I have heard this many times, but yesterday when we were at the mall Baden was called a girl by three different people!  The first woman who was a nice grandmotherly type said, “Oh, look at that baby.  She is so cute.”  Then she said, “She looks like she eats well, too.”  Which I replied, “Yes, he does.” with emphasis on the he.  She said “Oh, that’s a boy. He’s still cute.” I have been told by people in public when they find out that Baden is indeed a boy that he is too cute to be a boy.  Aren’t boys cute, too?  The other people that we encountered just said how cute she is which I just said thank you and moved on.   He does have curly locks that can be wispy at times.  Bill said well we have to cut his hair which I absolutely will not let happen.  I am not going to let it get long down to his shoulders, but his wispy curls are here to stay.  I still don’t understand how anyone could mistake Baden who is usually always dressed in some shade of blue for a girl.  We went to Old Navy and Bill put a girl hat on Baden and he still looked all boy despite the flowers on the hat.  Would it be fun to have a little girl to dress up? Of course, but for now I have my two rough and tumble sweetheart boys and that’s good enough for me.

For the Fourth of July, we decided to celebrate watching America’s favorite game, baseball. We cheered on the Bowie Baysox as they played the Erie Seawolves.  The game was suppose to start at 6:05 pm, but it started to rain. At first it wasn’t so bad. It was just sprinkling and then the heavens opened.  We had some rain ponchos, but Baden was too keen on not being able to see anything so I took him up on the concourse.  Everyone else had the same idea.  As the rain lightened up, I went back down to our seats.  The game finally got underway, but alas it was not meant to be.  Top of the 2nd inning and another 54 minute rain delay!  This time I had an umbrella courtesy of the usher.  After the rain stopped, it was finally time for baseball.  It was a long game. The game was tied 4-4.   I love baseball, but after 5 hours I was hoping that either team would score a run and I didn’t care who.  Luckily the Baysox scored two runs courtesy of a throwing error by the Seawolves’ shortstop and they won 6 – 4.  YAY!!!  Then we got to enjoy the fireworks.  Baden was wide-eyed and seemed to be in awe.  Billy covered his ears, but he loved it.  Every word out of his mouth was that is so cool, ooh look at that one.  I loved watching him.  It was a long night. We got home around midnight, but it was a great day.  What could be better… baseball and fireworks on the 4th of July.  Happy Birthday, America!

On our way home from camping, we stopped to rescue some tadpoles.  I wasn’t too keen on the idea, but thought it would be fun for Billy.  The tadpoles made it home from Shenandoah and were promptly placed in a plastic container with some rocks.  Their home was nice and cozy on our porch.  We would give them dog food to eat and they would devour it.  It became a habit for us to check on the frogs every morning and every evening. Billy loved checking on them and making sure they were all still swimming.  Who knew having tadpoles could be so much fun.  I think there were about 15 tadpoles that made it down the mountain. Nature can be cruel and our tadpole numbers dwindled, but not too much.  We finally decided we needed to give them a proper home.  The tadpoles weren’t tadpoles anymore. They were frogs!  We weren’t sure were to put them and then decided on a small lake that is in the back of a church that is down the road from our house.  It’s small enough that the frogs will probably be happy there.  Okay so now we have a place for them to go, but how do we get them out?  That was the fun part. We got a plastic tub and quickly tried to put them in the container before they hopped out.  Sensing freedom, they all wanted to jump and they did.  Some of our frogs still had their tails, but we knew it was time to let them go.  I think we had about twelve frogs that made it to the lake.  It’s funny how at first the whole tadpole idea didn’t seem that great to me. I guess I was just thinking what are we going to do with them, but in the end it was a lot of fun.  Every time I pass that little lake, I wonder how the frogs are and how big they have gotten.  The Shenandoah frogs have a special place in my heart. 

(Thanks, Etta, for being an animal lover of all creatures, great and small.)

This was the first full day of not having Eddie around.  Eddie was put to sleep yesterday. He was having a lot of pain and could hardly walk.  He had back problems in the past, but this was much more severe.  He had trouble walking up and down the stairs and couldn’t jump up anymore.  He just wasn’t himself.  This has been roughest on Bill because he was the one that was there with Eddie.  I wish that I would have been there, too.  I think that I have been preparing myself for this day for a long time.  It sounds kind of morbid, but Eddie just wasn’t the same dog.  He was more prone to sleep all day and he hardly got up to get a bit of food that might have fallen on the floor.  Eddie was a quirky dog.  When we lived in New Jersey, he would go into the hallway at a certain time every night and chase himself. That’s the best way I can describe it.  He would not chase his tail, but something else.  Eddie was also a very loving dog.  There were many times that he drove me crazy and I got really upset (probably too upset) when he would have an accident on the floor, but despite being yelled at he would still follow me everywhere and put his head under my hand so I would pet him.  When Bill was gone a lot Eddie was my companion.  He was the one that I came home to.  He was always excited to see me and he would wag his tail.  He was my comforter.  Eddie always used to follow me usually to let me know he needed out, but also just to be in the same room.  While I was folding clothes today, I thought I saw him in the hallway.  Of course, I didn’t but I was really hoping he was there.  Billy is still too young to understand and he will ask where is Eddie.  Yesterday when Bill came home, Billy said, “where’s Eddie?”. We tried to explain to him that he’s up in heaven with Heavenly Father after all there must be a place for animals since we are all God’s creatures.  I told Billy that Eddie is in heaven and he said no he can’t be, he’s our favorite dog.  We had him almost the entire time we have been married.  He was our kid.  I know it must have been hard for him when Billy was born and then Baden, but he seemed to handle it in stride.  He was always gentle with Billy and when he didn’t want play he would go and lay down in his bed.  I know Eddie is now free from the pain that wracked his body.  He is able to run and play and chase himself again.  🙂   It will take some time to get over him and I don’t know that we ever will. After all,  he was  our favorite dog.

We all made it back home and as a bonus Etta and Jessica were here, too.  As Billy, Baden and I were flying home, Bill, Etta and Jessica were taking care of our food needs for our camping trip.  The next day, Sunday, we left for Shenandoah National Park.  The drive up was nice and we made it to the campgrounds around 5:00 or so.  We set up and then Bill made dinner.  A quiet night.  It was warmer than usual on the mountain, but after a rain shower on Tuesday night it cooled down.  We really didn’t do much except read and just hang around. We did go to Super WalMart in Luray, Virigina and Cold Stone Creamery in Harrisonburg for some diversion.  This was probably not my best camping trip as I guess I was kind of grumpy. I didn’t think I was outwardly grumpy, but Bill did.  I guess I just wish we would have had a few more days at home to recuperate and then head out to the great outdoors.  I really did have a nice time and I really enjoyed being with my family.  I wish that Etta and Jessica would have been able to stay with us longer, but being able to go camping with them gave us an opportunity to really have some good quality time together. We got some great pictures especially the one where I really look mad.  We will be posting pictures soon as we are behind.  Billy had a “naughty tree” that was his assigned place when he acted up which unfortunately was way too often.  Does anybody have any ideas on how to get a four year old to listen???  Baden seemed to really enjoy camping. We got a great clamp on high chair and he loved being right there in the middle of the action. We also set up a tent for him to play in which he enjoyed.  Bill and Jessica saw a bear and her two cubs. We also saw lots of deer and Bill and I both had the privilege of seeing a skunk that seemed to like to hang around the bathroom.  Both encounters came away sweet smelling.  All in all, it was a good trip.