Tuesday Dinners

When a stay-at-home mom has been with little kids all day and dad needs to put in some extra time at the office, the panic alarm goes off.  What?!  One extra hour of craziness?!  (Let's be honest, some days even 5 minutes can set off the panic alarm).  I do not know how moms with husbands who travel do it; I count down the minutes until Jason gets home most days!

Thankfully, God gave me mom friends who come to the rescue.  Dinners with moms and kids started in a moms group I was in a few years ago.  The host mom had a late working husband so a group of us started to eat dinner together fairly regularly.  At one dinner I met Bethany. I connected with her immediatly over our current states of depression after our 2nd borns.  We have both survived our postpartum depression, yet still share in the dread of dinners without husbands.

Tuesdays have become the weekly meet up.  Our late afternoons/dinners/early evenings are NOT relaxing one bit, we have 5 kids between us, all 5 and under.  But we are doing motherhood together.  Usually sipping a beer or wine.

Bethany is a fabulous, healthy cook and doesn't mind cooking (win for me!), so she usually prepares it all and I attempt to keep the peace.  (More like I stand in the kitchen watching Bethany work while trying to get in an adult conversation amist constant interruptions)

Once we get all the kids at the table, 9 times out of 10, just the moms, Max, and Maggie eat.  A few recipes have been winners for Evie, but Harris and Braylen are typically 2 and 3- year-olds eating nothing.

Steps 1 and 2- Get all kids at the table with water

Steps 3-42 feed 5 children who need 39 different things

After "dinner", the kids "play" some more.  We never know what to expect when the Fry boys and Hollencamp kids interact.  Tonight Max and Evie teamed up and had a good time together.  Other nights, everyone is fighting over a stupid $1 grabber from Target.  Max is the insitagor, Harris is sneaky, Braylen is aggresive, Evie screams, and Maggie watches the maddness.  It's all quite comical at 6:15 PM after a long day.    The warmer weather means we can take our show outdoors

Cheers to just another day of being a mom.  It really does take a village to survive.

Up, Up , and Away!

To celebrate the Preakness horse race this weekend in Baltimore, Turf Valley Resort hosts a Hot Air Balloon Festival.  The weather conditions were perfect for the first night of the festival, so we picked up the Thornton kids from the bus stop and all piled in the van and made our way somewhat slowly out to western Howard County.

We had to park at the Howard County Fairgrounds and be shuttled over the festival via school bus.  My kids were in heaven, especially Braylen.

First school bus ride

We arrived at the festival when the crowds were light so we staked out a picnic area in the shade and treated the kids to some cheap thrills.

We have arrived!

Too cool for that "train ride"

At this point in the festival there were two tethered balloons taking people up and another balloon on its side for visitors to check out the inside of a balloon.  We did neither, but it was just as exciting to watch the hot air balloons rise and descend.  Our friends from MOPS and the Hettinger crew joined us as well

Around 6:30 PM the hot air balloons started to launch.   It was so exciting!

excited for the main event

Cheering for the first balloon up

We could believe how close we were allowed to be to the hot air balloons.  We could walk a few yards and touch that teddy bear balloon.

There were over a 15 balloons that launched with paying guests on board.  

I love how colorful the balloons are

Evie's favorite was the tulip one

A perfect evening launch

After all the balloons floated away, "The Crazy Crab" inflated

in awe

All the balloons return to Turf Valley for a lighted show after 8PM.  That was a bit late for our crew, so we hopped back on the shuttle and headed home.

The crab can be seen from far and wide

Apparently this event blew up this year (haha).  The crowds were impressive and many complained about long waits and no parking.  We must have timed our coming and going perfectly, no wait times for us.  I am so glad we finally went to this annual event.  Next year we'll have to try the 6 AM sun rise launch with Daddio.

"Camping" Year 2

The Hollencamps and Piettes were back at Frontier Town again this year for the April cabin deal.  The weather is always a crap shoot in April in Maryland, but we can't pass up buy one night, get the next night for 25 cents!  The weather lived up to springtime conditions in Maryland: sunny blue skies, warm temps, rain, hail, freezing temps.  

Friday night was gorgeous; we crammed in everything camping related the first night in case we were rained out the rest of the weekend.  

Unloading our roadside firewood

Campfire cooking for dinner

Hanging out with friends while enjoying a few beers

marshmallow roasting

Messy s'mores eating

getting sugared up before bed

An added bonus this year was golf carts were free!  The kids had a lot of fun riding around the campground in the back.

Ride to the playground

After s'mores ride to the dock

The four kids can love each other one minute and been screaming the next, but gosh they are so cute together.  

No giant friends in this crowd.  

Nights were chilly so there was a lot of snuggling to keep warm

Saturday was an odd day weather-wise.  We dodged the rain and hail at the Civil War cannon firing, the crew played at the arcade while Braylen and I napped, the adults played Quiddler, and we got on each other's nerves (I mean, let's be honest, being confined to a small cabin with 4 whiny kids can bring out the worst in everyone)

Showing off the hail balls he collected

No beach this year, but maybe we'll strike a warm, sunny weekend next April.  Now onto the loads of campfire smoke smelling clothes....

Make New Traditions but Keep The Old

The thing I will miss the most about leaving on Marianne Lane is spending time with our precious Smith family buds.  I hope after we move we will continue to get together for traditions we Lisa has started for the girls.  One of them is to make gingerbread houses with just moms and girls.  We started when the girls were two;  now we are on year three and the girls are eager to decorate houses without our help (and eat not as much icing).

Since both of us have been busy with house projects this month, the Christmas spirit hasn't been in full force.  To get us more in the holiday mood (and because the outdoor temperature finally feels like Christmas), we piled all of us except Karl (working hard on floors) in the van and went in search of some holiday cheer.

First stop was the fire station in Arbutus.  We normally go to Ellicott City fire house's train garden; however, we thought we would give this one a try.  I might be converted for the next few years to go to Arbutus- easier parking and all the displays were at kid viewing height.  

Dusk was upon us, so off to look at lights.  We hit up the talk-of-the-town light display which upped it's already amazingness by adding a dance floor.

It was laser target practice on our faces.

Future best prom date contenders
(Bray in red coat and Alex in hat)

By now it was 5:45 PM and we were all hungry and cold.  This house has it all though- LED lights synchronized to music, dance floor, AND free hot chocolate and popcorn.  'Tis the season to eat junk for dinner!  Hope to do it again next year, Smiths!

Chincoteague 2015: The Rest of the Vacay

The pony round up brought other festivities to town, like the fireman's carnival.  We misjudged our nights and ended up going after it poured all day.  Some of the rides were not operating due to standing water; however, the kids got on enough rides for some thrills.

The slow moving train did not provide enough thrill-
they asked Daddio to take them on the Himalayan type ride

That ride went FAST.  They were going so fast and the bar
covered their faces, so I couldn't tell if the kids were terrified or loving it.
As the ride slowed down, they were definitely loving it.

Braylen felt like a big boy going on his first "roller coaster" :)

In awe of the Ferris wheel

30 minutes is about all I handle of being ADD flashing lights, moving rides, and bratty kids.  Back home for a snack and bed!

PJs and Popcorn!

Let's not forget one of the main reasons we went on this trip- another beach vacation!  Chincoteague is an island, but not on the ocean, that's Assateague.  We loaded up the vans for a 15 minute ride to the state park for the beach.  The oldest two were in the ocean in the entire time, Evie and Naomi were happy playing the sand and ocean together, the moms sat and chatted, the dads built a massage ditch, and Braylen did his own two-year-old boy thing.

Big kids:

4 year-olds

Jumping waves together :)

cutest wedgie on the beach

Dads doing what dads do best: entertain the kids

Two tough guys + 2 metal shovels = huge hole in 5 minutes

Braylen and Daddio out in the ocean.  That boy
seems to be up for anything as long as Daddio is with him

Hubba, hubba

And this guy.. gosh he makes me laugh

rolling into the hole, complete with sound effects

Hiding from the waves?

Flying in belly first

No fear.

Waiting for a wave like a beached dolphin?

The end result
(along with full on tantrums due to exhaustion)

And of course no photos of the moms... who are forever the photographers :(

But wait!  There is just one to prove we were there... eating masses of ice cream :)

Back to the beach... we obviously had a blast there.  The driving to and from the beach is not for us though.  We are too anal about cleanliness to be sweaty, sandy, and wet in our van. Thankfully Tim brought his pick up truck or I think Jason might have gone over the edge taking our sandy beach cart and toys home in the van.  We have definitely been spoiled living beachfront the last few years.  Despite the drive-to-beach issue, we would not hesitate to go back to Chincoteague should we get invited again :)

Nothin' but LOVE for Michelle and Tim.