Catching Up…

So, clearly I can never go away again…it just takes too long to (1) transfer underwear from the rummaged-through pile-of-a-suitcase to the drawers; (2) get through all the laundry without running out of soap; (3) find my cellphone again (what does it mean that my cell went missing for 10 days, and, when I found it again, there were no voicemails, no missed calls, no nothing?); (4) get through Bloglines–OMG, people, we’ve been home two weeks, and I just finished looking at your stuff this morning; (5) move into our newly-renovated quarters–I can’t tell you how good it feels to be back in my bed…and Emme has a room! Now if I only had time to take pics of the new space, I could post them…; (6) get the dogs back to their pre-kennel weight; (7) nurse my daughter’s somewhat damaged emotional wellbeing back to normal from all the upheaval and frayed days we’ve been experiencing. Really, I’m beginning to think vacations just aren’t worth it. Yikes.

I’m just going to throw up some pictures of the past month and leave it at that…we had a great time back east with the cousins. We went to the Baltimore aquarium and saw sharks up close and a dolphin show; we put our feet in a stream and touched the waterbugs; we ate blueberries with our cousins on the three matching chairs my mother bought her grandkids; we went on our first tube-slide, over and over again; we insisted in the big pool that we go ALL THE WAY UNDER over and over again; we celebrated The Bee’s second birthday–TWICE. Once in Maryland on the actual day, and then again when we got back here, with her brothers and the ‘big presents’–a sandbox and a water table and a trunk for dress-up clothes. She has now met both sets of grandparents; her aunt and uncle (she only has the one set); and her two cousins, whom she loved getting to know. So, along with her brothers, that’s the whole family, save a few great aunts and uncles.

Random photos from back east:

Photos of the Birthday Party on the actual birthday:

Photos of the birthday party back at home:

The Bee has her first surgery–a very minor one, for ear tubes–on Friday. But I’ll try to post more before then…we had some very cool houseguests this past weekend, which I need to tell y’all about…