Thanks, Sophiekat! :)

I purchased a bunch of clothes on line from someone (Sophiekat) who was clearing out their entire 2T collection. I said that I'd take everything she had. 2nd best purchase I ever made. (The best purchase I ever made was the hand truck from Home Depot in my 20s. I have moved TONS of stuff that would have been way beyond my capabilities had I not had the handtruck. It's also been loaned out for many a move. For the $30 I spent on it, I am still getting my money's worth, over 15 years later.)

But back to Sophiekat! And the amazing 2T collection! When we opened the box, Bree pulled out this vest and immediately had to wear it.


Beary had to wear the other vest, and I did my best to get a good picture of Bree & Beary in their new vests.

As with all kids, the box ends up providing hours of entertainment.

As further proof that I take terrible pictures of Bree, she was just sitting in her chair, watching Dora. She looks like she's been up for 72 hours straight on a diet of nothing but booze & cigarettes. HOW do I take such bad pictures of her? (And just for the record, her diet for the past 72 hours consisted of chocolate milk, apple juice, mac & cheese, gold fish crackers and other assorted foods appropriate for a 2 year old.)

You'll also notice in the above picture the pink shoes with the pink ribbons on them. Bree declared these her "tappy" shoes and proceeded to dance around the house. Which, of course, I had to try to capture on video for your viewing pleasure.

I present, Bree and her tappy shoes:

Sophiekat, thanks so much for letting me know that you were looking to find a new home for the clothes - I appreciate it and love everything!

Pictures from Grandma's Camera

Sadly, Grandma's visit is coming to an end. This morning, Bree told Grandma to "get out of my room" followed by "don't go!" It's not easy to be two.

I snuck these pictures off my Mom's camera before she packed it away. The first picture is of Bree in my shoes. What made this funny is that she insisted that those were her daddy's shoes. Even though she saw me wearing them earlier, nothing could convince her that those weren't her daddy's shoes. And of course, Dora is on in the background. Always Dora.


The tv is new, though. The sound went out in the other tv. I found a place that will come to the house to evaluate it, but I'm not ready to have that happen just yet. In the meantime, we will enjoy this wonderful gift from Grandma & Papa.

In the next picture, my Mom got this picture of Bree watching a video (Dora, naturally) on the portable DVD player. Beary on her head, paci in her mouth, and Violet watching from the sidelines - life doesn't get much better for Bree than that. What would have made it perfect was a suppy cup of chocolate milk.

The next picture was taken at Lowe's, of all places. We bought a screen door for the new sliding patio door that Scott put in a few months ago. Bree was helping me carry the screen door through the store.

We have a lot of fun when Grandma visits. Bree is already talking about when Grandma comes back, she'll come with her car and Papa. At least I think now Bree is starting to understand that when we take Grandma to the airport, it doesn't mean that she's on an airplane until the next time we see her. I think she understands better that Grandma goes to her house. Well, we'll see, anyway. :)

Bree & Uncle Shaun

I have a picture of my brother and I in my living room at home. Bree knows this is "Unca Shaw" but I am not sure that she understands the brother/sister relationship. I tried to use the daycare provide's children as an example - but trying to compare her Uncle Shaun and her mommy to a 4 1/2 year old girl and a 3 year old boy just wasn't helping her connect the dots.



What she does understand is that her Uncle Shaun will do just about anything for her. Plus, he and Pam give her really really really cool gifts. While we were in Michigan, we of course went to Uncle Shaun's house for a visit.





Uncle Shaun and Pam have fish. Big fish. So big, in fact, that Bree declared that one of them was a shark. Although we tried, she could not be convinced that it was not really a shark. (Didn't even look like one, to be honest.)

Bree had fun playing with all of Buddy's toys (Buddy is the dog) - she was trying to get Uncle Shaun and Mommy to play fetch. I wasn't touching that slobbery tennis ball for anything, but Uncle Shaun was game.

We need to get Uncle Shaun & Pam to our area so "Unca Shaw" and Bree can play together more often. :)

Deer Acres

Oh, Deer Acres. This has been open for as long as I can remember, it was the destination of many class trips at the end of the school year. It's located about 10 - 15 minutes north of Grandma & Papa's house. It was much different when I was a child - the deer were roaming free in the park and would allow people to pet them. My dad has been excited to take Bree to Deer Acres. He wanted to watch her on the rides and interact with the animals - after all, she does have a great time at Elmo Park!

Deer Acres was sold within the last few years to new owners. And after 20+ years, the park looked a lot different from the last time I was there. (Okay, truth be told I was there for a friend's wedding reception in the late 90s - but I was in the reserved area, not the general park.)

The biggest change is that, well, there are no more deer at Deer Acres. Something about the Department of Natural Resources, having to have a 10 foot fence around the whole park, and not being able to have any other animals if they had deer. I am fuzzy on the details, but that was the gist of it. Perhaps a name change is in order? Then again, it's been Deer Acres for close to (if not more than) 40 years.

However, the carousel ride is still operating. And just as enchanting now as it was when I was little. Bree wasn't sure about the carousel, it did go faster than any other carousel that she's been on. She held on tight and made sure that I was holding on to her.

If you click on the link in the opening sentance, you can see what animals they do have. You can't really pet them, they're all caged now, but you can still feed them some snacks. There used to be a safari ride - I remember this very clearly because they used to have someone in a gorilla suit jump out of the woods at a certain point along the trail. If my memory is correct, the gorilla would sometimes be armed with a water pistol or something equally as annoying to greet the riders. (The "ride" was a truck pulling passengers on a large tram - I'm not describing this well, but it was like being on a train, only not on a track but pulled like a car. So, yeah, not exactly a train, huh?) Anyway, along the safari route, there were animal statues. The next pictures are of the zebra and the giraffe that used to be part of the safari ride. (And I have heard that they had to get rid of the safari ride due to a lawsuit. Apparently not everyone finds it amusing to be harrassed by a man in a gorilla suit.)

We had been given some hamburger buns so that we could give the goats and the sheep a snack. I remember feeing the deer and the other animals popcorn - I'm sure that's just wonderful for the deer, huh? Bree wasn't quite sure about getting her hands that close to the sheep and goats, but she did it with a little help from Papa.

Bree has really really really gotten into Dora the Explorer. So much that when we were at Deer Acres, she was acting out scenes from Dora's Animal Adventures. She kept saying that we needed to go save the mountain goat. Bree would put on her backpack (or "padpack" as she calls it) and go running off towards the pygmy goats to save them. She also wanted to save the baby jaguar from the "prickers and thorns" - but alas, no baby jaguars or prickers and thorns at Deer Acres.

There was a "pirate ship" playscape at the park that Bree thoroughly enjoyed. Turn up the volume to hear her say "yo ho ho' like a pirate. It's really funny.

We arrived at Deer Acres around 3:30 and the park closed at 5:00. My dad and I tried to prepare her for leaving, telling her that they needed to feed the animals dinner and put them to bed. But, there was still a tantrum when we left. Good thing we were the only ones in the park!

Once we were in the car she was fine. But seriously - you'd have thought that I had just fed Beary to the goats!

Fun Awaits At Grandma & Papa's House!

We arrived in Michigan late on Sunday evening, too late for Grandma & Papa to give Bree her gift - a tricycle! This is actually the second tricycle that they've given her, but this one had two advantages over the one we have here: it's pink, and it has a basket!



The occupant of the basket is another new gift, this one given to Bree by Uncle Shaun and Pam. It is the cutest stuffed dog ever - because it has a mini computer inside that you can hook up to the internet to download Bree's name, her favorite color, favorite food and favorite animal. Violet is a LeapFrog product, and this really is the best present. Bree loves Violet. Violet asks her questions, sings songs, and plays lullabyes. But best of all, Violet makes an excellent co-pilot!

Here we have a different basket occupant - a baby doll that is kept at Grandma & Papa's house in Michigan. (Since the doll laughs like it's a bit insane, I'm fine with this doll residing in Michigan.) Oh, and in this picture you can see the streamers on the handle bars! Pink and white!

Bree rode the endless circuit of the sidewalk between the house and the garage. Then other times she would ride on the sidewalk around the block. One day, she suckered convinced her Papa to take a ride around the neighborhood, ending up, of course, at the playground. Bree really got around town on her pink tricycle!

And here you go - check it out for yourself! Enjoy.

A Saturday You All Should Have

Our vacation officially started at 5:01 p.m. on Friday, September 4th. For practical purposes, we had to wait until Saturday morning to leave. On Saturday we were driving as far as Washington DC, where we would spend the day with Scott, spend the night in Frederick, Maryland, and then set off for Michigan on Sunday the 6th.

Scott had us meet him in McLean, Virginia, because he had a surprise for us. Scott took the wheel and we set off for parts (temporarily) unknown. Our destination was the Chrysalis Vineyard in Middleburg, Virginia.

This vineyard was carefully selected because not only did they have a "family" area with picnic tables and grills, but they also allowed dogs. Scott was dog-sitting Beamer for the weekend, so this was perfect. You can learn more about the vineyard here.


The weather was perfect, the views were spectacular, and the grounds were welcoming. Scott had smoked a briskette that morning (I KNOW! WHAT A GUY!) :) and had planned a most excellent picnic. Bree was able to run around with the dog and she had a blast.

I don't normally get a chance to enjoy wine, although I have the opportunity, just not the motivation. On any given night, I've got about 20 minutes from the time we walk through the door until dinner is on the table, or Bree starts to melt down. Believe me, I could use a nice glass of wine on most nights, but it's so much more enjoyable to drink with company. Is that just me? Anyway, on this particular Saturday I had more than my fair share of the wine and had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in the sun.

I may have mentioned a time or two before that Beamer has a huge crush on Scott. This dog follows Scott around, and I swear she has an adoring look on her mug. In the picture above, Bree is trying desperately to get Beamer to come play with her, but all Beamer wants to do is hang out with Scott. Poor Bree - her playmate was vying for Scott's attention!

For not having a nap, Bree did really well at the vineyard. She did fall asleep in the car on the way back to the DC area but was excited to be with Scott & Beamer. The ride up to Frederick was uneventful, except for the fact that the GPS was certain that there was no Motel 6 in Frederick, and I was just as certain that there was. After all, I had confirmation of my reservation! We found it thanks to Scott's mobile phone navigator app.

As the start of the vacation, I have to say that the bar was set pretty high. The rest of the trip could have been anticlimatic, but we had a great vacation. More to come, but the start of the vacation deserved an entry all it's own! As the title indicates, this was a Saturday that you all should have at some point.