Rhode Island

We were sick for, well, the entire "vacation" (quotes becuase I am convinced there is no such thing until children are more independent). I did everything I could not to be sick -- herbal supplements, neti pot (very cool -- will use one everyday as a preventative so as not to be sick) but alas the plague got me, and Patrick, and Jesse and now has one of our friends' daughters (so sorry!).
Still, what is important is that we got to visit with friends (though I did try to get Jesse to leave at one point and let us be sick at home). We did have some fun times in the trip and here are some of the pics to prove it.


Here we are at the Buttonwood Park Zoo, a great place for little ones because of it's smaller scale and choo-choo train. We got to ride in the caboose.






Patrick milking a "cow."

Birthday Party

Pics from Patrick's birthday party. All went well and the 7 or so kids had fun while parents seemed to be able to relax for the most part. Having a fence sure helps. The only thing that could make it better next year would be a pony for pony rides.

A Green Birthday

Knowing that I don't want to wash 50-60 plates, forks, etc. at Patrick's upcoming party and that I hate the fact that both my parishes are entrenched in raising their carbon footprints with all the plastic cups and paper plates they throw away, I checked out options that are earth-friendly AND convenient.

http://www.biosmartpackaging.com has $20 specials for various place settings of 50. They also include a garbage bag with that. Have to have the compostable or biodregradable bag for any of this to work out anyway. The downside is that if you would like to start using these bags as your regular bag, they are way, way, way expensive.

So, now that I have bought the wine in recycled and recyclable boxes and am ordering from Biosmart, it looks like Patrick will be having a green birthday party.

Oh, my heart!

Is it legal to be so cute?

There's a what in my car?

+ =

What do you get when you cross a toddler's milk spills and crumbs with a car parked in the drive of an old farmhouse? Well, as we discovered, you get mice in your car. EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Car has been fully detailed and inspected by the dealership for nests and it appears we had visitors and not residents. Patrick is no longer allowed to eat or drink in the car. H2O is allowed and we may make exceptions on trips to RI or Texas. Otherwise, eat when it is offered.





I will spare you the details of Jesse having to pick up the not-quite-dead mouse on the glue trap (OOPS!)

Vist from Meemaw and Pappock (sp?)

Patrick's paternal parents were here over the long weekend. It was nice, especially for Patrick who had tons of attention. We cooked tasty meals at home and rarely ate out. Meemaw got some good shots of Patrick but I hesitate to put the best ones up on this site because he is naked in them. I figure either someone will cry "child abusers" or someone else will steal them and do something illegal with them. They are absolutely innocent and he's under 2 but there are sickos out there. One of them is of Patrick at a bird bath surrounded by the flowers and foliage of one of my flower beds. He looks like he is in an Arthur Rackham book or a fairy land. Just beautiful.

Otherwise we have these:







And from the zoo a few weeks ago:

I WAS THERE!

Yep, went to my first political rally. Amazing! While Obama is a great orator the likes of which we haven't seen since Kennedy and FDR, what really got me was the crowd. There were families, singles, black, white, Asian, (not as many Latinos but this was held in Prince William County which has just about chased out all the Latinos - racists!) all there together, peacefully united around the hope that a man named Barack Hussein Obama, a man with dark skin, could actually be the President of the one nation that got its start around such an idea anyway and is finally getting there. Finally!