Celebrating the third anniversary

Today is our third anniversary of being married. To celebrate, we decided to adapt the old "pub crawl" idea in a new and glorious way. Last night I said, "We should do a bakery crawl. Since it's our third anniversary, we should go to three bakeries tomorrow for treats." Angie's reaction: "I can't wait for our 50th anniversary!!"

We picked three places here in Howard County and planned our itinerary based on when they opened. Since the first bakery opened at 7 a.m. and the other two at 10 a.m., we decided not to leave by dawn's early light (though Jacob did get us up in time, but that's another story). The first bakery we went to was Touche Touchet which is also the closest to home. Here we had a lemon torte, apple walnut cinnamon roll and vanilla chai:



Next, we went to Oh What A Cake, located in a Columbia strip mall. It was a little disappointing for two reasons: (1) we thought they opened at 9 and it turned out that they really open at 10 and (2) it was strictly take-out, i.e. no tables to sit at (or at which to sit, if you don't want me to end with a preposition). Otherwise, they had a lovely Almond Amaretto cupcake and we also got the plebeian butter cupcake with chocolate icing.



The AA cupcake was much better. We'd like to go back and try the pound cake, but they only sold that by the cake, not the slice, so we'd definitely not be able to continue on the bakery crawl.

Our final destination was Bonaparte's in historic Savage Mill. We have been to this bakery several times, mostly because we go shopping to the Family Game Store, though now that a used book store has opened in the Mill, we may go even more often. Angie had her favorite, the almond croissant, and I tried something new, the banana coconut chocolate concoction. We asked the waitress what it was called and she was unsure. She only knew how to describe it. I know how to describe it too...delicious!!


Since mine was smaller, I was able to finish eating it. I also helped Angie with her croissant.

After we got home and started to feel pastry coma coming on, Angie took back what she said about our 50th anniversary. My sister made the helpful suggestion that we could spread it out over 50 days. Hmmm....or should I say, mmmmm!!

Non-Zombie Scientific Experiment

Jacob has developed another scientific interest while going on our morning walks. We've started bringing Jacob's stroller on our walks since he often decides he is tired of walking anytime from one-quarter to three-quarters of the way through our walks. At that point he'd asked to be picked up and carried the rest of the way, which isn't so easy with a toddler in the mid-20s weight range. With the stroller we can push him the rest of the way home.

At the beginning of the walk, he likes to push his stroller himself. Even more than that, he likes to collect specimens of mulch, sticks, leaves, etc. in his stroller. Presumably he wants to take them home for some comparative analysis. From previous walks, we have quite a number of individual specimens by the front door and the garage door (where we ask him to drop the mulch, stick, etc.). Angie just discovered a specimen in the downstairs bathroom on the previously unused cup holder. It's a nice reddish piece of mulch, probably from the neighbor about eight houses down. He always collects a sample from that yard. I wonder how many other samples are scattered throughout the house...

Jacob has not disclosed what he is planning to do with or find out about the collected specimens. Also, his plan is somewhat foiled when we put him in the stroller because we clean out the seat before letting him sit. He still has one specimen in his hand usually, so it is not a complete loss.

We'd like to know what he is planning. It is hard to imagine what it will be, especially in our mentally weakened semi-zombie state. As a side note, Jacob tried to turn his cousin but she didn't stay long enough to succumb to his powers. See the attempt early on the morning of July 4 2009:


Let this be a warning to other friends and relatives who visit! In the words of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, "You're next! You're next!!"

The Poo in Pool

Today was a hot day here in Columbia, Maryland. As early as I could in the morning, I mowed the lawn, which was long overdue (again). I started with the backyard, which means getting the dogs on the back porch and closing them in to keep everyone safe. During the break from the backyard to the front yard, I decided to fill Jacob's pool. So the dogs came off the back porch and we locked out from the porch while I put the hose in the pool. We try to fill it early because the water is cold and will hopefully warm up a little bit by the afternoon.

After his nap, lunch and a trip to the library (farmers' market day, so we got some good veggies and bread), Jacob and I finally got to enjoy the pool. He loves to take little cups and just pour the pool water. He pours it out on the porch. He pours it in the watering can. He pours it into a bucket in the pool. Meanwhile, I had my feet in the pool to cool off and was reading my book from the library. I heard Jacob pass gas once or twice but didn't think much of it. Then I noticed some discoloration of his swim diaper, and realized that it wasn't just gas. We got out of the pool and it took two parents to get him into clean, dry clothes. And we had to put a load of laundry on.

Jacob didn't seem at all phased by the proceedings. After he went to bed, I dumped out the pool water. Hopefully we'll have better luck tomorrow!

Morning Walk

Angie, Jacob, Lucy and I went for a walk yesterday after breakfast. The most exciting thing about the walk was the street sweeper cleaning up the gutters of our block. We heard it coming from a distance, roaring like a great monstrous machine. Jacob was excited to hear this and started shouting "truck, truck!" He looked in the right direction with a big smile on his face.

The truck finally came into view. The large brushes spun quickly and lights were on in front and in back. A watery trail was left behind as it passed. The street sweeper was on the other side of the street, so it didn't pass too close to us. As it passed, Jacob seemed less excited and slightly apprehensive. We continued to walk and watched the truck vanish down the street. Jacob wanted to follow, so we did.

As we got further down the street, we heard the truck coming back up our side of the street. At first, Jacob was excited again, but as the truck came into view and closer to us, he started getting very nervous and he started tensing up. Luckily, the truck turned down a cul-de-sac about 20 feet in front of us. Jacob was very anxious so we crossed the street (where Angie had already fled to with Lucy). The truck came back for one last viewing. Jacob was still anxious, even being farther away.

So I guess for Jacob, the street sweeper is like a dragon. Seeing it from a distance is cool, but one should be really worried if it gets up close.

On a side note, YouTube is littered with amateur videos of street sweepers doing their thing all across this fine nation of ours. You really can find anything on the Internet.

Playing in the backyard

Jacob and I have invented a new game that we play in the back yard.

We usually go out into the yard one or two times a day to hang out. Jacob typically plays with leaves, sticks and rocks. Or he just wanders around looking at stuff. If a motorcycle goes by in the street or a plane overhead, he'll get excited and talk as much as he can about it. Sometimes he gets tired and asks me to pick him up. "Pi' up, pi' up" is usually what he says.

The other day I picked him up and we accidentally walked through some low-hanging branches. Jacob's head brushed some leaves. I said, "Low leaves, Jacob." He excitedly replied, "Lo' leaf, lo' leaf." His smile is super big and his eyes sparkle. Now we run into leaves on purpose when I'm carrying him around. It's a great game because it requires almost no equipment. We can even play it when we are out on walks and he decides that he has walked enough. I just have to keep an eye out for low branches and try not to duck.

Of course, if people have suggestions of other games to play in the backyard, we are all ears. Jacob still hasn't gotten the idea of balls down yet, so we aren't playing catch or kickball. Hopefully with Uncle Nate's visit, he can inspire Jacob to figure out and play with these big, round air-filled items.

Movie Review: A Cure for Hiccups?

This is clearly the best movie ever made, with the greatest star performance by a female ever. The guy in the movie really drags it down, though. Get some lessons! Study the script! Oh, wait...there wasn't any script. Bummer.