Maryland

So I am finally back blogging... I really need to get better at sitting down and posting something. But I have the same feeling as my wonderful husband.... is my life that wonderful to blog about and do people really want to read about it? But for you suckers that are out there that sit down and think your are going to read something wonderful on our little blog here it goes!
For Easter I heading east to Maryland to visit my sister and her husband, Blake. Blake moved about to Maryland about 2 years ago and when they got married last July she made the move. I have missed her so much so it was so nice being able to get out to see her. Jennifer is a 5th grade teacher for a private school and she was on spring break the week of Easter so it was the ideal time to head out there. If you are a follower of our little blog, you may say well "I thought her brother was at her house". Yes you are right my brother and his family left Wednesday morning and Thursday morning I was at the airport at 5 a.m.
When I landed in Baltimore Jen picked me up and we went to lunch then shopping for the rest of the afternoon. We got back to the house and Blake got home then we just hung around waiting for Blake's brother Brian and his wife to come. Brian and Katelyn were driving down from Canada. We ate dinner in which was soooo good! By the way Jen, I need that recipe.

Friday morning we headed to D.C. for the day. I was pretty excited to see the city again. It was nice that we just wandered around and went in the museums that we wanted to. We went to a Mexican restaurant call Laurel Plaza, it was so delicious.

(us at Laurel Plaza)
It was a sweet place on a corner that had outside seating although we didn't get seated outside it was still a wonderful place to eat. We were going to hit some other museums before we headed home. Us girls went to the Natural History Museum and the boys headed to the Air and Space Museum. As we were walking towards the car we noticed that it wasn't there. At first I thought we went to the wrong building but NO! We got all the way down where we parked the car and sure enough we parked in a no parking time zone!! So this was a first for me... I never had to deal with a car being towed. We were handling this well but Jen. Her knee was so swollen you couldn't even see her knee cap. No she didn't fall down as she usually does. We think it was caused by all the walking. So instead of walking to the impound we haled a cab. All five us cramped into this cab and the cabby acted like he didn't know the address. But we were in his hands so we all sat in completed silence. As we got closer to the impound I was quite as mouse... which is SO UNCOMMON... I was praying to the good Lord that we wouldn't get shot at. I was kinda thankful that I was sitting down low in the cab because I didn't want to catch a bullet! We were in the GHETTO so to say. The cab driver dropped us off and took off. We were standing outside this building and to the looks of it no one was there. We were all standing between the little gate and the window with bars on it. I stayed close to the building and low... I watch crime shows! I wasn't taking any chances! Soon enough we saw a car come around the building and the driver pointed us in the right direction. We picked up the car and we all decided it was time to go home!
Saturday Jen stayed home due to her knee and the rest of us headed out to Mt. Airy for a day of wine tasting. I am not much of a wine drinker but it is always fun going on tours. Well it was rainy so we skipped the tour and went straight for the wine! The first place we got to taste 28 wines because we got a cheese tray. They gave us these crackers also and I thought they were "The best crackers I have ever had" (right Blake) so I had to buy them. The next place was really neat and for $20 you got 5 glasses of wine and chocolates paired with it. Katelyn and I were all for the chocolate, so we sat down and so enough we were feeling fine!

After a stumbling walk to the restroom we headed home. On the trip home I begged Blake to stop anywhere, I just needed a bathroom yet again and some food. So we ended up at Burger King. I can't believe I am going to telling you this! I went to the counter to order after Katelyn placed the BK crown on my head. I was so proud that I was the new announced queen, I didn't take that crown off till we got up the apartment!


Well Easter morning Blake, Jen and I went to church then we got back to the apartment to eat breakfast then we were off to Annapolis for the day. I loved Annapolis, the weather was a bit chilly at first especially by the water. The first thing we did was take a boat tour, it was so neat to see the Navy Academy right by the water. By the time we got off the boat it was warming up and we just walked the streets and shopped. Annapolis is just a charming town and I would defiantly go again. For lunch we ate at this Pub... I forgot the name of it! It was super good, I had fish and chips. I have to say I have some of the best food on this trip! But isn't that what you are supposed to do... eat a lot of great food????? Well I am going to stay YES!

Cycling & Warm Weather

Hey everybody, this is Deric. I haven't written in our secret public journal for a long time because I have been writing over at my other blog. However, I thought I would stop by for an update. Things have been going well this spring for Amanda and I. As you have probably read, we have had quite a few visitors in the past several weeks. I think all of the visits are done for now, so it will be back to the normal grind for a while. We will probably head north in the next few months, but we haven't made any plans yet. Here in Arkansas the weather has really improved in the past couple weeks. This week has been our best of the year by far. Yesterday Amanda didn't have to work so she spent the day outside planting flowers. Our landscaping looks good, I am sure we will post some pictures shortly. Our grass still isn't green though. It takes forever for the Bermuda grass to green up, but at least I haven't had to start mowing yet. I am sure I will have to mow in the next couple weeks. While it is still brown you can see each and every weed in the yard, so I have removed or killed them all. It is nice to know there isn't even one weed in the yard, it gives me a sense of accomplishment.
The nice weather this week has finally allowed me to start consistently cycling. I am probably going to join the Tyson racing team this summer, though I don't plan on doing any actual races. Joining the team will give me a group of people to ride with, and hopefully give me a lot more motivation this year. I rode 4 out of the 5 days this week. I was planning on doing a 30 mile ride today, but my legs are pretty sore from the week, and it is REALLY windy out today. I decided to wimp out and stay home. I took the dogs out for a long walk this morning for my exercise. The rest of the day will be spent relaxing, doing laundry and cleaning up the house.
-peace

More Vistors

The Saturday before Easter my brother, his wife and their 4 kids came down for spring break. Now you may say brother? Yes I have 2 brothers, Steve and Chris. The boys are from my dad's first marriage. We didn't grow up in the same household but as we all got older my brothers came back into our lives.
Kimmie, my sister-in-law, called a few weeks before spring break to see if they could come down to visit. They have never been down to see us and haven't taken a family vacation either. So this was the perfect opportunity to "kill two birds with one stone". Chris and Kimmie drove through the night on Friday so they made it to our place on Saturday mid morning. I was at work but Deric brought them up to the salon so I could get all the hair cuts done. I was so excited to see the kids, we haven't seen each other since July at my sister's wedding. They have 3 boys, Riley (8), Tyler(5), Kraige(3), and baby Lexie (1). It was the second time I had seen my niece so that was really neat to see how big she had gotten.




Those boys are defiantly Mimi's boys when we are all together (My nickname when I was little and still used is Mimi). I like to think that the boys and I have this special bond that nobody else has with them. They want my attention all the time. It is quite sweet.
Sunday was a special day because Mr. Tyler was turning 5 years old. We have missed a lot of birthdays with all of our nieces and nephews so this was so awesome that I got to throw Ty a little party. He had requested a Batman cake so when the boys were sound a sleep I starting making my first Batman cake! I had made the fondant on Friday so I didn't have to worry about doing that. Ty woke up wanting to see his cake right away. It was so nice to see him get so excited about it.





That night I took all of them to "Jump Zone". It is this warehouse full of huge blowup slides and moonwalks. It was SOOOO FUN! Even us grownups get to play. We had 3 full hours of running and jumping.... that equals total exhaustion!





Monday Chris and Kimmie went out exploring the area and I had the day off so I had all the kids for the day. We played games and just hung around the house till Chris and Kimmie got back. Once they got home we took the kids to Target so they could spend their birthday money they had been saving. We met Deric at "Fast Lanes" that night for dinner and bowling. That place is really neat. It has bowling, arcade and laser tag, however we just bowled in the cosmic room and ate dinner.
I had to work Tuesday so when I heading to work the boy were "taking a nap". I say it like that because I guess after a few hours of them just laying there, no sleeping was involved. They hung at the house then went out for Mexican that night and got home and went to bed because they were leaving Wednesday morning when I left for work.I was heading out to see my sister in Maryland for Easter and had to be at the airport at 5 a.m on Thursday, so they left early so I could get ready for my trip. Details and pictures of that trip to come in the next blog! But for now here are a few more pictures. I was trying so hard to get a really good picture of me and the kids.....








This was the best one of I think 10! They are such funny kids!