Ocean City Vacation, Part 2

Wednesday started off with us being awoken by the fire alarm in the condo. It was 6:45 am and the sirens were going off. Kyle and I woke up (sorta), looked at each other, and tried to figure out what was going on. We changed out of our pajamas and ran to get Peyton, then started to exit the building. We were on the 10th floor out of 19 and it took us a good 15 minutes to get all the way downstairs. Peyton was looking pretty dazed the whole time. When we finally got downstairs, there were several firetrucks outside. Peyton liked looking at them. We were outside for another 15 minutes or so and then it was determined that it was a "false alarm" (whatever that means...) and that we could go back up to our rooms. We made it back to the room by 7:30. Needless to say, we were all up for the day.

We decided to go to the pool instead of the beach because it requires gathering up and carrying a lot less stuff. The condo has an indoor and an outdoor pool. We started in the outdoor pool, but it was still early and it hadn't heated up yet, so we moved into the indoor pool, which felt super warm after being out in the cold water. Peyton loves the pool and had a good time splashing and trying to swim.

After swimming for a little while, we went back up to the room to shower and go to lunch. We ate at the Greene Turtle, which was across the street from the condo. We played Keno while we were there, won a few times, but were still in the hole overall. Peyton didn't pick very good numbers! After lunch we went back to the room for a nap.

When Peyton woke up, we went outside to check out the playground. It was pretty nice. There was a large jungle gym, a pirate ship, and a castle. Here are a few pictures.

Next, we drove back down to the Ocean City boardwalk to eat at one of my favorite places. It's an Italian restaurant called DaVinci's. I was carrying Peyton's umbrella stroller, which was folded up, when we walked down the stairs to enter the restaurant. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but I fell down the stairs. It was funny because I didn't get hurt or anything, but there were so many people waiting for their tables that saw me fall, so it was pretty embarrassing. Once we were seated, we read Peyton his options for food: chicken tenders, spaghetti, or ravioli. He chose chicken, but I had a feeling that when he saw us with spaghetti, he'd be jealous and want some too. One of the meals was grilled chicken with a side of spaghetti, so I ordered that for him. He ate a whole chicken breast and tons of pasta, in addition to the two slices of bread he'd eaten before the meal! For being so small, that boy can eat!

After dinner, we walked to the other end of the boardwalk that we didn't explore the time we were there earlier in the week. Peyton enjoyed looking for boats out in the water. He also liked the seagulls that were everyone. He said to them, "Fly away birdies!" We took a few pictures while on our stroll.

(Why does Peyton always take cute pictures with Kyle, but I can never get him to look happy and normal when he's with me?)

Of course we stopped to get some ice cream and then we headed back to the condo.

Thursday morning, it was rainy, so we just played inside. We went to lunch at McDonald's. Peyton ate a whole cheeseburger, two chicken nuggets, and french fries. He should weigh 50 pounds. While Peyton was taking his nap, it had stopped raining, so I sat outside on the balcony and read a book. I was sitting with half of my body in the sun because of its angle. Later in the evening, I realized that half of me was more red than the other half. Nice.

When Peyton woke up we did our souvenir shopping and then we went to a restaurant with 120 feet of buffet! There was so much stuff to eat, most of it being seafood. I didn't get to eat as much as I could have because Peyton was getting antsy, but I did get to eat lots of crabs, clams, crab dip, dessert, and more. Peyton got to eat off the buffet for free, and he definitely enjoyed it too.

After we got back from dinner, we took a dip in the pool. We swam in the indoor pool because we were sure the outdoor pool would be cold since it rained overnight. Again, Peyton had a great time swimming. We even taught him how to jump off the side of the pool into the water. He loved that!

On Friday, we went to the beach again. We built sandcastles, which Peyton happily stomped on immediately after we were finished.

After the beach, we showered and went to lunch at Three Brothers. Peyton asked for pizza without us even giving him choices of food, so that is what he ate. He is getting so independent these days.

We went back to Rehobeth for the evening. Just as we parked the car, it began to downpour! So we got out, gave Peyton the umbrella and just ran as fast as we could to a restaurant. The first one we happened upon was a Grotto Pizza, so we ate there, but not before getting soaked. After dinner, the rain had stopped, so we went back over to the rides for more fun. Peyton rode most of the same rides that he rode the first night, with a few new ones. He and Kyle rode the helicopters and he and I rode the teacups. I think he liked them both.

After rides, we played lots of games. Peyton won a few times himself. Kyle played the water shooting game twice, but lost both times. He did, however, make a basket so he won that game. Kyle and I played whack-a-mole against a few other people and I beat everyone! Peyton ended up with lots of stuffed animals to take home.

On Saturday, we had to leave to go home :( We woke up and washed the sheets and cleaned up the condo. We again planned to leave at nap time so that Peyton could sleep in the car. We left the condo around noon, had lunch at Dairy Queen, and then hit the road. Peyton was asleep in five minutes and didn't wake up until we were in our driveway. I took a nice nap on the way back too. We got home around 4:00.

We had such a good time on our vacation. The best thing was just seeing Peyton have fun.

Ocean City Vacation, Part 1

Last week, Kyle, Peyton and I took a vacation to Ocean City. I'm going to do this post in two installments, since we were there for seven days. There is a lot to tell and a lot of pictures to post. I don't want to overwhelm anyone!

We left our house headed for Ocean City a little after noon on Sunday. Normally, Peyton will eat his lunch around 12:00 and then take his nap. We wanted to leave around nap time so that he would hopefully sleep a good portion of the usually three hour ride. When Peyton rides in the car, he literally never stops talking. I don't think either of us wanted to listen to him talking for three hours straight!

Peyton fell asleep about an hour into the ride. There was no traffic, except for a little slow down at the Bay Bridge, but we have an M-Tag, so even that was just a super small delay, since we were able to go into a special lane for tag holders. It only took us about two and a half hours to make it to Ocean City.

One of Kyle's friends owns a condo down there, so we rented that from him for the entire week. It was a very nice two bedroom, two bathroom place with two living rooms, a kitchen, and nice-sized balcony. The condos are right on the beach and had several amenities, including an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, large playground, three tennis courts, a basketball court, saunas, an arcade, and a pool table. Here is a picture of the complex from the outside, and the views from our balcony.

Peyton liked sitting outside on the balcony because he got to see lots of airplanes and boats go by. Airplanes would pull advertisement banners down the coast, with one flying by every 15-30 minutes. Two different boat companies offered rides down the coast. They would ride by and then turn around just a little past our place and then ride by again. So Peyton got to see even more boats than planes.

After we got settled in our room, we headed out to get some dinner. We ate at the Dough Roller, which is the big pizza chain in OC. After that, we drove down to the inlet so that we could check out the boardwalk and let Peyton ride some rides. We strolled around looking at the rides, pausing at each to ask Peyton if he wanted to ride it. He said, "NO!" to each. Finally, there were some boats that he said he wanted to ride. Kyle ran to the ticket counter to buy enough tickets for him to ride, but by the time he got back, Peyton changed his mind and was afraid to ride the boats. Since we had bought the tickets, we tried some more to convince Peyton to ride something. Eventually, he agreed to ride the firetrucks. As you can see, he didn't like it very much. Each time he rode past us, he'd put his arms up and yell "Up!" for us to pick him up. He made it through the ride though.

We gave up on rides and just walked the boardwalk. I think we went about 15 blocks. Peyton liked looking at the water and saying, "Ocean!" We stopped along the way and got some ice cream. Peyton enjoyed it. (So did I!)

After our snack, we turned around and walked back to the car. We were all a little beat from the drive earlier in the day, so we just drove back to the condo to get to sleep.

Monday morning, we woke up and walked over to the beach. It took us so long to get ready and we carried so much stuff over with us. We had two beach bags full of toys and towels, the camera, a beach ball, and our blanket. Luckily, the beach was just outside of our complex, so we didn't have to go too far.

We played at the beach for a little while. I tried to take Peyton down to the water, but he was afraid. I held him and let my feet get wet by a wave. That water was COLD! He was still a little nervous, so we returned to our blanket and played in the sand a little more. Here are some pictures.

Next we went back inside and we all took baths/showers. Then it was time for lunch. Kyle pulled up a list of restaurants on the navigation system and chose to go to Arby's. Well, we drove like 10 miles to get to this "Arby's" and it wasn't even there! It didn't even look like one ever was there. Kyle was pretty bummed. So then we kept on driving and saw a Panera, which is one of my favorite places! We went into Panera, but Peyton didn't want to eat a sandwich, so I ordered my food and then we went to a Wendy's next door for Kyle and Peyton to get lunch. Then we went back to the condo for Peyton to take a nap.

When Peyton woke up, we drove up to Rehobeth Beach in Deleware. It's about a half-hour ride, mostly because the speed limit is 35 mph much of the way and you have to watch out for those DE cops because they like to write speeding tickets.

We ate dinner at a place called Stone Grill. Then we walked over to the boardwalk to see if Peyton wanted to ride any rides. We checked out each ride, and Peyton said that he wanted to ride several of them. So, we bought some tickets and took him to the boats, which he wanted to ride first. He loved it! (It's pretty neat, because these same rides were there back in the day when Jeremy and I were little, and I know pictures exist of us riding these rides, just like Peyton.)

Then he rode the firetrucks, and liked that too. He rang the bell and steered with the wheel.

Next Peyton wanted to ride the swings. He liked that one so much, he rode two times in a row.

Then he rode the trucks, which he also enjoyed enough to warrant two rides.

Finally, Peyton and I rode the Paratrooper together. That was one of my favorite rides when I was younger. It goes pretty high and Peyton was a little uneasy at first, but then he loosened up and I think he liked it.

After our ride tickets were gone, Kyle and Peyton got some ice cream and Peyton played a game. He won a stuffed banana (which he is strangling in the picture below).

I'm so glad that Peyton ended up liking the rides. It just makes me so happy to see him having fun. It was getting late and past Peyton's bedtime, so we drove back to the condo and put him to bed.

Tuesday was forecast to be a little rainy. We just hung around in the room in the morning and played with the beach ball and other toys that Peyton brought with him. Then we went to lunch at Burger King and Peyton took his nap. After that, we drove back to Rehobeth to go shopping at the outlets. First we had dinner at Applebee's. There is no sales tax in DE and there are tons of stores, so we bought a lot of stuff. Kyle got a ton of clothes, Peyton and I got a few things each and then Kyle forced me to buy a Coach purse. We went into that Coach store three times before I agreed to buy it. We even had Peyton in his car seat and we were ready to leave the parking lot, when Kyle dragged me back into the store to buy it. We even got a little Christmas shopping finished. Peyton did not enjoy being in the stroller so long and was getting a little cranky after a 30 minute car ride, dinner, and three hours of shopping, so we finally headed back to OC for the night.

I'll wrap up the recap of our vacation in my next post. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat.

Happy Birthday Kindercare

Peyton's daycare, Kindercare, was celebrating their 40th "birthday" so they had a party after the center closed on Friday. I picked Peyton up from daycare at the normal time. Then Kyle, Peyton, and I went to Friendly's for dinner and then headed back to Kindercare for the party party. The theme was a carnival.

Peyton and his teacher, Miss Debby

Each kid got six tickets to play games that were set up. Peyton enjoyed this rubber ducky game so much that he played it three times. There were little prizes that corresponded to numbers written on the bottom of the ducks.

Next, Peyton did this bean bag toss. He walked the bean bags over to the cans and just dropped them in. He was three for three though!

Peyton had a good time knocking over these cans with some bean bags. Once again, he cheated a little and stood right in front of the cans and threw the bean bags at them. He knocked them all down and won another prize.

The last game that Peyton played was the ring toss. He did a good job at that one too.

Next, we headed outside where there was a dunk tank set up. The director of the center, Miss Pam (who Peyton calls "Mam") was the target. Peyton took a turn throwing balls at the bulls eye, just like the bigger kids. Of course, he was too weak to knock her down, so we let him push the bulls eye with his hand, and Miss Pam got dunked!

There was also a moon bounce in the shape of a birthday cake.

We went back inside where Peyton had his face painted. He chose to get a football. He was making the funniest face while she was painting on his cheek. I think it tickled. The painting didn't last long, because Peyton smeared it with his hand. The wetness must have felt strange.

After we cleaned up the paint, Peyton found a balloon and he was in heaven.

He played with that balloon for a long time. They also had a popcorn machine, snowball machine, cotton candy machine, hot dogs and juice, but we didn't eat anything because 1. those things are messy and 2. we ate dinner right before the party.

We went back outside for a little while. Peyton dunked Miss Pam again, and then we left to go home. It was a fun time!

Kyle's Birthday Weekend

Kyle's birthday was Saturday. Friday evening, Peyton and I made Kyle some birthday brownies, since Kyle isn't a fan of cake. Peyton helped me pour the mix, water, and oil into the bowl. Then he helped me stir the brownie batter. He was a big help and did a good job.

Saturday morning, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Kyle so that he could blow out a candle. I sang the song to Kyle, but then when I was finished singing it, Peyton tried to sing it too. He actually had the tune down and almost said the words correctly too. Instead of "Happy Birthday," Peyton will say "Happy Day." I guess it's just too many syllables for him to say it the correct way. It's cute though.

Next, we gave Kyle his presents. Last weekend, Kyle went and bought a new laptop and that was the big part of his gift. Peyton got Kyle a new wallet and some new polo shirts. Peyton picked out the shirts himself.

Kyle chose to go to PF Changs for his birthday dinner. My parents, Kate, Dave, and Noah met us there. Jeremy and Jill couldn't make it because Jeremy had his ACL surgery the day before, and therefore couldn't walk and Jill stayed home to take care of him. We missed them though! We told Peyton we were going to eat and that Grandmom, Pop-Pop, Aunt Kate, Uncle Dave, and Noah were going to be there. For a good portion of the car ride to the restaurant, Peyton chanted, "No-ah! No-ah! No-ah!" Too funny.

Luckily, we made reservations, and only had to wait 5 minutes for our table to be ready. We were at dinner for a good 2 1/2 hours because we ate four courses! It was sooo good too. Kyle and I each had egg drop soup, chicken lettuce wraps, an entree, and one of those mini-shot glass desserts. Peyton ate like a champ. He ate a good portion of his own chicken lo mien, some of my soup, some of the chicken from the lettuce wraps, 5 pieces of my sweet and sour chicken, and some cheesecake and berries that Grandmom and Pop-Pop shared with him.

All of us at dinner

Noah was passed around between everyone, and even took a brief nap during dinner. Peyton got another chance to hold him. Obviously, Peyton was more excited than Noah. Haha.

My dad bought (another!) new car. We went over to look at it before we left the restaurant. It's a Pontiac Solstice, and it is really cute. By the time we got home, it was Peyton's bed time. Kyle and I hung out for a little bit, and then he left to go to a friend's house to watch the UFC fights. I think he had a good birthday.

On Sunday, we took a trip to the mall so that Kyle could exchange one of the shirts that we bought him for his birthday because it was too big. While we were there, I bought *gasp* a bathing suit for our vacation next week. Yes, I was just going to wear clothes to the beach, but I was finally convinced to get a bathing suit. (Trust me, there won't be any pictures of that.)

The rest of the day, we just hung out at home and played with Peyton. Kyle and I were letting him ride around on our backs while we were down on our hands and knees. Then, Peyton wanted Kyle and I to ride him. He makes me laugh so much.

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Kyle, in honor of your 29th birthday, here are 29 things I love about you. I love:

1. The way you love me and make me feel special.
2. How wonderful of a father you are to Peyton.
3. That you get me ice cream after Peyton goes to bed.
4. How you do the laundry every Sunday.
5. How cute you are when you play softball.
6. That you always think the river card is out to get you.
7. How you count going golfing as work.
8. That you could eat Chipotle every day and not get sick of it.
9. How you read Peyton books, giving each character it's own unique voice.
10. That you let me sleep in on Sunday mornings.
11. How hot you look when you're grilling.
12. That you'll play ring-around-the-rosie with Peyton fifteen times in a row, if that's what he wants.
13. How you always make that retarded face whenever I try to take a picture of you.
14. That you let Peyton watch Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse, or Barney even though you'd rather be watching sports.
15. How good you are at cooking steak.
16. The way you put your hand on your stomach when you blow your nose.
17. The way that you run.
18. Your butt.
19. That you're good at grocery shopping.
20. That you're true to your favorite teams even when they suck (*cough* Lions *cough*).
21. That you go to all of the Maryland football games with me, and have even started to cheer for them.
22. How good you look in a jersey.
23. The way you put Peyton up on your shoulders when he needs to be calmed down.
24. The crazy television shows that you put on our DVR.
25. That you let me listen to my radio stations when I ride in your car.
26. That you always put the toilet seat down.
27. The way you smell after a shower.
28. The silly way you shoot a basketball.

And finally, I love:

29. YOU, just because you're YOU.

Happy birthday Kyle!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

We woke up early and headed to Dundalk for a parade. We've gone to this parade for as long as I can remember, except for only a few years. My dad's aunt used to live right around the corner from the parade route, so we'd park near her house, go watch the parade and then head back to her house for a cookout when the parade was over. Unfortunately, she is no longer with us, but we all still go to the parade each year.

The parade starts with lots of firetrucks and ambulances from the nearby firehouses. Peyton didn't like this part too much, because it was very loud with all of the sirens and horns blaring. I took him around the corner where we could still see the trucks but where it was a little more quiet. He waved to all of the trucks as they went by. The rest of the parade featured marching bands, color guards, lots of politicians, clowns, the Chik-Fil-A cow, and Ronald McDonald. Peyton sat so well during the parade. He rotated between all of our laps and waved to everyone going by.

There was a fly-over halfway through the parade, and of course Peyton loved that. He even scored some candy from some of the marchers. We had a good time. Here are some pictures from the parade.

My familyThe rest of my familyPeyton and Dougie
Dougie, Peyton, and Austin Peyton and I

It was pretty hot already, and even though I put sunscreen on Peyton, I didn't put any on myself, so of course I got burned. Dummy.

After the parade, we headed back to my parents house so that Peyton could take a nap before going over to Nadean's house for a cookout. Peyton ate his lunch and then we put him upstairs to sleep. However, he did not want to take a nap! He cried for a few minutes, so we just brought him back downstairs, thinking we'd try to lay him down again a little later. Meanwhile, we ate lunch and watched the hot dog eating competition. Peyton never did lay back down, but he didn't even seem tired and wasn't cranky, so it was ok.

Around 3:30 we went to the cookout. Vester cooked on the grill and there were lots of yummy side dishes, like my favorite broccoli salad and some delicious grapes with a special sauce (might sound weird, but they were really good!). There were also lots of desserts.

Nadean has a pool, so Peyton got his swim on for the very first time. Kyle got in the pool with him. As you can see from the first picture below, Peyton loved being in the pool. I was sure that he would like it though because he loves taking baths. The water was cold and Peyton was shivering, but he still wanted to play in the water. He was not very happy with me when I finally took him out to warm up because Kyle and the boys stayed in a little longer. Peyton was very jealous!

Peyton's first time swimming

Austin
Dougie

Around 7:00 we left Nadean's house to go to the fireworks. Remember that Peyton hadn't slept all day. He fell asleep in the car before we were even off of her street! Once we got to Fullerton, where the fireworks were, we just sat in the car for a few more minutes to let him sleep. Well, we got Peyton out of the car and walked all the way to the field where we sit to watch the fireworks (and it was a very bumpy ride) and Peyton stayed sleeping the whole time.

Here's Peyton waiting for the fireworks to start. Can't you tell how excited he is?

Peyton woke up on his own about 20 minutes before the fireworks started. His eyes were open, but I'm not sure he ever really woke up, if you know what I mean... He was trying to walk around, but looked drunk because he was stumbling everywhere. He just sat with us on the blanket until the fireworks started.

Mom and Dad

Kyle and Peyton
Peyton and Grandmom

Kyle and I thought that Peyton was going to be scared of the fireworks since they are so loud. But, he did a really good job and didn't jump once or seem scared at all. I think he might have just been too tired to care. He did watch the fireworks and called them "colors." Once in a while he'd yell out, "Yellow" or whatever color that particular one happened to be. Other than that though, he sat completely still and enjoyed the show.

Of course Peyton passed out in the car on the way home and didn't even wake up when I took him inside, took off his clothes, and changed his diaper before putting him in his crib. It was a long day, but we had a really good time.