The Humor of Our Lives: Baltimore Vacation

Even though I had been thinking about the Baltimore Vacation for along time it seemed to sneak up on us. Maybe because the weekend before we left was a Holiday weekend and JM worked a portion of it? I don't know but the day before I was finding ourselves pretty unprepared. We were sent to fly out on Wednesday. Monday I had a doctor's appointment and decided to pick up some new luggage duffel bags for us to take with us. I have a red luggage set but we wanted to use big duffels b/c we thought they would be easier to move around and stuff into a vehicle, plus you can fit more stuff in. I cruised the Mattoon mall and found 2 really nice duffels but they were $100/piece so I thought I would run out to the Wal-Mart to see if they had something comparable. They did and it was almost the exact same thing. I forgot to mention that even though they were $100/piece they were 50% off but I felt like spending $30/bag at Wal-Mart was a much better buy. Who cares if they were out in a year; 1) we don't travel much, 2) I would be SO mad if the expensive ones wore out or the airlines tore it up in the 1st year, 3) I saved a ton of money and felt really good about it.

At my Doctor's appointment that day, I ordered a pair of glasses. With my insurance the expensive ones weren't going to cost me all the much more than a regular pair so I splurged. However, in all of those high-priced brands I almost didn't fine a pair I liked. Most of them had "bling" down the side. I didn't think I could wear a pair of glasses with JUICY written down the earpieces of my glasses, and have students not make comments. lol. I ended up picking out a Prada pair that was I liked but of course had to wait a week for them to come in. The MOST important part is that they had my contacts IN-STOCK. Some of you might not quite comprehend why this is a big deal.... let me explain. When you are as BLIND as I am, most places don't keep that prescription in stock and have to order it. When I called this place, I made sure to ask them if they had my level of contacts in stock and he assured me that they did. Thank goodness he didn't fib to me, because I really needed a pair to go on vacation with. Another good note, was that my eyes actually got slightly better - FANTASTIC. For those of you with contacts, you'll understand when I say "New contacts feel sSSSSOOOOO good."

Back to the Vacation

Our flight was set to take-off from Indy at 6:10 a.m., so we decided to spend the night in Indy. We had planned on leaving home somewhere around 3 if JM got off work early. I had planned on doing last minute laundry during the day, but the washing machine had other plans. Luckily our Aunt Joy loves and us and let us use her washing machine, so to Chrisman we went! I already had a dentist appointment at noon, so it worked out. However, we didn't get home until 4 ish and still had to pack. JM then decided he didn't have any t-shirts he wanted to wear so we decided to go through Terre Haute so he could purchase some. While we were in T Haute we ate supper at Cracker Barrel. Samee Jo was being a little loud in the restaurant so we were putting our finger to our lip and saying ssshhhh.. The little ham picked that motion up VERY quickly. She would get loud and then look at us and do the motion as we were doing it. The quieter "talking" would commence for awhile and then she would forget, but it was so cute. She ate a whole plate of green beans and then some of mine.
We didn't check into our hotel until 10 and Samee was in fine form. She wanted up on the bed so I put her up and then she started acting goofy. She started to squeal and then we would shush her and then she would squeal but as quietly as possible. SMART ALEC?? I think so! She was then "creeping" across the bed, kind of tip-toeing and then fall down and giggle. This continued until 11:30 or so and around midnight she finally crashed. She hadn't slept much that day so maybe she was a little slap-happy. Either way, it was quite entertaining....for awhile.

We were up bright and early at 4 a.m. to catch the 4:30 shuttle. The airport was deserted and security was really easy. Samee Jo and I were able to walk through the normal scanner and JM and everyone else walked through the body scanner one. They had this wand that they rubbed all over the car seat and then took the wand head off and put it in some machine. We checked out all right, so we were on our way. JM went on a search for coffee and Samee Jo and I found some fruit and juice for our breakfast. She did SO great in the airport. We had time to kill so I went on a walk with Samee and she LOVED the sky walks. I think it mesmerized her that we were moving without moving our feet. We only had a little bit of time left so we ate our breakfast in the chairs. Samee sat in her own chair and bummed some of Daddy's sandwich from him. We put her back in the stroller when the plane was getting ready to board. They board the A tickets and then families. She had been in her stroller for about 3 minutes and I looked down and she was OUT. When I picked her up she was like a sack of potatoes. We boarded the plane with no problems. She slept as the plane went up and leveled out. The great thing about flying to Baltimore is that the trip is about an hour and 45 minutes. By the time the plane climbs high enough to level out and take your seat belts off, you only have about 20 minutes before you had to put them back on. She did great on the way down. The plane was barely half full so I was able to hand her to JM and she looked out the window. However, she looked at us like we were crazy and didn't understand why we thought looking out the window was "neat". She drank her drink and looked at her book on the way down. It seemed like she understood to take a drink every few minutes to help her ears.
Brittany, JM's sister, had taken the day off from work to pick up us. She had time to drop her little girls at daycare and then come straight to the airport. The timing was perfect. Our luggage came out close to first and she pulled up a few minutes after we walked out. IT WAS SO GREAT to see her. We loaded things up and were off to her new house, which was BEAUTIFUL. Brittany teaches at a private school and works on curriculum and such during the summer. Working there, she is able to send her kids to a FANTASTIC private school and daycare. We were able to settle in and catch up a little. For lunch we went to Five Guys, which is an AWESOME hamburger place. Easily the best hamburger I ever had. Samee even enjoyed it so much that she just picked up the hamburger patty and started chowin down, instead of picking up the pieces we tore up for her.
That afternoon Brittany went to pick up the girls. Maddy will be 4 at the end of August as was very excited to see us. Lexie is 2 weeks older than Samee and it was a little adjustment for them the first evening. I was a little nervous that it was going to be a long 5 days with the two of them, but they worked things out.
Pam, JM's mom, came over that evening and she showed up at just the time Mike, Brit's husband, came home. We all had a nice meal together and made plans for Friday.
Friday morning we woke up and headed for the BEACH! YEA! Ocean City is about an hour and a half from where JM's family lives. Brit's in-laws have a house on the Delaware side, so they stayed there. Pam booked two hotel rooms. Trevor (JM's brother) and family drove up from North Carolina Thursday night so they met us at the beach when we got there. They were able to watch the sun rise while we were on our way over. Trevor and Jillh have 2 kids - Brock (Freshman) and Mary (6th/7th? grade). Mary is an EXCELLENT little babysitter and LOVES babies. Samee Jo attached herself to Brock and snuggled in with him more than once.
The Sand:
We took Samee Jo down to the beach as soon as we settled into the hotel room. When we walked off the pavement into the sand, we tried to put Samee down. When her feet touched the sand, she pulled them up to her ears and refused to walk. It wasn't b/c it was hot, she just didn't like the feeling. We put her on a beach towel and soon enough she was piling sand on her towel. After that small step, she pretty much just dove in. It was so cute. She had sand in EVERY crack, crevice, and orifice of her body.
The water was FREEZING, but that didn't stop most of our family. JM and Brock spent most of their time out in the water. Samee wanted nothing to do with it. When the wave came in, we would try to get her to let it get on her toes but she thought it was too cold. I can't remember if it was Friday or Saturday, but she was covered in sand and Jill (trev's wife) said she was going to go dip her in the water to get some of the sand off. When she got out there, she made JM do it because she said that Samee wasn't going to hate him if he did it but she might hate Jill forever. Samee was NOT happy with the little dip but at least she didn't have a crunchy coating. I took her up to the hotel room and threw her in the tub. The amount of sand in the tub was astonishing. She looked better and I felt better for her!
We ate supper at an really nice restaurant on the bay side of the boardwalk. It was supposed to have a cruise trip after the dinner but it was cancelled due to a storm coming in. Since we had free parking and were only 2 blocks from the boardwalk, we headed over. Maddy and Mary rode a few rides and Mike and Brock went up in this slingshot thing. Samee was over tired and was passed around quite a bit. We hadn't brought the stroller b/c we didn't anticipate going to the boardwalk, but as soon as Samee Jo snuggled into Brock's arms she was happy.
Saturday was more beach time. That evening we headed over to the Delaware side to eat CRABS. YUMMY YUMMY. It is an expensive meal but a GREAT one. It really is something to do with family so you can sit and talk, let the kids play, and enjoy the evening. We knew Samee hadn't had a "dirty" diaper in awhile and were afraid she was dehydrated. Her body had decided to have "issues" after we had ordered at the restaurant. JM and I decided to run to the store and get suppositories and go back to the hotel room. We were bummed b/c crab night was the night we were looking forward to the most and it's just bad to watch her be in pain. The situation was serious enough that I had to "medicate" her in the backseat of the car in the parking lot. What she was trying to pass, was beyond gigantic but somehow your parental instincts kick-in and it doesn't seem gross or weird. She was able to get a little relief then, with some help from us. We headed back to the hotel and after we were there 10-15 minutes the "crisis" was over. We called the family and they said that we could come back. Some were done eating but some weren't. We headed back over and it actually worked out perfect. Jill and Brit were done eating so they played with the kids while the rest of us picked crabs. The waitress brought out some fresh and hot ones so that was great too. Mike sat by me and reminded me how to pick and then started picking crabs for me. Picking crabs is definitely something you have to do more than once every 2 years to be proficient.

Once back at the hotel, we put Samee to bed. Pam and her boyfriend Terry stayed in our suite and watched Samee Jo while JM and I, along with Brock and Mary, went out to the beach and then to get ice cream. It would have been awesome to go night fishing, but we just didn't have the time.
Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast and soon were headed home. The traffic on Sunday's is horrible b/c everyone is trying to go back over the bridge to get home. We all always try to head out early to beat the crowd, which really paid off this time. We had little traffic to contend with. On the way back we passed these combines that were made to pick tomatoes. They were SO cool... if we had more time and knew our way back I would have made JM stop, but that wasn't in the cards.

Everyone stayed at Brit and Mikes for the evening and we ordered pizza in. It was an evening of everyone being under one roof and visiting. It was GREAT. On Monday, Brit and Mike went to work and Pam, Trev, and Jill came back to Brit's so we could all watch the kids together. Monday was the day to rest from our vacation. On Monday evening Trev, Jill, and Mary headed home. Brock stayed b/c he was going back to IL with us to visit his grandparents.
On Tuesday morning, Brit dropped us off at the airport before going to work. The plane was SO full. Not a seat left. Samee of course wasn't sleeping. The flight didn't take off until 9:00 so it was sort of around her nap time on a normal schedule. We were sitting on the plane for awhile and Samee was getting restless. I was on the aisle, JM in the middle, and a poor innocent bystander by the window. I brought out our handy-dandy-dvd player. Of course this seemed like a great thing, but then if your remember (which I didn't), you have to SHUT them OFF when you take off. Samee Jo was a very unhappy, tired, Gabba-wanting little girl for a little bit. She really didn't cry, maybe whined a little bit. Soon enough though she fell asleep and slept through the landing. She would have slept through our unloading the plane but the stewardess decided to sing us her South West rendition of a popular song. She was good, but it woke the baby. Samee Jo woke up happy and put up with waiting to unload. We were waiting for our luggage and JM made the comment that he thought a guy had taken one of our duffel bags. Everyone elses' luggage had came by that point and my bag was missing. He remembered that it was a guy but didn't think much of it, other than the bag was the same but surely the guy was intelligent enough to read the tag. Well, everyone had left and there was a duffel bag that looked like mine but belonged to a guy. We took it to the airline desk and luckily they were able to get ahold of him and he hadn't left yet. He brought it back and made some comment about how they were the same bags. JM of course had to make a comment about reading the tag before you take off with a bag. No harm, no foul I guess but it definitely delayed our trip home. I mean, there are signs EVERYWHERE saying to READ YOUR TAG because your luggage can look like someone elses. We made a few derogatory comments about his skateboard and skater appearance and the fact that he was from Florida to ease the tension. Soon enough our hotel shuttle was there and we were on our way home.

HOME SWEET HOME... though we were coming back to a washer that had a little bit of water in it....