On The Road Again and Home Again

We've had a busy month... Cullen has started a new project at work and he's been out of town for a couple of LONG trips lately. It made our Easter Basket devotion, well, not quite the same, since he was out of town the whole week leading up to Easter. Thankfully, he was home for Easter and we had a nice celebration. We welcomed him home with peanut butter Easter egg candies (his Grandma's recipe). Then we made "Resurrection Cookies" on Saturday night that you leave in the oven overnight. (Everything is all about dessert here!)

We had a nice morning in worship, did our own little Easter egg hunt at home, and then headed over to my mom's for Easter dinner. It was a nice day. And gorgeous weather too. Scott, Blaise and I went out with Mom to walk the dog and found a little turtle on the way. Scott was kind enough to pick it up and move it from the road to the grass- he loves touching wild animals. When we got back to the house, Kelly and Joseph (Mike's fiance and her son) were there, so the boys were very excited to play with Joseph... and dig in the sand pile in the driveway together.

Then the pollen came... and my oh my did it come. Scott has bad allergies, by the way, and couldn't sleep from the cough and congestion. Well, until I caved and gave him Benedryl... I just hate to see the kid start his lifelong daily dosages of allergy medicine at age 4.

Michael in addition to cutting his first tooth, had learned the all important skill for all little boys- pushing a car...

... oh, and fighting off Blaise at the same time!

For Cullen's 2nd long trip, we took a long trip of our own. We stopped in MD and dropped off Blaise with Grandma and Grandpa for his first solo visit. Then Scott, Michael, and I headed up to CT to visit with Jessica. Ah, relief from the allergies! (There's still pollen up north, but it's not as bad yet as it is here.) The driving was killer... but otherwise we all had a blast!

Blaise had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa... he demonstrated how sneaky and quick he is and why he manages to get into so many things. In Grandpa's words, "We figured out you can't blink too long with him." He got to do lots of fun things while he was there, go to the Marine Museum, see the airplanes, the playground, eat a Dunkin Doughnut for snack (the powdered sugar covered, creme filled variety) without making a mess, go to work with Grandma, go to Chic-Fil-A with Grandpa. Yeah, he had a good week. To top it off, he got to go pick out part of his birthday present... he wanted a skateboard. He picked a really cool Toy Story scooter, just his speed and matching helmet. It even has a bell, which makes him quite happy.

In CT, we got to see Aunt Jesse's house. We approve. It's big, and feels a little empty, especially without Uncle Darrell, but it's very nice and she's got an amazing backyard (even if we didn't go out there.) We went to the Mystic Aquarium. It was nice and we had a great time, but if you're planning a trip to CT, it's a little overpriced for what it is. We stayed for 4 hours or so, but easily could have seen everything in 2. Scott liked petting a shark and seeing the sea lions. Michael just wanted to walk... a bit annoying, since he doesn't know how and that means that I have to bend over and hold both his hands. On the other side of the coin, I mastered the art of folding Michael in order to buckle him into the stroller (he likes to arch his back and fight the process.)

We also went to the beach while we were there. Technically, it was a beach on Long Island Sound, but it was very nice. The water was blue, there were lots of little stones, and seashells to look at and plenty of sand. Things look promising for the beach this summer... Scott got wet up to his knees (and it was FREEZING) and ran all over the place playing in the sand, Michael again wanting to walk, tried walking out to sea, and tried (very hard) to eat large mouthfuls of sand- he was mad when we wouldn't let him.


This week... we've been home... without a car... with a sick Scott... with a couple of guys in the backyard building us a fence. This week is almost over. The fence is finished! Scott feels better! The transmission in the car should be ready this afternoon or tomorrow... things are starting to look up. Oh, and CJ Spiller is going to play for the Buffalo Bills. (Probably not the most exciting place for him, but you can't be disappointed about a #9 overall draft pick, and if you know me- this means I don't even have to get a new NFL team, I've been a Bills fan since 6th grade, though much less interested since I discovered college football at Clemson.)


And a random picture of Blaise wearing my sneakers on the porch. He's actually quite coordinated in them.