What I Did Over Springtime Blog-cation.

I took a vacation from blogging this past week (a blog-cation, if you will)...and so now I need to recap an entire week's worth of activities. And it was quite an eventful week, so that could take QUITE a bit of time. I would really rather go to bed, since we are now observing "daylight saving's time" and I am exhausted. So, in the interest of saving MY time, a list it shall be.

What I did on my Blogcation. By Robin Ludwig.

1. On Friday, March 4th, Max finally met his German grandparents. It was a big day.





2. They decided what they wanted their "official grandparent" names to be. Introducing:


"Omi"
and


"OpiLu"

3. Sunday, March 6th was another really big day. Max got baptized at Simpsonville United Methodist Church by Reverend Nelson Stokes. We were lucky and blessed to have lots of family there including Mimi, PopPop, Omi, OpiLu, Uncle Paul and Aunt Lympi, and Uncle Paul and Aunt Julie (aka JRo) along with cousins Natey (Dennis the Menace) and Sam (Best Soccer Player IN THE WORLD.) We're especially thankful for everyone's attendance in such nasty rainy weather.












I'm pretty sure we provided good entertainment for the congregation, what with our last minute parade down the main aisle to our seats, Chris's second parade up and then down the aisle to retrieve Max's missing shoe from the car, Natey's "candle box toss" from our seats to the font of the church, and Max's all-around cuteness. Hey, we do what we can.

4. After the baptism, Chris perfected the fried turkey. It only took him 2 tries with his turkey frier to achieve 100% golden fried perfection (the first one was pretty perfect, actually -- but this one was absolute bliss). And all that from the front porch, while protecting his gear from the monsoon with our front porch bench.



And I'm no food blogger, but I think I did an ok job with the sides too...it was a nice non-Thanksgiving-but-still-plenty-to-eat everyday feast. (Thanks to Mimi for making the potato salad and YUMMY chocolate chip cake!)





I will say that I learned 2 lessons making this meal. 1 - always listen to Julie - if she says not to double a recipe, do NOT double the recipe, even if hoardes of other people claim that it doesn't take much longer to cook. (This recipe is the easiest, and one of the best, things I've ever made - you HAVE to try it out! Even Chris loved it, and he doesn't even really like corn.)
Easy and Awesome Corn Casserole and 2 - Weight Watchers friendly foods are also family-friendly foods. The green bean casserole was just as good as any I've had.

I think we had a few satisfied customers.






5. Monday we went biking with Mimi, PopPop, Omi, and OpiLu on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. It was chilly when we started, which necessitated the Peruvian-style hat for Max, but by the time we reached Traveler's Rest for lunch, it was quite comfortable.





It was also a major accomplishment that we all (7 people) made it all the way to T.R. with no wrecks! (Yes, I did have a slight incident with some railroad tracks in the middle of a 4 lane busy highway, but whatever).

6.

Wednesday Chris bought a car. I guess I should say "we" bought a car, but since I will not be enjoying the heated and massaging seats on a daily basis, I don't really consider it mine...



Max approved of the purchase. But Max probably would have approved of the purchase of a used 1976 Pinto, too....



7. Thursday the new car had to go to the shop. Something with the "check engine" light and the wire harness (maybe). I'm not sure I'm buying it. It seems a little too coincidental that this should happen just as Chris is getting ready to go to Germany ... I have a theory that he is making all of this "potential engine trouble" stuff up so that he can safely store his new car at the BMW garage while he's in Germany, preventing me from taking it on any joyrides while he's gone. (But, no worries, he has several more trips to Germany coming up in the next couple of months...HELLO massage seat!) :)
Thursday night we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at The Peddlar, compliments of Mimi and PopPop. We'll leave it at that ;) (special note for PopPop and OpiLu - go to the link and read the history of the place - it was, at one point, a German restaurant!!)

8. On Saturday we FINALLY had a nice, warm, sunny day - and we took full advantage. Everybody get out your sun-hats!



We took a long walk with Omi and OpiLu.



We also enjoyed watching an impromptu soccer game featuring the self-proclaimed "best soccer player in the world." (aka Sam)











Our little soccer fan, and Sam's future competition for "best soccer player in the world."



9. Sunday morning, Omi and OpiLu departed for a cruise around the Carribean. We had big plans for the day - getting our taxes done, for one. But Chris got a phone call informing him that his flight to Charlotte (from which he would depart to Germany) had been cancelled, necessitating his taking an earlier flight to Charlotte, which resulted in: my gobbling down my lunch in 2 minutes, forcing Max to gobble down his lunch in 10 minutes, Chris speed-packing and all of us rushing off to the airport to drop Chris off. So much for taxes. So, after such a rough morning, it's only right to celebrate with some ice cream, right? Well, that's what Nana thought, anyway.



10. Max and I then wrapped up the day with a visit to the old folks' home, where Max charmed all the old ladies. Then we came home and ate a more 7-month-old-appropriate meal of baby oatmeal. He actually looks more excited about this than the ice cream.



So...it was a busy week. We're looking forward to getting our schedule back to normal for a few days. Here's hoping Max starts sleeping through the night again, cause that SURE WAS NICE.

All tuckered out from a busy busy week: