Patrick ate sand by the handful. Anna built sand castles for the sole purpose of smashing them. Patrick was not quite ready to end his daily beach routine, for when we returned, he picked Ben's bathing suit out the dirty clothes pile and handed it to him Monday morning as he was leaving for work! Nasty reminder that our wonderful vacation had come to an end and it was back to the real world! We spent the week in Stone Harbor N.J. with Ben's parents and his dad's side of the family! Our days were filled with sun, surf, and sand in the most picturesque beach town I have ever set foot in! We then took the ferry to Ocean City, MD for Ben's lacrosse tournament. Not the same relaxing atmosphere, but still fun! Hard to believe that next summer we will be running after three sets of footprints on the beach!
Patrick was able to rip open his presents with ease! We had a great party on Saturday with family and friends to celebrate Patrick's 1st birthday! 
Anna was very helpful in blowing out the candles on the fish cake!
Patrick enjoyed his cake, to say the least! (This was the scene from the cake Friday night, his actual birthday.)
Patrick has been taking 3-4 steps at a time for a couple of weeks, but this is the first day he has ever walked this far! This footage is taken from Thursday, the day before his birthday, and in a matter of three days he is walking the length of the house! Amazing how quickly they pick it up! He is just thrilled with himself and is so excited that he is able to keep up with Anna!
Have I mentioned that Anna want to live on a farm? Well this clinched it! Uncle Peter took Anna for an upclose look at the bulls he rides at the J Bar W Ranch, where he rides on Saturday nights throughout the summer. With a sly "please", she was able to coax a pony ride, cowgirl hat, hot dog, french fries, and ice cream cone out of Nana and Grandpa Scot. Patrick hung out a lot of the evening along the fence with some girls a bit older than he. We had quite a night and are looking forward to going again soon! Anna has decided that she wants to dress up as a cowgirl for Halloween, so we are in search of cowgirl boots! 
Anna woke up and wanted to put on her "baseball uniform". She wore this little ensemble all day and we played a game of wiffle ball in the yard and ate hot dogs for lunch to really make her feel like a baseball player! Ben brought home the hat she is so proudly wearing!
Patrick does not even notice the big blue cast on his leg! And the great news is that he can get it wet (we already tested it out at the pool today) and he will get it off on June 27th! Only a little over 3 weeks of not wearing shorts! The doc had to form the cast with his leg bent so it won't fall off, which he said still might happen since he moves around so much. He really only needed a cast just below the knee, but they thought that would be sure to fall off, so he is stuck with this monster. I could barely get his shorts off! He is crawling and cruising around just as before and is not slowed down in the least! 
Just as the little guy was about to walk... this happens! The poor little guy broke his leg! On Saturday, I slipped down our front steps and fell while carrying him on my hip. His little leg took the brunt of the fall against the steps and he broke the tibia in his left leg. We went to the ER and they placed him in a hard splint until we get the real cast on tomorrow. I was heartbroken at the thought of him being frustrated getting around, but he does not even seem to notice! He crawls around and can even pull himself to stand! Quite a strong little guy! We even discovered a way to hold him at the pool so he can still enjoy himself! 
Who cares that the water is freezing! The pool is open for business! We have packed up and made our way to the pool several times since it opened and looking forward to more to come! Ben braved the water up to his waist, while I made it in only up to my knees the first two days. Anna and Patrick have already gotten their hair wet! Time to stock up on sunblock and swim diapers!
Anna is willing to wash cars, do the dishes, water the grass, or scrub the kitchen floor. If she can use water (and a sponge is a plus), she is happy. And we are happy to have such a willing participant in getting our chores completed around the house! I am planning on power washing our porches this week - sure to be a thrill for all! 
Anna and Mary Kathryn spent a great weekend together at Deep Creek. Anna is going through withdraw of her new friend! She was pretending to have conversations with Mary Kathryn on the way home and has been asking about her constantly since we have been back. She called one of her lamb stuffed animals Mary Kathryn today - not the real thing, but she is learning to 
We celebrated Ben's 30th Birthday with friends and family over the weekend at Deep Creek! We all went up Friday afternoon / evening and ate our way through a wonderful weekend! Everyone brought tons of food and Pat and Mo spend their time at a make-shift grill preparing bacon and sausage for breakfast, chicken legs and hot dogs and sausages for lunch, and hamburgers for dinner. Between the 12 adults and 6 kids, we actually made more of a dent in the food and beer than I thought we would. The weather was incredible and we went to the beach on Friday and Saturday with the kids. The dipped their toes in the water and played in the sand. They flew kites and played on the playground. At the house, the yard was huge and we played wiffle ball, some bean bag game in which no one wanted me as a teammate, and the kids played in a tent that we set up. Couldn't have been more perfect!
Anna has disovered a stream on Loyola's campus that we have been visiting, weather permitting. We took our neighbor, Paulina, along on our last trip. Anna says that Paulina in "awesome"! I quickly become aware of how much she picks up on from other kids! Hopefully she will not start telling me tall tales about the trap door in her (Paulina's) living room floor that leads to the pool. Back to the stream.... Anna is in heaven outdoors. She digs in the dirt for worms, helps spread straw our latest attempt at growing some grass in the backyard, is helping with planting and and rock placement, and allows her "animals" to eat the straw. She even wants to pick up dog poop! Any excuse to be outside! 
