Testing out this Poll thing...

Pasadena or Bust!!

I spent last weekend in Pasadena, MD and let me tell you, I could NOT have had any more fun!!

I arrived at Spies' house on Friday morning and after discovering Lindsey air-boxing with the WII in her family room, the party began!

Brandi, Kelly (AKA "Flip"), and Samantha in the pool

At Dori and Mike's house later that afternoon. Dave and Lynn brought FOUR DOZEN CHESAPEAKE BAY BLUE CRABS from their restaurant (Seaside) for us to share ... now THAT'S a perfect afternoon!

Robin (AKA "Small") and Bill find a hammock, the most ergonomically-correct location for proper crab & beer digestion.

The Tom, Moge, Emma and Ben arrive!

Dave, Spies, Lynn, Samantha, Mike and Billy at the swim up pool bar. I know, I know. You don't even have to say it. Yes, this is someone's BACKYARD!!

Ben and Lindsey were fast friends on Friday.

Saturday afternoon, we were forced to say our goodbyes to Flip, Small, Brandi and Lexy (pictured above with Aunt Crazy.)

Kelly arrived, and we got ready to go out on Saturday night ... Spies, Moge, & Kennedy (who Kelly calls "The Delta Three") together with Holleran spells "Danger."

Samantha and Aunt Crazy ... "Kennedy" to Samantha and Lindsey, as they knew be before Aunt Crazy was an Aunt.

The beginning of "The Pasadena Bar Crawl" that would never be ... AJ's Pub. We had planned on kicking things off here ... cut to the next scene, and it's 2 AM. The only crawling we did was getting into the taxi!

This was our Karaoke DJ couple - yes, that is bling around the Naughty on her shirt and on the sides of the pants! Awesome.

Spies with Antone - he puts the "A" in AJ'S. Stay tuned ... this isn't the last photo you'll see of THESE two!

We talked Dori into Kung Fu Fighting - admittedly, a huge mistake all around. :)

Dig this guy's shirt - AWESOME! Yes, that's Redd Foxx, just in case you were asking yourself!!

This is Diesel. He is singing Funky Cold Medina. It really doesn't get any better than that. Oh, WAIT... maybe it does.....

Yep! I was wrong, it CAN get better! This is Moge and Tom singing Paradise City. I almost peed my pants. I think my favorite parts were the fact that these two were PERFECTLY SYNCHED for the chorus ("TAKE (pause) ME (pause) HOME" / "OH WON'T YOU PLEASE TAKE ME HO-OME") and when Tom improvised during the guitar solo. He inserted lyrics such as "Ow" and "Oh yeah" and "Ow ... Too much instrumental music ... oh yeah."

Yep, you guessed it. Spies and Antone dancing on the bar to a certain Buckcherry song that I hesitate to name here, in an effort to keep this site rated PG. So much fun!!!

Holiday Road

Well, this is it! On Monday, Mom and I said farewell to Bill on behalf of the East Coast. Bill and Sydney, as we speak, are headed to their new lives in San Diego.

We had to tease Bill that his car matched his bike and his surfboard case. SOOOO California. Dude.

Sydney knew something was up with all of the packing and craziness around her, but she handled it remarkably well.

Mom shows her brave face of faux support (just kidding - we're happy for you Bill, but we will MISS YOU!)

Ice Age heads down Floyd for the last time. Have a safe trip! We love you!!

Plant, Krauss and Guests at the House!

All right, that was pretty Dr. Seuss for a blog title, I know, but I couldn't resist.

Sorry it's been so long since the last post! Quite frankly, nothing really has happened. This weekend, however, was different!

On Friday I drove down to Cary to see my Mom's new house, my sister's family, and to go to see Alison Krauss and Robert Plant in Raleigh. It was a whirlwind trip, but it was a lot of fun!

Mom and Lauren in Mom's new kitchen

Mom's brand new house!!

View from the family room to the kitchen ... check out that MAC DADDY television! Mom calls it the "Mother of all TVs"

I definitely have kitchen envy. And I don't even like to cook!

Lauren loves Mema's new house already. This is Munchkin surprising me from Mom's clothes closet.

Who gets a new car for her first birthday? Kyla, that's who! From Mom Mom and Pop Pop. And it's her favorite place to watch television. It's hilarious when she leans back and throws her left elbow over the top of the driver's seatback.

Christie, Pipsqueak and Lauren eating breakfast Saturday morning.

On Saturday, my friends Hannah, Brian, and Madeleine came to visit me in Richmond. We had a wonderfully relaxed 25 hours of catching up and playing with the baby!

Hannah, Madeleine, and Brian on the porch

Baby B with one of her zany facial expressions! She loved reaching down from her dump chair to scratch the decking of the porch. Personally, I think she was admiring the paint job. :)

Superbaby takes flight

Lucky girl - Last Day in Pittsburgh

So how lucky is this? In the morning my ride was a bit late, so I took a walk around the Pointe. Here is a picture of the Ft. Pitt museum with one of Pittsburgh's beautiful bridges in the background. Ft. Pitt and Ft. Duquesne were built in the 18th century, so it's terrific that they were preserved and recreated this way today.

I got to spend an entire afternoon with Andrea yesterday! It's been a year since I've seen her and her family (I know this because the last time I saw her, we lit sparklers!)

Then I took a cab to the airport from Dre's house. It was a fun and productive trip! Off to the Luals' tonight and tomorrow night is Ethiopian food with the Richmond girls. Wish me luck!!