Catonsville 4th

We have lived in Catonsville for eleven July 4ths.  We have been to ONE Catonsville 4th parade.  Catonsville residents would be ashamed of us.  The 4th of July is  BIG DEAL in Catonsville; it is an all day event starting with a run, kids activities, parade, then ending with fireworks.  This town goes all out for the 4th and it is know throughout the area that C-ville is the place to be.  

As transplants, we didn't understand all the fanfare with the 4th.  The 4th of July is always ridiculously hot and going to a parade at 3 PM in that heat didn't appeal to us.  We have never gotten invited to any of the house parties going on around Catonsville.  By the emptiness of our parking lot at the town house, we were clearly one of the few residents NOT at some kind of party.  So we begged my parents to rent the beach house over the 4th so we could just avoid the whole Catonsville thing we didn't feel part of.

But alas, here we are in 2016, and it's time to embrace our Catonsville residence, especially now that we are IN Catonsville.  The parade route is a block and a half away and our new neighbors are not from the area either; it's time to start our own party and traditions.

This 4th was rainy and chilly, so our grand plans of a fun outdoor party got dampened.  We know what we need for next year to improve the party, a pop-up tent!  After a yummy lunch, we all walked up to street to the parade where a neighbor put out chairs for us.  (Chairs go up weeks before the parade to reserve spots.  It's a Catonsville thing- no one touches them or moves them.  It's just what everyone does)

Shout out to Jess for reserving us spots

The parade is HUGE.  The kids really enjoyed the marching bands and all the groups that passed out candy.  The Orioles Bird made an appearance too; Braylen was thrilled

 

My favorite float 

Our gathering was small, but some of my favorite Catonsville people were with us.

The lady that made me want to stay in Catonsville

BFFs

This guy is a winner too

We lasted about 1.5 hours at the parade (yes, it went another hour I think) with our soggy bottoms.  The parade was entertaining, especially the "secondary parade" of random people walking down the street with inappropriate attire (crop tops, boobs hanging out...) and beers in hand.  It felt like the Ocean City Maryland boardwalk at night.  I could take a little less of that and more organized floats.  But what does this transplant know about the Catonsville parade...

Anyway, we did the parade and party, no fireworks this year.  We'll ease our way into the C-ville 4th; we've got a lifetime in this house to figure it out :)

OCNJ 2016: Family Togetherness

The beach and rides are the two big draws on our Ocean City vacation; however, the other smaller events often create my favorite memories.

Like "family night" at the 33rd street corner ice cream shop.  The shop owner provides board games, hula hoops, jump ropes, Nerf guns, and other outdoor games for a fun evening.

We kind of take over the place

All the girls

Attempting jump rope with the girls

The girls weren't getting the hang of it, so G decided to demonstrate.

There was lots of riding bikes in the alley this year.  Braylen upgraded from his trike at Christmas, but it took him until days before the beach to stop pouting over the loss of his trike and ride his big boy bike.

Let's hear it for flat riding surfaces!

The one and only attempt without training wheels.

Feeding the sea gulls has been a Stefany vacation tradition since I was a kid.  This is one thing Laura and I would be ok not doing anymore, but someone (G, Poppop, Sam) insist on getting rid of stale bread and pieces of ham by making these already annoying birds more annoying.  The pictures are kind of cute even if I am fearing for my life.

My apologies, beach goer looking for a peaceful evening
on the beach reading your book.

This year G gave each family a kite.  That's right, two kites for FOUR kids.  You can guess how that went over.  My kids did a few moments of cuteness before the arguing started...

Run, Daddio, Run!

Holding the line together

Ah yes, it doesn't get much better than this...
(I can't hear anyone fighting over flying the kites at this distance)

The front porch is always a favorite place at this beach house: a quiet place to read, an elevated view of the garage trucks collecting trash in the morning, an outdoor happy hour at 2 pm while kids napped, a slop/messy spot for the kids, or simply a place to enjoy God's creation.

And last, but certainly not least... the family "formal" shots.  The one evening we force Sam the kids to put on slightly nicer clothes and G & I attempt to do something with our humidity destroyed hair.   We missed our professional photographer, Michael (my cousin), this year; we didn't get the sun angle right.  There are still some pretty good ones :)

That is amazingly good considering the squirrels in the picture

speaking of squirrels

Someone wants to be inside my belly again

We love you G and Poppop for taking us on vacation year after year.  We love you Ocean City, NJ for all you offer to our family.  Until June 2017...