two reasons that i love summer.

two of my favorite things to do in the summer:


barbeque burgers courtesy of my dad (who possibly makes the best burgers ever!)  and what would burgers be without sweet potato fries to go with it?

evening walks with the family

nats.

we got to see strausburg pitch last night at the nats game.  since the nationals were not in dc while i was growing up, i am not a die hard fan, but of course i will cheer on any team in my hometown.  i also love the game experience. why is it so satisfying to eat junk food while watching others demonstrate their physical and athletic abilities?  i am all about the soft pretzels and giant sodas in the souvenir cup (which i left at the game ...sniff...sniff).  but last night i actually had to pay attention to the game and focus less on the snacks and friends in order to focus my attention on the new star pitcher, strausburg.  he played well with 8 strike outs in 5 innings (i think).  and i really did try to pay attention but between seeing a friend who i had to catch up with, chatting with the fam, eating my pretzel, and the little guy in my lap i must confess that my good intentions did not exactly pan out.  sorry nats...i am not the harris teeter fan of the game.  but we had fun anyway!


                         distracted from the game to take pictures with julie, sister, boyfriend (hers not mine) and baby

more distraction

adorable distraction

distraction going for the camera while sucking on his pacifier clip

way too hard to pay attention to a game throughout all this.  we also stayed for the fireworks after the game which were the first time cole saw fireworks (he went to bed early on the 4th).

crabs.

mmmmmmm....maryland crab.  a lot of work for a little meat, but it was tasty.  cole and i met the brother and an old friend, ian, in baltimore for dinner and we went to a little seafood dive known for it's local crab.  delicious. 

and while in baltimore, i could not pass up the opportunity to go to the location of one of my favorite shows....that's right.  we stopped at charm city cakes.  (i know i look like a loser fan, but let's face it....i am!)

goofy boys. this was just a funny picture of the night.

slightly redneck.

we are in northern virginia visiting family while brenner is in south carolina for chaplain training.  cole, and his mama, were fortunate enough to fly on a plane that was not full and therefore cole could have his very own seat....much more comfortable than having a baby on your lap for 3 hours with no place to go.  one downside?  he figured out how to undo the seatbelt latch within about 1 minute so it was a struggle from then on to keep him strapped to the seat.

on our first day in nova, both the grandparents were super busy and it was 100 degrees outside. we decided to just hang out at the house and i was trying to think of something fun to do.  here was our redneck pool that i put out on the deck to cool off from all the heat....a dishwashing tub.