Link to August Pictures and Dinner with Petre

First - CLICK HERE for our August Pictures on Snapfish!

Tonight, we (myself, Taylor, Todd, Jac & The Rents) went out to dinner with Petre at our normal spot in Arlington - Kabob Bazzar! Petre is a dear dear friend of the Dadiani family and we try to get together every few months for dinner so he can be kept up on the family. We had a delicious meal as always and Taylor enjoyed "barking" back & forth with Petre across the table. Here are a few pics from the evening.....

2nd Annual OC Trip

This past weekend we headed back to OC, MD with Tom, Angela, Lauren and Antonio for our 2nd Annual Trip to the beach!

We left Thursday evening per my request so we could keep Taylor somewhat on schedule. Oh - and the fact that it would be dark by the time we went over the Bay Bridge had a little to do with it as well. HA! Dear Crazy.....

Friday morning - Lauren, Taylor and I ran some errands while we waited for Tom & Angela to arrive. Once they did - the boys went to play golf and the girls decided to take Taylor to the pool to see how she liked it. A few days before we left - I had bought her an inflatable princess car and it turned out to be the best purchase I've made in a LONG time. She LOVED it - both in and out of the water.

"Driving" around the pool

Relaxing poolside

After we were all done with our different activities - we all met up for dinner at Nick's! Now - I normally don't order ribs - I will just sneak of bite of Ben's but the smell was overwhelming so I just had to do it and boy were they good! I highly recommend them if you are even down in OC around 154th street!

Saturday morning we woke up to a sight I had never seen before! Hurricane Bill was way off the coast but he managed to produce a fierce surf/tide that brought the water up to the fence line of the condo! There was barely any beach to be seen! This was our view from the balcony.....

By the time Taylor was done with breakfast there was a strip of sand in between the ocean and the pools of water the tide left behind so we took Taylor down for a walk to check it out. It was just a strange sight but pretty cool at the same time.

Since there wasn't much beach to be had that day - the boys played another round of golf while the girls took advantage of the time and went to some local shops to see what we could find.

Dinner that night was "entertaining"..... I have to back up to Thursday night when we arrived. Once we were unloaded - Ben and Lauren went to the store to grab some essentials for the next day while Antonio and I got Taylor to bed. He went to return the cart that brought all of our stuff up and when he returned he had a look of pure joy on his face!
Antonio: You will never believe what I just saw!!
Kristen: What did you just see?
Antonio: A guy carrying a pizza box THIS BIG (arms almost fully extended)
Kristen: Really? This big huh? (said sarcastically with arms extended)
Antonio: Swear! I gotta order one - I gotta get it before we leave!

So Saturday night we appeased Antonio and ordered our 28 inch pizza with 40 wings for $49! What a deal! About an hour later there was a knock on the door and Lauren was almost taken out by a pizza box! She could barely get it in the door. I couldn't stop laughing long enough to help her! I had to run and get my camera so you could see for yourselves.......

Antonio getting ready to attack his 28 inch pizza!

BTW - it was DELICIOUS

Sunday was a beautiful day and we took advantage of it spending the majority of the day down at the beach (minus nap time). Now if you remember - back in June when we went to Duck, NC - Taylor was not too fond of the beach. This time was a completely different story. We had no problems putting her down on her towel to play in the sand with her toys. Also - the little pools of water were still there that morning so we put her "car" in the water and she just hung out waiting for little waves to come up and give her a ride and making new friends with all of the other kids playing in the water as well.

Taylor happily playing in the sand

Family shot by the water

That night we met up with our friends Kimmy & Todd who happened to be staying close to us for a seafood buffet dinner! Crab Legs Crab Legs Crab Legs!!! Delicious Crab Legs! That's all I have to say about that!

We all went to the Boardwalk to finish off the night. The night before - the boys had gone down and Tom & Antonio stood in line for the Slingshot ride. Well , the weather got bad so the ride closed and they got a pass to use the next day. As we were walking towards the ride - I said to Ben - "who in their right mind would ride that?!?!" About 3o seconds later - Tom handed me his pass and said that I had to ride with Antonio cause he wasn't feeling too great. Um - OK!!! I guess I wasn't in my right mind cause I did it and it was SUPER!! I'm a big fan of thrill rides once they are over. The waiting to get on is enough to make me lose my mind. :0)

Our last day - the boys played golf and the girls took Taylor back to the beach for the morning. Then reality hit and we had to clean up the condo and get ready to go home.

All in all it was a FANTASTIC trip and we are already looking forward to the 3rd annual trip next year!

I have a TON of pics from the trip and once I have them all uploaded to Snapfish - I will post the link for those that are interested!

Welcome Baby Jordan!!

Jordan Anne Brunetti was born yesterday - August 18th at 10:56am. She weighed 6lbs 13.4ozs and was 20 inches long. She's beautiful!! Jason and Sara are both doing great. They will be bringing home the new addition to their family tomorrow morning!

Here are a few pics that I got when I went to see them this morning.......

Amanda Palooza & Visit from the Elliott's

Our weekend was a BUSY one! Friday was our friend Amanda's birthday. She took a night off of her volunteering duties at Friday Night Live to hang out with all of her friends and to celebrate with AMANDA PALOOZA!! We all had matching tshirts - including Taylor!! Gonzo's Nose was the band for the night and we all had a blast. This wasn't Taylor's first FNL but it was the first one since she started walking and boy was she hard to keep up with. She was all over the place wanting to talk to people, dance etc! Once it got dark - Amanda gave her a glow necklace that she didn't put down until it fell out of her hand when she fell asleep in the car!

Birthday girl and Taylor in their matching shirts

The bday girl and ME!

Saturday, Taylor and I did some shopping with Heather and her daughter Jessica. Then Heather offered to stay at the house that evening with the 2 girls so we could go out to meet up with Jen and Ian who were in town visiting Ian's parents for a long weekend. We went to Ned Devine's in Sterling since Antonio was working and it gave them a chance to catch up with him during their trip.

Group Shot!!

Sunday afternoon we went over to Ben's parents house and Jen met us over there with Jonathan so the kids could play together for a little while. They did so great together!! They each had a container of Goldfish so those got passed back & forth since the others was more interesting than their own! HA! Dear Crazy!

Jonathan and Taylor playing

Jonathan sharing his goldfish with Taylor. SO CUTE!!

Taylor was clearly having a good time!

Hope everyone had a great weekend as well!

You know the saying......

......the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?? Well - that was the perfect statement for what Taylor was doing this evening after we got home. Ben has layed out all of her pairs of shoes in a neat little line in front of one of our cabinets in the family room. While I was putting the groceries away - Taylor brought a pair to me. She held them up and shook them in front of me until I stopped what I was doing to put them on her. She seemed pleased and walked away starring down at her feet. A few minutes later - she brought me another pair - this time she flopped down on the floor and was taking off the first pair I had put on her. So we repeated the process with this new pair and off she went. I'm sure you can guess what happened next! Yep - she brought yet another pair over and I had to swap out that pair for the 2nd one we had just put on a few minutes before. She stood up and flashed me a huge smile as she strutted away looking so proud of herself. Luckily Ben came home shortly after and it was dinner time or she might have brought the other 2 pairs over to complete the fashion show. Oh the fun she and I are going to have one day with our shoe obsessions! HA! Dear Crazy.....

Pool Party

Today was HOT HOT HOT!!! Luckily for Taylor and Kiara - Nana and Pop Pop have a little pool that they set up in the yard for them to play in and cool down. Taylor LOVES the water so she is totally in love with the pool. She went in for the first time this past Tuesday and had a blast. Ben said that she started fussing when they were leaving that night as they walked past it cause she wanted to go back in! My little fish! HA! Dear Crazy.......

Ben and I had a night out together last night thanks to Grandmama and Grandpa John. They asked me on Friday night when we were going to bring Taylor back over to spend the night and I totally took advantage and asked what they were doing the following night. Earlier that day I saw that The Reflex was playing at Ned Devine's in Herndon on Saturday. They are an AMAZING 80's tribute band and an old friend of mine (Marc Taylor) just so happens to be the drummer. I haven't seen them play in a while so I didn't want to pass up this opportunity. I do encourage all of you to sign up on the mailing list so you can find out when they are playing at a bar near you - and then you must RUN - DO NOT WALK - to go see them. I promise you will not be disappointed. BTW - they are playing here in Leesburg on Saturday the 29th! I will be there - will you?!?!?

Hope you all had a great weekend! Leslie gave me a new book today so I'm off to get that started. Until next time......

What do you mean it's August??

Seriously - it's August 1st!?! What happened to July!? The last month has just come and gone. It's been a ton of fun but I'm still trying to catch up.

I don't even know where to begin! Ben's grandfather was here in town for the first half of the month. It was so nice to spend so much time with him. He loved being able to see & play with Taylor as much as he did. He hadn't seen her since last August so clearly she was a totally different little girl. Here is a pic of Da with all his "kids"......

The weekend after Da left, I co-hosted (with Lauren) a small Baby Shower for our friend Sara. She was on bed rest so we just went over to her house and had lunch and opened presents with a few of us - Taylor included. As of the last time I checked in with her (on Wednesday) she was doing well but no sign of Baby Jordan. We are all looking forward to meeting her when she is ready to make her presence.

The next day - Tom, Angela, Antonio, Lauren, Ben and I went to Six Flags for the day. It was super exciting as I LOVE roller coasters. Tom & Antonio managed to convince me that I needed to go on the Skycoaster - as described on the website.......Plunge down ten stories and then soar like a superhero on the Skycoaster..... what it fails to mention is that you are strapped to your friends and free falling those 10 stories. WORTH. EVERY. PENNY!!!!

Last weekend was Jessie's 30th birthday celebration. The night involved a limo bus, multiple bars downtown, jello shots in a large plastic syringe - with 26 of us! Madness I tell you!

In between all of this - is our most exciting news.....Taylor is walking!! All by herself - no propping up necessary. Man are we in trouble now!?! HA! Dear Crazy!

That's all I got for now. Hope everyone is doing well!