our staycation, part 1: the beach

For those of you who don't know, Adrian recently changed careers (and couldn't be happier about it). As of June 21th, he was officially done teaching middle school, and, as of June 27th, he was an employee of our alma mater. For those of you motivated enough to do the math, this means that, instead of having the whole summer off, he had 6 days (one of which was half taken up with the orientation for his new position). We also knew that he wouldn't be eligible for ANY time off until this winter at the earliest. So, very quickly, our vacation mindset changed.

We decided to embark on a "staycation". We set out to discover the joys of sticking (relatively) close to home, and it was a resounding success!

Day 1: We visited the beach, which is only a little over an hour away from our house, yet we don't go much on the weekends due to massive traffic jams and huge crowds. But a Tuesday in June?! Sign us up!

The surf was a little rough the day we went, especially when we first arrived.

Lyndon was mesmerized.

Then we got down to the very serious business of playing in the sand.

Kisses on the beach! Awww.

This is pretty rough for Delaware.

Lookin' snazzy. 6-9 month shirt and 18 month shorts. MckMama isn't the only one who mixes sizes willy-nilly.

Observing the waves from a safe distance with Daddy, until . . .

. . . Daddy helped him take the plunge. And he loved it! The water was pretty chilly, so I definitely didn't expect him to giggle hysterically and ask to do it again . . . and again . . . and again. He even enjoyed getting splashed up to his waist when the big waves came in!

Staycation, Day 1 was a ton of fun!

12 week belly shot: hello stretchy pants

I've been doing a little internal happy dance for myself and Tadpole all day today, because we've reached the magical 12 week mark! Yes, ladies and gentlemen (any gentlemen readers out there?), chances are good that the two of us are in it for the long haul now. Mmmmm, yay.

Morning sickness has been kept to a minimum, thankfully. I've had a few rough days, but nothing some rest, snacks, and midwife-approved herbal tea couldn't cure. I was seriously exhausted for a while there, but that seems to be lifting, as well. No longer do I pass out the second Lyndon is down and awaken 2 hours later with lines on my face. Nope, those days seem to be gone. (For now. Ask me again in December.)

Ok, so on to the fun pictures:

12 week belly shot (sorry about the fuzziness)

See the elastic panel on my shorts? Yeah. I have a feeling it's elastic-waist pants from here on out. I put on my normal jeans yesterday, then took them off and put them in storage in the guest room. There was just no way. Even the old rubber band-through-the-buttonhole-trick didn't help.

I'm kind of embarrassed to be in maternity clothes already, but on another level, I'm not. I was never one of those types to hold out as long as I could before making the switch. (The buttonhole trick was done out of pure budgetary concern last time.) I figure, if I can be comfortable and still look decent, why in the heck wouldn't I? I'm going to be uncomfortable enough a few months from now; why start earlier than I have to? Granted, last time, this attitude left me fairly tired of my limited wardrobe come 40 weeks, but we'll deal with that later. For now, it's elastic pants all the way.

Happy 2nd trimester, little Tadpole.

anniversary trip, part 2

This post is about something I like to call The Chair.

This chair.

This lovely red number belonged to my dad when he was a kid. My parents have pictures of him in it. They also have pictures of me in it. And, what do you know, for Lyndon, it was love at first sight.

He climbed in and out of it for two days straight, figured out how to turn himself around in it and make it rock.

I can't tell you how weird and wonderful it was to see him enjoy the very same chair at his grandparents' house that I enjoyed at mine. This thing is special. I'm glad he realizes it.

anniversary trip, part 1

We spent last weekend with my parents, down at their very farm-like home. There were big trees, cool breezes, and wide open spaces, a welcome change from suburbia. Since our anniversary was the previous Thursday, they took us out to a lovely dinner along the Chesapeake Bay.

There was a wedding going on right outside our window; we watched the whole thing from our table. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures (I thought it would be a little weird), but it was very fun to watch. The groomsmen wore color-coordinated Hawaiian shirts that matched the wild, tropical colors of the bridesmaid's dresses. It looked like someone uprooted a Bahama beach wedding and transplanted it to Maryland.

The food, of course, was fantastic, and when Lyndon got antsy towards the end, we took him exploring.

The current (very swanky) restaurant and hotel where we ate is built right next to an old railway station that used to take people from the cities down for a day at the beach. It's now a museum.

This whole scene was very surreal for me, seeing my husband and son wander around this place. I studied this spot as part of a history project in high school, snapped photos here for my senior photography class, and acted in a musical for the county's 350th anniversary that paid homage to this train and rehearsed right up the street. It was a true merging of old and new: the shiny hotel with the worn green benches, my little Lyndon with my past adventures.

Strawberry picking is hard work.

Every year our playgroup goes strawberry picking. And every year, I say I'm going to go. And this is the first time I actually made it. It sounded so exciting: picking your own delicious, perfectly ripe strawberries, getting the kids involved in bringing home their own food, wandering through a field together in the warm May weather...

... make that VERY warm May weather.

The day we went was one of the first really hot days of the year. I'm pretty sure it was already over 90 degrees by the time we arrived at 10am. After about 15 minutes out in the (very sunny) strawberry patch, Lyndon started signing "please all done" and waving "bye-bye" to everyone he saw. I tried to encourage him to keep going, but, after another few minutes, I had to agree with him. Pregnancy makes me much more sensitive to sun and heat than I usually am, but I still felt like a total wuss as I watched the other moms with their multiple kids, newborns and strollers bravely soldier on. Luckily, there was an (indoor) farm market to explore and a shady spot to tailgate and eat some lunch.

And then there were milkshakes.

Which, of course, made it all better.

Oh, and the just over a pound of strawberries that we managed to pick were as incredible as I thought they would be. Definitely going again next year... just... earlier.