklace I have wanted for.ever.  (and he is sending me away for a girls' weekend in September)

LOVE HIM!

Oh, and one more for fun...

The 4th Festivus

The 4th is my favorite holiday.  

I love it.

I love fireworks, bbq-ing and playing in the water (preferably boating, but these days we settle for the pool).   :)

This year, we started the celebrating a few days early. We headed "across the bridge" with our friends, for prime viewing seats - the fireworks are beautiful across the water. 

Hazel and our sweet, neighbor Cora ... (and yes, my arm is glistening...that is layers and layers of bug spray, the bugs here are the size of small rodents.  I swear).

As lovely as my awesome phone-pic is...this is a perfect example of why we leave the official picture-taking to Seth:

 

Oh, and please, just one more over the water:

The 4th is also blueberry-picking season, and Averett was an awesome helper, until he pulled an Urkel "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

And of course, pool time with some of our most favorite kids e.v.e.r:

 

On the 3rd, our friends invited us (or did we invite ourselves, hmmm...) over to their house to watch the stadium fireworks.  It seriously seems like it is right across the street, so we toasted some s'mores and enjoyed the view.  

 

 Finally, on the 4th, we headed to the church for a patriotic celebration, but we bailed before the water games.  (We didn't want to intimidate anyone with our mad-water-soaking skills).

We headed down to Seth's parents' house to spend the day at their pool, which of course, the kids l.o.v.e.d!

We ended the day with a BBQ, but skipped out before another set of fireworks, they kids were a little pooped.

Hope your 4th was lots of fun, THANK YOU to everyone who made ours so enjoyable!

Exploring

We've decided it's time we start exploring our area a little more. 

(We've only lived here 4.5 years)

We took advantage of a relatively cool morning and headed off on a trail near our house with the kids.

It's and old railroad track that has been converted into a trail.  We bumped into one of the volunteers who maintains the trail and he was fun to talk to.  Looking at how tall the trees along the tracks were, and how some of the large trees had literally grown over the rails, we figured the railroad hadn't been used in a hundred years. 

Wrong.

Closer to 40 years, give or take.  Apparently it's true, trees DO grow freakishly fast on the East coast.

It was fun to spend the morning together, away from the house (and all the crazy projects we get ourselves into).

We even feel a little more "local".

(I should probably apologize for my awesome phone-pics mixed in with Seth's real pictures...they are definitely not as pretty!)

HdG Carnival '12

We had so much fun at the carnival last year.

(some of my all-time favorite pictures of Hazel are in that post)

 This year she was tall enough to ride some of the rides solo - but why do that when you have your sweet friend Cora to hang out with!?

They went right to work checking out the rides, making sure they rode all the good ones.

Hmm, looks like tea cups, followed by cars, slides, dragons and of course, swiiiiiings!

Don't forget the helicopters...

(it kind of made me sad that they are big enough to ride the rides by themselves)

 NASCAR had better watch out, we've got two drivers in training.

Thankfully, Averett was pretty content to hang out with the parentals.

Thanks for a good time, HdG Carnival, until next year...