Granny's Place at Breach Inlet

We scooted down to the beach last weekend to spend time with my high school friends, and frolick in the surf. Okay, so seriously, we did no frolicking. I did one giant leap away from a jelly fish but that was about the extent of it. As you can see Evelyn, Floyd & RM are easily the most pasty white of the bunch, so we didn't stay out too long. Beth's Granny is the greatest - she loaned her house to this crazy bunch.

The HUGE umbrella, courtesy of Emily & Rob was much appreciated though!!! See the happy non-tanners smile? We're serious about our shade. And Will got to enjoy his most recent Cormac McCarthy obsession peacefully.
Meanwhile, RM was engrossed in the sand all around him. Fortunately, he wasn't quite as into tasting it as he was the last time we ventured to the Palm Coast in FL.

The Batts' were especially cute with Ru's belly being the fascination of the trip. And Red & Anna Griggs (5 weeks younger than him) had a BLAST playing together!

Grandma's Birthday

This post is a little belated, but Grandma's birthday was September 3rd and we popped by after dinner for a little visit. Here is "Yaya" with RM, one of her TEN great-grandbabies. It is so nice that she and Granddad are close enough to visit!



This is a shot of the roses that Aunt Ann & Uncle Manfred and their family sent her for her birthday. Everyone made a special effort to recognize her birthday and make her feel special. I think she really enjoyed it.

kudos

I almost turned the RNC coverage off tonight. Romney was nothing extrordinary and Huckabee's high points were still dull... The good Mayor Rudy was just bright enough to make me hang on for the presumtive VP nominee. And I'm glad I did.

She is no nonsense, yet carries herself gracefully; she's married to a man's man, who is confident enough to stand by his very capable wife. She's the Governor who sold Alaska's luxury jet on Ebay and drives herself to work. She doesn't shy away from the power of the VETO when it comes to wasteful spending, and her state enjoys a budget surplus.

She recognizes that some of life's greatest blessings are also the largest challenges - the things that make us better people. If you missed the speech tonight, I highly recommend it - substanative and persuasive.

Favorite Quotes:

Romney: "Liberals would replace opportunity with dependency on government largesse. They would grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid, to work requirements out of welfare, and to grow the ranks of those who pay no taxes at all."

Huckabee: "I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich, but because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me."

Palin: “Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems - as if we all didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines…build more nuclear plants…create jobs with clean coal…and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers.”

life.

Lazy Labor Day Weekend. Fantastic. Here's a musing post of a few new things these days.

1. RM + Table Food = easier mealtimes. Ah, glorious table food. Because RM has so many teeth (we're up to eight) he can eat food like a champ. He only started Cheerios in June, and as of this week, he's eating chicken nuggets, hot dogs, waffles, baked beans, macaroni & cheese... all kinds of goodies. Now, all that said, making sure he is getting strong representation from all the food groups does seem a little more difficult right now - as you can see that list doesn't include any of the all powerful fruits and veges. He likes strawberries, apples, carrots, even peas & green beans, but i haven't really ventured much further. Still not a huge fan of eating bananas whole (but is a huge fan of smashing them between his fingers and lathering the mash about on his tray).

2. RM's Cough/Congestion/Sneezing thing started about a month ago and he couldn't shake it. I took him to the peed a few times when i thought it was starting to "rattle" around in his chest and become a problem. The tipping point was when his fever spiked last weekend over 104 and I thought, ok, this has to be all related, and he's got to have pnemonia or something! Ped took chest x-ray, we nebulized him several times a day, etc. Come to find out, the cough issue and virus causing the fever were totally unrelated. This week at the ped's office, to follow up on viral funk, she asks, "Now, did anything in his diet change a month ago when this cough started?" DING DING DING! This slow-uptake-mom had typical light-bulb-flash-in-brain and says, "Yeah, as a matter of fact, we introduced formula for the first time a month ago as I started to wean him." Long story short, within 48hrs of taking the boy off of formula, the runny nose and cough disappeared. Amazing. So if you're wondering - no, weaning NOT complete yet...

3. Mice. We have mice in our house, and it's freaking me out. Any of you who have seen the LOVELY basement, know that we definitely have some dark corners where i'm sure these lovely rodents have made happy trails in and out for quite some time, but the fact that we've caught TWO in our living quarters is more than i can handle. Spiders, bugs, i can deal with those. Once we get to the rodent level though, i'm out. I just want ONE phone number i can call that will get rid of these dwellers once and for all - seal my house up, make sure they're all gone, send me a bill. Any suggestions? I cringe just typing about it.

4. The weather is still insanely hot. I think Floyd has cut the grass twice this summer. Seriously. Between the ridiculous temperatures and lack of precipitation in this region of the world, it just hasn't been necessary. And can I just say that I really do find it hard to believe I was 9 months pregnant this time last year... Just to imagine hauling a belly of great size around right now makes me worn out. So, let me just salute you ladies who are doing it right now!

5. RM's vocabulary count: 3. (Bye Bye, Da-da, Uh-oh). I have a video, but it's not uploading... and I don't have the patience. So maybe one of these days yall will get to see him zerbert me and display his speaking skills. Don't hold your breath.

Yay.

Working mother. Five Children. Governor of Alaska. Twenty-eight years younger than him. He needed a spark. I hope she's it.

Kudos to McCain's Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.

Pecan Pie Puppies

So, we're going to pause for this pet boutique commercial...

My super creative (and four-legged-friend-loving) friend has started her own online pet collar boutique to sell these beautiful collars for your favorite pet. The most recent addition are her GAMECOCK collars available online or in some local stores around Columbia, South Carolina. So cute! She makes them all by hand, and having seen them in person, i can highly endorse them... Her custom flower/seersucker collars almost make me wish that Jim Hargate, III was a girl.

Phil & Ted's Recall? Seriously?

If you read my stroller obsession post, then the following RECALL will definitely humor you. My dear friend somehow found time in her overwhelmingly busy life to let me know that my new toy might have the ability to lacerate my fingers when i fold it. ANYWHO... I've already gone online and submitted my request for protective hinge covers. Phew!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2008
Release #08-377
Firm's Recall Hotline: (877) 242-5676
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908


Regal Lager Recalls to Repair Phil & Teds Strollers Due to Laceration Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Phil & Teds e3 Single Buggy, e3 Twin Buggy and sport v1 Single Buggy Strollers (an additional 425 e3 Twin Buggy Strollers were recalled on May 5, 2006)

Units: About 44,000

Importer: Regal Lager Inc., of Kennesaw, Ga.

Hazard: The stroller’s hinge locking mechanism poses a laceration hazard to the user folding and unfolding the strollers

Incidents/Injuries: Regal Lager has received nine reports from consumers who injured their fingers in the stroller’s hinge locking mechanism.

Description: The recalled single strollers all have metal frames with three wheels, a cloth seat and canopy. The twin strollers have a metal frame with four wheels, side-by-side cloth seats and double sun canopies. The strollers were sold in a variety of colors including red, orange, green, black, charcoal and navy. The Phil & Teds logo is located on the crotch piece of the harness.

Sold at: Baby furniture and baby products stores nationwide from August 2003 through August 2008 for between $400 and $650.

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the strollers immediately and contact Regal Lager to obtain a free hinge cover repair kit and instructions.

Consumer Contact: For more information, consumers can Regal Lager toll-free at (877) 242-5676 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at www.regallager.com

around the house...

the boy has been pretty sick this weekend, and although the 104 fever is down now, he's still battling a nasty cough, and just altogether not himself. We are hoping to be rid of this before his first birthday, hah! These were taken before the virus hit.

Portland

Yes, a little more from the trip. We shot down to portland, and while we didn't capture photos of all of our favorite moments (lousy battery first off, lousy memory to charge said battery second excuse) we did capture a few. In no particular order:


Portland Street view... we loved walking around downtown


Portland Noon Concert Series downtown - fun. Tuesday & Thursday lunch hour


Hotel Modera - COOL, hip, nice.


"Who said short hair was easier" Musing


Powell's City of New & Used Books - and by CITY of books, i am not exaggerating. Floyd was in heaven.


Tasty dinner at the Marina Fish House on the Williamette...


Portland's International Rose Test Garden (why it's only a test, i don't know, but it was gorgeous). Overlooks the city.


Courtyard of Hotel Modera with fires lit... again, cool, hip, fun.

Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham

so, since we were so beat, we followed up the hike with a trip to a local pub/brewery in Bellingham, the Boundary Bay Brewery. It was great fun, despite our exhaustion. The last picture - Boon, Toot, Nanni - do yall remember ALFALFA SPROUT sandwiches with better butter?!? While I was enjoying my hummus plate, Thomas coughed up that childhood memory and I just about spit alfalfa sprouts into my beer. Good times.

Church Mountain - Glacier, WA

We went into the Mt. Baker Wilderness today in hopes of finding a good trail for a dayhike. The first choice option was a little too snow covered still, so we went with Church Mountain. A lovely ten mile hike in the North Cascades. There were 18 switchbacks in the woods, and then we finally got to a beautiful meadow and the beautiful views surrounding us. Most of these shots are from the more picturesque half of the hike... only one is from the forest. What i must add is that this hike kicked our tails. We are WORE out.

just a couple more random shots from today...

I know some of yall will appreciate these too - even if they are random.



This was taken while we were crossing Lake Washington on the floating bridge. There were SO many boats out because the Blue Angels were in the sky! It was really cool.



And this is THOMAS on his super-cool motorcycle. I can't believe that my "baby" brother is old enough to live on the west coast for a summer and ride a motorcycle.

PIKE'S MARKET -- Seattle, WA

Today was the first day of Evelyn & Floyd's fifth anniversary extravaganza in the Pacific Northwest. We met Thomas at the King Street train station in Seattle, and set off to enjoy the sites. It was a full day (see below) and we loved every minute. Here is a sneak peak at our day.

Red Hook Brewery - Woodinville, Washington

Look at how much fun we had at our tour of the Red Hook Brewery today! $1 gets you a fabulous tour -- very little walking, a whole lot of sampling -- and it was just our speed. We had a blast with Thomas there too, and our "guide" was from Easley, SC. What are the odds!?