"We call it TRAUMA-BONDING."

--Kate Clark

Yes, this crew is at it again.

Well, we WERE at in again--last week.

Bart had some time off and we went camping!! (and the crowd goes wild!)

Putting first things first, we had to wrangle up some transportation.

Fish and a Sea Turtle seemed a safe bet.

\

However, they were more trouble than they were worth (being immovable and all), so we loaded in our regular vehicle, and hopped onto a frigate hoping it would take us on a grand adventure.

We were not disappointed.

Then, putting second things second (since that comes after first),

we had to find a place rest our rumps.

We probably should have waited to fill the bed because our efforts of, "DON'T JUMP ON THE MATTRESS!" and moving it to a vertical position proved fruitless.

I hate to make you all jealous, but we had a smashing good time

roasting mallows (at 5:00PM. I couldn't wait! It'd been a year!),

exploring,

determining just who IS the King of the Mountain,

scouring for booty,

assaulting lighthouses,

and fighting off Shadow Man (very tricky indeed!).

Having had our fill, with pockets full of sea treasure, we hopped our vessel back to the mainland

and secured for ourselves some REAL comfort!

(Hooray for plush beds and the sanctity of private indoor plumbing!)

Twins!

That's what Pizza-guy from D.C. thought of these two Rogues:

I can see his point.

Similar height, blue eyes, great teeth,

Dashing Good Looks!

However, I wonder if Pizza-guy would have thought the same

had Dr. Dirt and Bart removed their hats.

"...This is gonna be a real quick trip...

"...O.K. HIT IT!" --Han Solo

Dr. Dirt, Bart's brother;

Lethal Laura, Bart's sister;

Traveling for hours in a van with small children;

The National Zoo

A double game of "1, 2, 3!"

(and if you don't know what this game is, you've never been a kid...or were a sheltered one);

The National Mall at a glance,

including:

The Smithsonian Castle,

Washington Monument,

WWII Memorial,

Lincoln Memorial at night;

and the National Air and Space Museum

all in 48 hours.

WHEW!

To All Our Western Friends...

I am not a spiteful person.

However,

I keep reading about all this WIND and SNOW and RAIN that my friends and family are experiencing and I can't help but show you pictures of the weather here.

Our WONDERFUL,

SUN-SHINY,

BEACH WORTHY weather!

But remember, I'm not rubbing it in.

(because I'm NOT spiteful)

(I also, in order to keep the tables tipped in my favor, will not tell you about the cascades of pollen that coat our cars or how many times I've had to dust my piano because of said pollen...)

Just in case you were wondering...

The baby in Jane's tummy is not naked. He's wearing pajamas.

Worth It

Usually when I ask Charlie and Jane to go up and get ready to lay down mid-afternoon (for those of you who don't know, this is code for NAP TIME), Charlie heads into his room alone while Jane (mostly) jumps into the "blue chair" (a glider chair given to us by Grandma kARRi) in her room.

This is what I got today.

I was all smiles.

Happy 31st!

Hope your day is wonderful!

More fun than March Madness

We did NOT find out the gender of our baby.

*GASP*

Even had we wanted to, this little person is modest and wasn't showing.

SO--

1. In the future, if I happen to use a gender in reference to this baby, it is completely innocent. I will most likely be using "HE" (as in "this little human"). I do believe in women's rights, but not so far as to use HE/SHE every time I want to talk about "the baby." I want to be able to get away from always using "the baby" when discussing "the baby." For all you Women's Rights Activists who feel I should use equal "she" to "he," get over it.

(I'm feeling a little fiesty today; can you tell?)

2. Look for upcoming polls. This is going to be all kinds of fun!

3. If anyone has a great boy name, and doesn't mind sharing*, we're open to ANY ideas.

ANY AT ALL.

*Unless you're going to be offended if we DON'T use your suggestion. In that case, keep it to yourself.

Yay or Nay?

Our BIG ultra-sound is in one week. You know, the one where they look at everything and make sure the baby has a spinal cord, the proper sized cranium, the right amount of fingers and toes, the gender...

People keep asking the normal, "So, are you gonna find out what you're having?"

The answer: I DON'T KNOW.

We found out with both Charlie and Jane, but this one...we just can't decide. Inevitably we'll decide NOT to find out, and then Bart will get there and 1) suddenly tell the tech to tell us the gender, or 2) he'll be able to SEE for himself (Docs are known for doing that) and he'll just tell me later anyway. And there is something comforting in knowing this-is-what-to-expect-so-get-all-those-clothes/name/nursery-ready!

HOWEVER,

We already have a boy and a girl, so we're pretty much set clothes/nursery-wise, and we're going to need to come up with a name either way.

PLUS,

Doesn't it seem fun to have to wait like the pioneers did (or, for those of us over 25, OUR MOTHERS) for the doctor to say,

"IT'S A BOY/GIRL!"???

The anticipation is like Christmas, except you don't get that let-down feeling of, "Oh. That's it?" once all the presents are opened.

(sigh)

So the question is,

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Warmicus Villainous

Those of you who have ever lived in a warm, humid place know that this climate tends to cultivate all kinds of fun little creatures besides beautiful flowers, fluttering butterflies, flowing tabacco, and sun-bathed people. Once it begins to warm all sorts of creepy-crawlies come out of the wood work, and other ambiguous animals awake from their winter sleep.

For example:

THESE TWO

(pardon the off-centeredness. They would run the other way when Bart pointed the camera at them so he took it from his side without peering through the lens.)

And This.

"WHAT IS THAT?" you ask.

That, my friends, is the world's latest villain. He appeared from nowhere on this bright shiny day and is, at this point, nameless. He just refers to himself as "Bad Guy." You could fool yourself into thinking he's not too scary with that upside-down tiara as his mask.

But you better watch out...

He. will. get. you.

Good Insight

This morning while I was getting dressed I decided, since Jane is our fashion guru, to ask for a little help. This is how our conversation went:

Anne: "Jane, what should I wear today?"

Jane: "Ummm..." (she studies the clothes before her for as long as her 2-year-old mind will allow, giving her careful consideration)

"Pants. And a shirt."

Fat load of help you are.