Fun-filled weekend!

Friday night, Lester and I went out on a date.

It was a beautiful warm evening and we decided to skip having a fancy dinner and instead try this fancy, newish pizza spot we'd been hearing a lot about. 

So glad we did! It was relaxed and delicious and easy-going. Just what we needed.

On Saturday, the boys and I headed out to the library and picked up a few books. Then, after their nap, we went to a Taste of Two Cities, a huge food truck competition. 

I got fried green tomatoes from this truck. NOM NOM NOM!

There was a big, open play area for kids and I tried to show the kids how to hula hoop.

FAIL!

We also miscalculated a bit by thinking there'd be a hot dog or pizza slice somewhere on the grounds of this gathering of food trucks, so when we figured out that it was all mostly "adult" food, and expensive to boot, we decided this was one night the kids could eat nothing but junk and it would be just fine.

Needless to say, this was a very popular decision on our part.

Unfortunately, Dean insisted he wanted a cupcake and not ice cream, so after he inhaled his (very delicious) cupcake, he had a severe case of dessert envy.

"He's not sharing!!!

He badgered Cary and whined to me and badgered Cary some more, until finally Cary gave in to the peer pressure.

Dean always gets what he wants from Cary. Check out his knowing grin. (This kid is hilarious!)

We were out late Saturday food-tuck-tasting, but we managed to get up and out of the house first thing Sunday morning to go to a lovely rooftop breakfast at the Maryland Science Center.
 

The event was sponsored by the Center as an attempt to woo members from specific neighborhoods. Of course you know we're already members, but that didn't stop us from taking advantage of free breakfast, looking out over the Inner Harbor on a beautiful Sunday morning.

We spent a couple hours roaming the nearly empty museum, exploring the laws of physics, looking at turtles and playing in the water room.

They happily sat on this bed of nails. Yikes!

Clair yelled at every child who came her way, because she totally believed the entire water table was hers and hers alone.

And then we headed home to nap and get ready for the work week ahead.

But the weekend would not have been complete if Lester and I didn't recognize in some small way the anniversary of our first date, which was June 2, 2006.  We didn't know we were on a date at first, but that night we drank a lot of sangria and talked and talked and talked -- through three different watering holes -- and realized we had stumbled (a little tipsily) into something special.

So last night, while I was cooking dinner, Lester whipped up a batch of sangria!

And after the kids went to bed, we sat at our dining room table, surrounded by three high chairs, and talked and talked and talked until we were both a little tipsy. We talked so much we completely missed Mad Men and before we knew it, it was midnight (egads!!) ...

I'm exhausted and just a teeny bit hungover this morning. But I don't regret staying up late drinking sangria and talking with my husband for three-and-a-half uninterrupted hours. The fact that we still enjoy each other's company after 7 years (7 years and no itch!) ..well I think that is something special.

High-Low weekend

Saturday, we all had a blast hanging out with my sister and her family at Maryland Day 2013. Tahira's a Maryland alum, and her hubby attended for two years before transferring to Morgan State (which is near our house in Baltimore).

The kids got to run around, eat junk food, and frolic in the grass.

The boys got to sit in a real police car, with its lights flashing (ZOMG!), and talk to real policemen, and also hang out in a tractor/bulldozer contraption thingy.

They had ice cream three times in one day (kids' best day ever!) First they had a Popsicle that turned their lips green, then a cup of soft serve and finally a scoop of creamy deliciousness from the University's own dairy. Dean said to me at one point, "Mommy, I loooove ice cream." He's a boy after my own heart.

And they got a skateboarding lesson!! (They were totally stoked about this and cannot stop talking about how they rode on a skateboard. They have been "riding" their guitars and Clair's xylophone at home ever since, saying "Watch me skate!" But you would never ever know it from watching these two stoic boys in this video).


At the end of the day, after our third helping of ice cream, we gathered in a grassy spot by the Dairy, under the trees, and relaxed while the kids played. It was really a lovely day. To commemorate the sweetness of it all, we decided to take family photos.

Here's my sister's beautiful family:

Hot mama!

 And here's what happened when we tried to take a family photo:

Madness and hilarity.

Everyone was fall-on-your-face tired when we got home, so Lester had the inspired idea to pick up Mexican take-out from Los Amigos and put everyone to bed.

But then we realized that poor Clair was burning hot. Her temperature was 102.5 and she was crabby. Here's where the "low" part of the weekend comes in.

We medicated Clair and put her to bed, but around 4 a.m., she woke up screaming. I picked her up and couldn't believe how hot she was. The poor baby was so hot, she even touched her hand to her chest and said, "Ott!" I peeled her out of her pajamas, gave her water, and took her temp -- 102.8.

The next morning, after a fitful sleep, we noticed her breathing was ragged. I took her to the pediatrician -- they have weekend emergency hours, thank God -- and he prescribed albuterol. Clair fought that mask so much, the doctor and the nurse both were amazed at her fiestyness. They called her a "firecracker" and said that she was worse than trying to ride a bucking horse. She really performed.

So when it was time to do her treatment again at 4, I just skipped the mask and used the tube we use for Cary, sat her and her brothers in front of Yo Gabba Gabba, and got her to sit (somewhat) still that way. (Note: I now have two children on nebulizer treatments...)

But by the middle of the day, we realized her fever wasn't going down, it was going up instead. She was listless, refused to eat all day, and had vomited twice.

Here's how miserable and hot and weak my poor sweetie looked all day:

Talk about a heart-breaking look.

When I took her temp after she threw up again and the thermometer read close to 104, I called the doctor again and he advised us to try ibuprofen instead of acetaminophen, give her more water and see if it helped.  I was skeptical, of course. But I guess I am learning that Dr. Bodnar knows what he's talking about (most times).  Because it did help, a bit. Half an hour later, she perked up just enough that we could see the old Clair in there somewhere, and Lester and I have never been so relieved to watch our child smack at her brothers. :-)

Needless to say, we did not get to go water-taxiing, so the boys' Synapse Checklist remains unchanged. Sigh. But it was worth it to stay in the house, so we could hold and rock Clair all day long, and try to keep her comfortable.

She barely slept last night, though, and she vomited again this morning. So I'm keeping my sweetie in my prayers today that she will kick this thing really soon. I've got a big weekend planned for the two of us girls (we're going to Atlanta!!) so I need my baby girl to be back to normal.